A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels - Volume 18
Historical Sketch of the Progress of Discovery, Navigation, and
Commerce, from the Earliest Records to the Beginning of the Nineteenth
Century, By William Stevenson (2024)

A

GENERAL

HISTORY AND COLLECTION

OF

ARRANGED IN SYSTEMATIC ORDER:

FORMING A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS

OF NAVIGATION, DISCOVERY, AND COMMERCE,

BY SEA AND LAND,

FROM THE EARLIEST AGES TO THE PRESENT TIME.

BY

ROBERT KERR, F.R.S. & F.A.S. EDIN.

ILLUSTRATED BY MAPS AND CHARTS.

VOL. XVIII.

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY, NAVIGATION, ANDCOMMERCE, FROM THE EARLIEST RECORDS TO THE BEGINNING OF THENINETEENTH CENTURY.

BY

WILLIAM STEVENSON, ESQ.

WILLIAM BLACKWOOD, EDINBURGH:

AND T. CADELL, LONDON.

MDCCCXXIV.

Printed by A. & B. Spottiswoode, New-Street-Square.

PREFACE.

The curiosity of that man must be very feeble and sluggish, andhis appetite for information very weak or depraved, who, when hecompares the map of the world, as it was known to the ancients, withthe map of the world as it is at present known, does not feel himselfpowerfully excited to inquire into the causes which haveprogressively brought almost every speck of its surface completelywithin our knowledge and access. To develop and explain these causesis one of the objects of the present work; but this object cannot beattained, without pointing out in what manner Geography was at firstfixed on the basis of science, and has subsequently, at variousperiods, been extended and improved, in proportion as those branchesof physical knowledge which could lend it any assistance, haveadvanced towards perfection. We shall thus, we trust, be enabled toplace before our readers a clear, but rapid view of the surface ofthe globe, gradually exhibiting a larger portion of known regions,and explored seas, till at last we introduce them to the fullknowledge of the nineteenth century. In the course of this part ofour work, decisive and instructive illustrations will frequentlyoccur of the truth of these most important facts,--that one branch ofscience can scarcely advance, without advancing some other branches,which in their turn, repay the assistance they have received; andthat, generally speaking, the progress of intellect and morals ispowerfully impelled by every impulse given to physical science, andcan go on steadily and with full and permanent effect, only by theintercourse of civilised nations with those that are ignorant andbarbarous.

But our work embraces another topic; the progress of commercialenterprise from the earliest period to the present time. That anextensive and interesting field is thus opened to us will be evident,when we contrast the state of the wants and habits of the people ofBritain, as they are depicted by Cæsar, with the wants andhabits even of our lowest and poorest classes. In Cæsar's time,a very few of the comforts of life,--scarcely one of its meanestluxuries,--derived from the neighbouring shore of Gaul, wereoccasionally enjoyed by British Princes: in our time, the daily mealof the pauper who obtains his precarious and scanty pittance bybegging, is supplied by a navigation of some thousand miles, fromcountries in opposite parts of the globe; of whose existenceCæsar had not even the remotest idea. In the time ofCæsar, there was perhaps no country, the commerce of which wasso confined:--in our time, the commerce of Britain lays the wholeworld under contribution, and surpasses in extent and magnitude thecommerce of any other nation.

The progress of discovery and of commercial intercourse areintimately and almost necessarily connected; where commerce does notin the first instance prompt man to discover new countries, it issure, if these countries are not totally worthless, to lead himthoroughly to explore them. The arrangement of this work, in carryingon, at the same time, a view of the progress of discovery, and ofcommercial enterprise, is, therefore, that very arrangement which thenature of the subject suggests. The most important and permanenteffects of the progress of discovery and commerce, on the wealth, thepower, the political relations, the manners and habits, and thegeneral interests and character of nations, will either appear on thevery surface of our work, or, where the facts themselves do notexpose them to view, they will be distinctly noticed.

A larger proportion of the volume is devoted to the progress ofdiscovery and enterprise among the ancients, than among the moderns;or,--to express ourselves more accurately,--the period thatterminates with the discovery of America, and especially that whichcomprehends the commerce of the Phoeniceans, of the Egyptians underthe Ptolemies, of the Greeks, and of the Romans, is illustrated withmore ample and minute details, than the period which has elapsedsince the new world was discovered. To most readers, the nations ofantiquity are known by their wars alone; we wished to exhibit them intheir commercial character and relations. Besides, the materials forthe history of discovery within the modern period are neither soscattered, nor so difficult of access, as those which relate to thefirst period. After the discovery of America, the grand outline ofthe terraqueous part of the globe may be said to have been traced;subsequent discoveries only giving it more boldness or accuracy, orfilling up the intervening parts. The same observation may in somedegree be applied, to the corresponding periods of the history ofcommerce. Influenced by these considerations, we have thereforeexhibited the infancy and youth of discovery and commerce, while theywere struggling with their own ignorance and inexperience, in thestrongest and fullest light.

At the conclusion of the work is given a select Catalogue ofVoyages and Travels, which it is hoped will be found generallyuseful, not only in directing reading and inquiry, but also in theformation of a library.

This Historical Sketch has been drawn up with reference to, and inorder to complete Kerr's Collection of Voyages and Travels, and wasundertaken by the present Editor in consequence of the death of Mr.Kerr. But though drawn up with this object, it is strictly andentirely an independent and separate work.

Kerr's Collection contains a great variety of very curious andinteresting early Voyages and Travels, of rare occurrence, or only tobe found in expensive and voluminous Collections; and is, moreover,especially distinguished by a correct and full account of all CaptainCook's Voyages.

To the end of this volume is appended a Tabular View of theContents of this Collection; and it is believed that this TabularView, when examined and compared with the Catalogue, will enablethose who wish to add to this Collection such Voyages and Travels asit does not embrace, especially those of very recent date, all thatare deserving of purchase and perusal.

W. STEVENSON.
March 30, 1824.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME XVIII.

CHAPTER I.

Historical Sketch of the Progress of Discovery and of CommercialEnterprise, from the earliest records to the time of Herodotus

CHAPTER II.

From the age of Herodotus to the death of Alexander the Great

CHAPTER III.

From the Death of Alexander the Great to the time of Ptolemy theGeographer; with a digression on the Inland Trade between India andthe Shores of the Mediterranean, through Arabia, from the earliestages

CHAPTER IV.

From the time of Ptolemy to the close of the Fifteenth Century

CHAPTER V.

From the close of the Fifteenth to the beginning of the NineteenthCentury

CATALOGUE.

Preliminary Observations on the Plan and Arrangement pursued indrawing up the 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

INDEX to the Catalogue.

INDEX to the Historical Sketch.

INDEX to the 17 Volumes of Voyages andTravels

CONTENTS of the 17 Volumes

ERRATA.

[Transcriber's Note: The errata listed after the Table of Contentsare marked in the text thus: [has->have]]

Page 13. line 2. for has read have. 6. for near read nearly 28. 36. for could sail read could formerly sail. 86. 6. for Egypt read India. 87. 22. for Leucke read Leuke. 102. 5. for principal read principle. 213. 9. for work read worm. 281. 28. for Ebor read Ebn. 282. 20. for Ebor read Ebn. 5O7. 22. for as read than.

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY, &c.&c.

CHAPTER I.

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY, AND OFCOMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE, FROM THE EARLIEST RECORDS, TO THE TIME OFHERODOTUS. B.C. 450.

The earliest traces of navigation and commerce are necessarilyinvolved in much obscurity, and are, besides, few and faint. It isimpossible to assign to them any clear and definite chronology; andthey are, with a few exceptions, utterly uncirc*mstantial.Nevertheless, in a work like this, they ought not to be passed overwithout some notice; but the notice we shall bestow upon them willnot be that either of the chronologist or antiquarian, but of a morepopular, appropriate, and useful description.

The intercourse of one nation with another first took place inthat part of the world to which a knowledge of the originalhabitation of mankind, and of the advantages for sea and landcommerce which that habitation enjoyed, would naturally lead us toassign it. On the shores of the Mediterranean, or at no greatdistance from that sea, among the Israelites, the Phoenicians, andthe Egyptians, we must look for the earliest traces of navigation andcommerce; and, in the only authentic history of the remotest periodof the world, as well as amidst the scanty and fabulous materialssupplied by profane writers, these nations are uniformly representedas the most ancient navigators and traders.

The slightest inspection of the map of this portion of the globewill teach us that Palestine, Phoenicia, and Egypt were admirablysituated for commerce both by sea and land. It is, indeed, true thatthe Phoenicians, by the conquests of Joshua, were expelled from thegreatest part of their territory, and obliged to confine themselvesto a narrow slip of ground between Mount Lebanon and theMediterranean; but even this confined territory presentedopportunities and advantages for commerce of no mean importance: theyhad a safe coast,--at least one good harbour; and the vicinity ofLebanon, and other mountains, enabled them to obtain, with littledifficulty and expence, a large supply of excellent materials forshipbuilding. There are, moreover, circ*mstances which warrant thesupposition, that, like Holland in modern times, they were rather thecarriers of other nations, than extensively engaged in the commerceof their own productions or manufactures. On the north and east laySyria, an extensive country, covered with a deep rich soil, producingan abundant variety of valuable articles. With this country, and muchbeyond it, to the east, the means and opportunities of communicationand commerce were easy, by the employment of the camel; while, on theother hand, the caravans that carried on the commerce of Asia andAfrica necessarily passed through Phoenicia, or the adjacent parts ofPalestine.

Egypt, in some respects, was still more advantageously situatedfor commerce than Phoenicia: the trade of the west of Asia, and ofthe 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 andadoption. It is certain, however, that in the earliest periods oftheir history, the Egyptians were decidedly averse to the sea, and tomaritime affairs, both warlike and commercial. It would be vain andunprofitable to explain the fabulous cause assigned for thisaversion: we may, however, briefly and, incidentally remark that asOsiris particularly instructed his subjects in cultivating theground; and as Typhon coincides exactly in orthography and meaningwith a word still used in the East, to signify a sudden and violentstorm, it is probable that by Typhon murdering his brother Osiris,the Egyptians meant the damage done to their cultivated lands bystorms of wind causing inundations.

As the situation of Palestine for commerce was equally favourablewith that of Phoenicia, it is unnecessary to dilate upon it. That theJews did not engage more extensively in trade either by sea or landmust be attributed to the peculiar nature of their government, laws,and religion.

Having thus briefly pointed out the advantages enjoyed by thePhoenicians, Egyptians, and Jews for commercial intercourse, we shallnow proceed to notice the few particulars with which history suppliesus regarding the navigation and commerce of each, during the earliestperiods.

I. There is good reason to believe that most of the maritimeadventures and enterprises which have rendered the Phoenicians sofamous in antiquity, ought to be fixed between the death of Jacob,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. Inthe days of Abraham they were considered as a very powerful people:and express mention is made of their maritime trade in the last wordsof Jacob to his children. Moses informs us that Tarshish (wherever itwas situated) was visited by the Phoenicians. When this people weredeprived of a great portion of their territory by the Israelitesunder Joshua, they still retained the city of Sidon; and from ittheir maritime expeditions proceeded. The order of time in which theytook place, as well as their object and result, are very imperfectlyknown; it seems certain, however, that they either regularly tradedwith, or formed colonies or establishments for the purpose of tradeat first in Cyprus and Rhodes, and subsequently in Greece, Sicily,Sardinia, Gaul, and the southern part of Spain. About 1250 yearsbefore Christ, the Phoenician ships ventured beyond the Straits,entered the Atlantic, and founded Cadiz. It is probable, also, thatnearly about the same period they formed establishments on thewestern coast of Africa. We have the express authority of Homer, thatat the Trojan war the Phoenicians furnished other nations with manyarticles that could contribute to luxury and magnificence; andScripture informs us, that the ships of Hyram, king of Tyre, broughtgold to Solomon from Ophir. That they traded to Britain for tin at soearly a period as that which we are now considering, will appear verydoubtful, if the metal mentioned by Moses, (Numbers, chap. xxxi.verse 22.) was really tin, and if Homer is accurate in his statementthat this metal was used at the siege of Troy; for, certainly, atneither of these periods had the Phoenicians ventured so far fromtheir own country.

Hitherto we have spoken of Sidon as the great mart of Phoeniciancommerce; at what period Tyre was built and superseded Sidon is notknown. In the time of Homer, Tyre is not even mentioned: but verysoon afterwards it is represented by Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, andthe other prophets, as a city of unrivalled trade and wealth.Ezekiel, who prophesied about the year 595 B.C. has given a mostpicturesque description of the wealth of Tyre, all of which must haveproceeded from her commerce, and consequently points out and provesits great extent and importance. The fir-trees of Senir, the cedarsof Lebanon, the oaks of Bashan, the ivory of the Indies, the finelinen 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 ofTyre by sea, or to its fairs by land, from Syria, Damascus, Greece,Arabia, and other places, the exact site of which is not known.[1]Within the short period of fifteen or twenty years after thisdescription was written, Tyre was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar; andafter an obstinate and very protracted resistance, it was taken anddestroyed. The inhabitants, however, were enabled to retire duringthe siege, with the greatest part of their property, to an islandnear the shore, where they built New Tyre, which soon surpassed theold city both in commerce and shipping.

A short time previous to the era generally assigned to thedestruction of old Tyre, the Phoenicians are said to have performed avoyage, which, if authentic, may justly be regarded as the mostimportant that the annals of this people record: we allude to thecircumnavigation of Africa. As this voyage has given rise to muchdiscussion, we may be excused for deviating from the cursory andcondensed character of this part of our work, in order to investigateits probable authenticity. All that we know regarding it is deliveredto us by Herodotus; according to this historian, soon after Nechos,king of Egypt, had finished the canal that united the Nile and theArabian Gulf, he sent some Phoenicians from the borders of the RedSea, with orders to keep always along the coast of Africa, and toreturn by the pillars of Hercules into the northern ocean.Accordingly the Phoenicians embarked on the Erythrean Sea, andnavigated in the southern ocean. When autumn arrived, they landed onthe part of Libya which they had reached, and sowed corn; here theyremained till harvest, reaped the corn, and then re-embarked. In thismanner they sailed for two years; in the third they passed thepillars of Hercules, and returned to Egypt. They related that insailing round Libya, the sun was on their right hand. This relation,continues Herodotus, seems incredible to me, but perhaps it will notappear so to others. Before proceeding to an enquiry into theauthenticity of this maritime enterprize, it may be proper to explainwhat is meant by the sun appearing on the right hand of thePhoenician navigators. The apparent motion of the heavens being fromeast to west, the west was regarded by the ancients as the foremostpart of the world; the north, of course, was deemed the right, andthe south the left of the world.

The principal circ*mstance attending this narrative, which issupposed to destroy or greatly weaken its credibility, is the shortperiod of time in which this navigation was accomplished: it ismaintained, that even at present, it would certainly require eighteenmonths to coast Africa from the Red Sea to the straits of Gibraltar;and "allowing nine months for each interval on shore, between thesowing and reaping, the Phoenicians could not have been more thaneighteen months at sea."

To this objection it may be replied, in the first place, thatbetween the tropics (within which space nearly the whole of thenavigation was performed) nine months is much too long a time toallow for each interval on shore, between the sowing and the reaping:and, secondly, that though the period occupied by the whole voyage,and some of the circ*mstances attending it, may be inaccuratelystated, the voyage itself ought not to be wholly discredited on theseaccounts.

The very circ*mstance which the historian rejects as incredible,is one of the strongest arguments possible in favour of thetradition; though this alone is not decisive, for the Phoeniciansmight have sailed far enough to the south to have observed the sun tothe north, even if they had not accomplished the navigation ofAfrica. The strongest argument, however, in our opinion, in supportof the actual accomplishment of this circumnavigation, has beenunaccountably overlooked, in all the various discussion to which thesubject has given rise. It is evident that in most voyages, false andexaggerated accounts may be given of the countries visited or seen,and of the circ*mstances attendant upon the voyage; whereas, withrespect to this voyage, one most important and decisive particularlay within reach of the observation of those who witnessed thedeparture and arrival of the ships. If they sailed from the Red Sea,and returned by the Mediterranean, they must have circumnavigatedAfrica. It is obvious that if such a voyage was not performed, thestory must have originated with Herodotus, with those from whom hereceived his information, or with those who were engaged in theexpedition, supposing it actually to have been engaged in, but not tohave accomplished the circumnavigation of Africa. The character ofHerodotus secures him from the imputation; and by none is he chargedwith it:--Necho lived about six hundred and sixteen years beforeChrist; consequently little more than two hundred years beforeHerodotus; moreover, the communication and commerce of the Greekswith Egypt, was begun in the time of Psammeticus, the immediatepredecessor of Necho, and was encouraged in a very particular mannerby Amasis (who died in 525), who married a Greek, and was visited bySolon. From these circ*mstances, it is improbable that Herodotus, whowas evidently not disposed to believe the account of the appearanceof the sun, should not have had it in his power to obtain goodevidence, whether a ship that had sailed from the Red Sea, hadreturned by the Mediterranean: if such evidence were acquired, it isobvious, as has been already remarked, that the third source offabrication is utterly destroyed. Dr. Vincent is strongly opposed tothe authenticity of this voyage, chiefly on the grounds that suchships as the ancients had, were by no means sufficiently strong, northeir seamen sufficiently skilful and experienced, to havesuccessfully encountered a navigation, which the Portuguese did notaccomplish without great danger and difficulty, and that the allegedcircumnavigation produced no consequences.

It may be incidentally remarked that the incredulity of Herodotuswith regard to the appearance of the sun to the north of the zenith,is not easily reconcileable with what we shall afterwards shew wasthe extent of his knowledge of the interior of Egypt. He certainlyhad visited, or had received communications from those who hadvisited Ethiopia as far south as eleven degrees north latitude. Underthis parallel the sun appears for a considerable part of the year tothe north. How, then, it may be asked, could Herodotus be incredulousof this phenomenon having been observed by the Phoeniciancircumnavigators. This difficulty can be solved by supposing eitherthat if he himself had visited this part of Africa, it was at aseason of the year when the sun was in that quarter of the heavens inwhich he was accustomed to see it; or, if he received his informationfrom the inhabitants of this district, that they, not regarding theperiodical appearance of the sun to the north of the zenith asextraordinary, did not think it necessary to mention it. It certainlycannot be supposed that if Herodotus had either seen himself, orheard from others, that the sun in Ethiopia sometimes appeared to thenorth of the zenith, he would have stated in such decided terms, whennarrating the circumnavigation of the Phoenicians, that such aphenomenon appeared to him altogether incredible.

Before we return to the immediate subject of this part of ourwork, we may be allowed to deviate from strict chronological order,for the purpose of mentioning two striking and important facts, whichnaturally led to the belief of the practicability of circumnavigatingAfrica, long before that enterprise was actually accomplished by thePortuguese.

We are informed by Strabo, on the authority of Posidonius, thatEudoxus of Cyzicus, who lived about one hundred and fifty yearsbefore Christ, was induced to conceive the practicability ofcircumnavigating Africa, from the following circ*mstance. As Eudoxuswas returning from India to the Red Sea, he was driven by adversewinds on the coast of Ethiopia: there he saw the figure of a horsesculptured on a piece of wood, which he knew to be a part of the prowof a ship. The natives informed him that it had belonged to a vessel,which had arrived among them from the west. Eudoxus brought it withhim to Egypt, and subjected it to the inspection of several pilots:they pronounced it to be the prow of a small kind of vessel used bythe inhabitants of Gadez, to fish on the coast of Mauritania, as faras the river Lixius: some of the pilots recognised it as belonging toa particular vessel, which, with several others, had attempted toadvance beyond the Lixius, but had never afterwards been heard of. Weare further informed on the same authority, that Eudoxus, henceconceiving it practicable to sail round Africa, made the attempt, andactually sailed from Gadez to a part of Ethiopia, the inhabitants ofwhich spoke the same language as those among whom he had formerlybeen. From some cause not assigned, he proceeded no farther:subsequently, however, he made a second attempt, but how far headvanced, and what was the result, we are not informed.

The second fact to which we allude is related in the Commentary ofAbu Sird, on the Travels of a Mahommedan in India and China, in theninth century of the Christian era. The travels and commentary arealready given in the first volume of this work; but the importance ofthe fact will, we trust, plead our excuse for repeating the passagewhich contains it.

"In our times, discovery has been made of a thing quite new:nobody imagined that the sea which extends from the Indies to China,had any communication with the sea of Syria, nor could any one takeit into his head. Now behold what has come to pass in our days,according to what we have heard. In the Sea of Rum, or theMediterranean, they found the wreck of an Arabian ship which had beenshattered by tempest; for all her men perishing, and she being dashedto pieces by the waves, the remains of her were driven by wind andweather into the Sea of Chozars, and from thence to the canal of theMediterranean sea, and at last were thrown on the Sea of Syria. Thisevinces that the sea surrounds all the country of China, and ofSila,--the uttermost parts of Turkestan, and the country of theChozars, and then it enters at the strait, till it washes the shoreof Syria. The proof of this is deduced from the built of the ship weare speaking of; for none but the ships of Sarif are so put together,that the planks are not nailed, or bolted, but joined together in anextraordinary manner, as if they were sewn; whereas the planking ofall the ships of the Mediterranean Sea, and of the coast of Syria, isnailed and not joined together in the same way."

When we entered on this digression, we had brought the historicalsketch of the discoveries and commerce of the Phoenicians down to theperiod of the destruction of Old Tyre, or about six hundred yearsbefore Christ. We shall now resume it, and add such particulars onthese subjects as relate to the period that intervened between thatevent and the capture of New Tyre by Alexander the Great. These arefew in number; for though New Tyre exceeded, according to allaccounts, the old city in splendour, riches, and commercialprosperity, yet antient authors have not left us any precise accountsof their discoveries, such as can justly be fixed within the periodto which we have alluded. They seem to have advanced farther thanthey had previously done along the west coast of Africa, and furtheralong the north coast of Spain: the discovery of the Cassiteridesalso, and their trade to these islands for tin, (which we have shewncould hardly have taken place so early as is generally supposed,)must also have occurred, either immediately before, or soon after,the building of New Tyre. It is generally believed, that theCassiterides were the Scilly Islands, off the coast of Cornwall.Strabo and Ptolemy indeed place them off the coast of Spain; butDiodorus Siculus and Pliny give them a situation, which, consideringthe vague and erroneous ideas the antients possessed of the geographyof this part of the world, corresponds pretty nearly with thesouthern part of Britain. According to Strabo, the Phoenicians firstbrought tin from the Cassiterides, which they sold to the Greeks, butkept (as was usual with them) the trade entirely to themselves, andwere utterly silent respecting the place from which they brought it.The Greeks gave these islands the name of Cassiterides, or the TinCountry; a plain proof of what we before advanced, that tin wasknown, and generally used, previous to the discovery of these islandsby the Phoenicians.

There is scarcely any circ*mstance connected with the maritimehistory of the Phoenicians, more remarkable than their jealousy offoreigners interfering with their trade, to which we have justalluded. It seems to have been a regular plan, if not a fixed lawwith them, if at any time their ships observed that a strange shipkept them company, or endeavoured to trace their track, to outsailher if practicable; or, where this could not be done, to departduring the night from their proper course. The Carthaginians, acolony of the Phoenicians, adopted this, among other maritimeregulations of the parent state, and even carried it to a greaterextent. In proof of this, a striking fact may be mentioned: themaster of a Carthaginian ship observing a Roman vessel following hiscourse, purposely ran his vessel aground, and thus wrecked his ownship, as well as the one that followed him. This act was deemed bythe Carthaginian government so patriotic, that he was amply rewardedfor it, as well as recompensed for the loss of his vessel.

The circ*mstances attending the destruction of New Tyre byAlexander the Great are well known. The Tyrians united with thePersians against Alexander, for the purpose of preventing theinvasion of Persia; this having incensed the conqueror, still furtherenraged by their refusal to admit him within their walls, he resolvedupon the destruction of this commercial city. For seven months, thenatural strength of the place, and the resources and bravery of theinhabitants, enabled them to hold out; but at length it was taken,burnt to the ground, and all the inhabitants, except such as hadescaped by sea, were either put to death or sold as slaves.

Little is known respecting the structure and equipment of theships which the Phoenicians employed in their commercial navigation.According to the apocryphal authority of Sanconiatho, Ousous, one ofthe most ancient of the Phoenician heroes, took a tree which was halfburnt, cut off its branches, and was the first who ventured to exposehimself on the waters. This tradition, however, probably owes itsrise to the prevalent belief among the ancients, that to thePhoenicians was to be ascribed the invention of every thing thatrelated to the rude navigation and commerce of the earliest ages ofthe world: under this idea, the art of casting accounts, keepingregisters, and every thing, in short, that belongs to a factory, isattributed to their invention.[2] With respect to their vessels,--"Originally they had only rafts, or simple boats; they used oars toconduct these weak and light vessels. As navigation extended itself,and became more frequent, they perfected the construction of ships,and made them of a much larger capacity. They were not long indiscovering the use that might be drawn from the wind, to hasten andfacilitate the course of a ship, and they found out the art of aidingit by means of masts and sails." Such is the account given by Goguet;but it is evident that this is entirely conjectural history: and wemay remark, by the bye, that a work otherwise highly distinguished byclear and philosophical views, and enriched by considerable learningand research, in many places descends to fanciful conjecture.

All that we certainly know respecting the ships of thePhoenicians, is, that they had two kinds; one for the purposes ofcommerce, and the other for naval expeditions; and in this respectthey were imitated by all the other nations of antiquity. Theirmerchant-ships were called Gauloi. According to Festus's definitionof this term, the gauloi were nearly round; but it is evident thatthis term must be taken with considerable restriction; a vesselround, or nearly so, could not possibly be navigated. It is mostprobable that this description refers entirely to the shape of thebottom or hold of the vessel; and that merchant ships were built inthis manner, in order that they might carry more goods; whereas theships for warfare were sharp in the bottom. Of other particularsrespecting the construction and equipment of the ships of thePhoenicians, we are ignorant: they probably resembled in most thingsthose of Greece and Rome; and these, of which antient historiansspeak more fully, will be described afterwards.

The Phoenicians naturally paid attention to astronomy, so far atleast as might be serviceable to them in their navigation; and whileother nations were applying it merely to the purposes of agricultureand chronology, by means of it they were guided through the"trackless ocean," in their maritime enterprises. The Great Bearseems to have been known and used as a guide by navigators, evenbefore the Phoenicians were celebrated as a sea-faring people; butthis constellation affords a very imperfect and uncertain rule forthe direction of a ship's course: the extreme stars that compose itare more than forty degrees distant from the pole, and even itscentre star is not sufficiently near it. The Phoenicians,experiencing the imperfection of this guide, seem first to havediscovered, or at least to have applied to maritime purposes, theconstellation of the Lesser Bear. But it is probable, that at theperiod when they first applied this constellation, which is supposedto be about 1250 years before Christ, they did not fix on the star atthe extremity of the tail of Ursa Minor, which is what we call thePole Star; for by a Memoir of the Academy of Sciences (1733. p. 440.)it is shewn, that it would at that period be too distant to serve thepurpose of guiding their track.[3]

[1] Dr. Vincent, in the 2nd vol. of his Periplus of theErythrean Sea, has a very elaborate commentary on this chapter ofEzekiel, in which he satisfactorily makes out the nature of most ofthe articles mentioned in it, as well as the locality of the placesfrom which they are said to have come.

[2] One of the most celebrated gods of the Phoenicianswas Melcartus. He is represented as a great navigator, and as thefirst that brought tin from the Cassiterides. His image was usuallyaffixed to the stern of their vessels.

[3] In the time of Solomon, about two hundred years afterthe period when it is supposed the Phoenicians began to direct theircourse by the Lesser Bear,--it was 17 1/2 degrees from the NorthPole: in the time of Ptolemy, about one hundred and fifty years afterChrist, its distance had decreased to 12 degrees.

II. The gleanings in antient history respecting the maritime andcommercial enterprises, and the discoveries and settlements of theEgyptians, during the very early ages, to which we are at presentconfining ourselves, are few and unimportant compared with those ofthe Phoenicians, and consequently will not detain us long.

We have already noticed the advantageous situation of Egypt fornavigation and commerce: in some respects it was preferable to thatof Phoenicia; for besides the immediate vicinity of theMediterranean, a sea, the shores of which were so near to each otherthat they almost prevented the possibility of the ancients, rude andignorant as they were of all that related to navigation and themanagement of ships, deviating long or far from their route; besidesthe advantages of a climate equally free from the clouded skies, longnights and tempestuous weather of more northern regions, and from theirresistible hurricanes of those within the tropics--besides thesefavourable circ*mstances, which, the Egyptians enjoyed in common withthe Phoenicians, they had, running far into their territory, a rivereasily navigable, and at no great distance from this river, andbounding their country, a sea almost equally favourable fornavigation and commerce as the Mediterranean. Their advantages forland journies were also numerous and great; though the vicinity ofthe deserts seemed at first sight to have raised an effectual bar tothose countries which they divided from Egypt, yet Providence hadwisely and benevolently removed the difficulty arising from thissource, and had even rendered intercommunication, where desertsintervened, more expeditious, and not more difficult, than in thoseregions where they did not occur, by the creation of the camel, amost benevolent compensation to the Egyptians for their vicinity tothe extensive deserts of Africa.

Notwithstanding the advantageous situation of the Egyptians fornavigation, they were extremely averse, as we nave already remarked,during the earliest periods of their history, to engage in seaaffairs, either for the purposes of war or commerce; nor did theyindeed, at any time, enter with spirit, or on a large scale, intomaritime enterprises.

The superstitious and fabulous reasons assigned for this antipathyof the Egyptians to the sea [has->have] been noticed before;perhaps some other causes contributed to it, as well as the onealluded to. Egypt is nearly destitute of timber proper forship-building: its sea-coasts are unhealthy, and do not appear tohave been inhabited [near->nearly] so early as the higher country:its harbours are few, of intricate navigation, and frequentlychanging their depth and direction; and lastly, the advantages whichthe Nile presents for intercourse and traffic precluded the necessityof applying to sea navigation and commerce.

Some authors are of opinion that the ancient Egyptians did notengage in navigation and commerce till the era of the Ptolemies; butthis is undoubtedly a mistake, since traces of their commercialintercommunication with other nations may be found at a very earlyperiod of history. It is probable, however, that for a long time theythemselves did not engage in commerce, but were merely visited bytraders from foreign countries; for at this era it was a maxim withthem, never to leave their own country. The low opinion theyentertained of commerce may be gathered from Herodotus, who mentions,that the men disdained to meddle with it, but left it entirely to thewomen.

The earliest account we possess of traffic with Egypt, is to befound in the Old Testament, where we are informed, that theMidianites and Ismaelites traded thither as early as the time ofJacob.

Sesostris, who is generally supposed to have lived about 1650years before Christ, is by most writers described as the king whofirst overcame the dislike of the Egyptians to the sea. That thismonarch engaged in many enterprises both by sea and land, not onlyfor conquest, but also for purposes of trade and colonization, therecan be no doubt; though it is impossible either to trace his variousroutes, or to estimate the extent of his conquests or discoveries.The concurrent testimony of Diodorus and Herodotus assign to him alarge fleet in the Red Sea; and according to other historians, he hadalso a fleet in the Mediterranean. In order the more effectually tobanish the prejudices of the Egyptians against the sea, he is said tohave instituted a marine class among his subjects. By these measureshe seems to have acquired the sovereignty and the commerce of thegreater part of the shores of the Red Sea; along which his shipscontinued their route, till, according to Herodotus, they wereprevented from advancing by shoals and places difficult to navigate;a description which aptly applies to the navigation of this sea.

His expeditions and conquests in other parts of the globe do notfall within our object: one however must be noticed; we allude to thesettlement of the Egyptians at Colchos. Herodotus is doubtful whetherthis was a colony planted by Sesostris, or whether part of his armyremained behind on the banks of the Phasis, when he invaded this partof Asia. We allude to this colony, because with it were found, at thetime of the Argonautic expedition, proofs of the attention whichSesostris had paid to geography, and of the benefits which thatscience derived from him. "Tradition," Gibbon observes, "hasaffirmed, with some colour of reason, that Egypt planted on thePhasis a learned and polite colony, which manufactured linen, builtnavies, and invented geographical maps." All the information wepossess respecting these maps is derived from Apollonius Rhodius, andhis scholiast: the substance of it is as follows: according to thispoet,--Phineas, king of Colchos, predicted to the Argonauts theevents which would accompany their return. Argus, one of theArgonauts, explained that prediction to his companions, and toldthem, that the route which they must keep was described on tables, orrather on columns, which an Egyptian conqueror had before left in thecity of Oca, the capital of Colchis; on these columns, the wholeextent of the roads, and the limits of the land and sea were markedout. An ingenious, and by no means an improbable inference, has beendrawn from this circ*mstance: that if Sesostris left such columns ina part so remote from Egypt, it is to be supposed that they were morenumerous in Egypt itself. In short, though on a point like this it isimpossible to gain clear and undoubted testimony, we are, upon thewhole, strongly disposed to coincide in opinion with Gibbon, thattradition has some colour of reason for affirming that the Egyptiancolony at Phasis possessed geographical maps.

After the death of Sesostris, the Egyptians seem to have relapsedinto their former dislike to the sea: they indeed sent colonies intoGreece, and other parts; but these colonists kept up no relation withthe mother country. Their commerce was carried on, as it had beenbefore the time of Sesostris, by foreigners. The Old Testamentinforms us, that in the time of Solomon many horses were brought fromEgypt: and, from the same authority, as well as from Herodotus andHomer, we learn that the Phoenicians carried on a regular andlucrative traffic with this country; and, indeed, for a long time,about this period, they were the only nation to whom the ports ofEgypt were open. Of the navigation and commerce of the Red Sea theywere equally negligent; so that while none of their ships were seenon it, it was covered with the fleets of the Syrians, Phoenicians,and other nations.

Bocchoris, who lived about seven hundred years before Christ, isrepresented by historians as having imitated the maxims of Sesostris,with respect to maritime affairs and commerce. Some of his laws onthese subjects are still extant; and they display his knowledge of,and attention to, the improvement of his kingdom. By some of hisimmediate successors the ancient maxims of the Egyptians, which ledthem to avoid intercourse with strangers, were gradually done away;but it is to Psammeticus, historians ascribe the most decisivemeasures for rooting out this antipathy. In his reign the ports ofEgypt were first opened to foreign ships generally. He seemsparticularly to have encouraged commercial intercourse with theGreeks; though afterwards, either from some particular cause ofjealousy or dislike to this nation, or from the still operatingantipathy of the Egyptians to foreigners, the Greeks were notpermitted to enter any port except Naucratis, which they had beensuffered to build for the residence of their merchants andconvenience of their trade. This city lay on the Canopic branch ofthe Nile; and if a vessel entered any other mouth of this river, themaster was obliged to return to the Canopic branch; or, if the winddid not permit this, to unlade his vessel, and send his merchandizeto Naucratis by the country boats.

From the time of Psammeticus, when the Greeks were allowed tosettle in Egypt, frequent intercourse and correspondence was kept upbetween them and their countrymen in Greece; and from thiscirc*mstance the Egyptian history may henceforth be more firmlydepended upon. It has already been remarked, that as the allegedcircumnavigation of Africa by the Phoenicians took place during thereign of Necho, the successor of Psammeticus, the grounds for itsauthenticity are much stronger than if it had occurred previously tothe intercourse of the Greeks with Egypt.

The employment of Phoenician mariners by Necho, to circumnavigateAfrica, bespeaks a monarch bent on maritime and commercialenterprise; and there are other transactions of his reign whichconfirm this character. It is said that Sesostris attempted to uniteby a canal the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, but that he did notsucceed in his attempt: Necho also made the attempt with as littlesuccess. He next turned his thoughts to the navigation and commerceof the Mediterranean and Red Sea, in each of which he had largefleets.

The superstitious antipathy of the Egyptians having been thusbroken through, and the recurrence of this antipathy secured against,by the advantages they derived from navigation and commerce, theEgyptian monarchs seem, as long as Egypt continued free, to havedirected their attention and resources, with considerable zeal andsuccess, to maritime affairs. Their strength by sea, as well as theirexperience, may be estimated by an event during the reign of Apries,the grandson of Necho: this monarch was engaged in war with theSidonians, Tyrians and Cypriots; he took the city of Sidon by storm,and defeated both the Phoenicians and Cypriots in a sea fight. Infact, during his reign the Egyptians had the command of theMediterranean Sea. It is probable, that if they had continued longafter this time an independent state, they would have been still morecelebrated and successful in their maritime and commercial affairs;but in the year 525 before Christ, about seventy years after thereign of Apries, Egypt was conquered by the Persians.

Notwithstanding, therefore, this temporary dereliction of theirantipathy to the sea, and intercourse with foreigners, the Egyptianscan scarcely be regarded as a nation distinguished for their maritimeand commercial enterprises; and they certainly by no means, either bysea or land, took advantages of those favourable circ*mstances bywhich their country seemed to be marked out for the attainment of anextensive and lucrative commerce. It is well remarked by Dr. Vincent,that "while Egypt was under the power of its native sovereigns Tyre,Sidon, Arabia, Cyprus, Greece, Sicily, and Carthage, were allenriched by the trade carried on in its ports, and the articles ofcommerce which could be obtained there, and there only; the Egyptiansthemselves were hardly known in the Mediterranean as the exporters oftheir own commodities; they were the Chinese of the ancient world,and the ships of all nations, except their own, laded in theirharbours." As soon, however, as it passed from the power of itsnative sovereigns, and became subject successively to the Persians,Macedonians, and Romans, it furnished large fleets, and, as we shallafterwards notice, under the Greeks, Alexandria became one of theprincipal commercial cities in the world. The Greek inhabitants ofEgypt were the carriers of the Mediterranean, as well as the agents,factors, and importers of oriential produce. The cities which hadrisen under the former system sank into insignificance; and so wisewas the new policy, and so deeply had it taken root, that the Romans,upon the subjection of Egypt, found it more expedient to leaveAlexandria in possession of its privileges, than to alter the courseof trade, or to occupy it themselves.

We possess scarcely any notices respecting the construction andequipment of the Egyptian ships. According to Herodotus, they weremade of thorns twisted together, and their sails of rush mats: theywere built in a particular manner, quite different from those ofother nations, and rigged also in a singular manner; so that theyseem to have been the mockery of the other maritime states in theMediterranean. But this description can hardly apply to the Egyptianships, after they had become powerful at sea, though the expressionsof Herodotus seem to have reference to the Egyptian ships of his age.There can be no doubt that the vessels that navigated the Nile, werevery rude and singular in their construction; and most probably thedescription given by the historian ought to be regarded asexclusively confined to them. They were built of the Egyptian thorn,which seems to have been very extensively cultivated, especially inthe vicinity of Acanthus: planks of small dimensions were cut fromthis tree, which were fastened together, or rather laid over oneanother, like tiles, with a great number of wooden pins: they used noribs in the construction of their vessels: on the inside, papyrus wasemployed for the purpose of stopping up the crevices, or securing thejoints. There was but one rudder; whereas the ships of the Greeks andRomans had generally two; this passed quite through the keel. Themast was made of Egyptian thorn, and the sail of papyrus. Indeed,these two plants appear to have been the entire materials used in theconstruction and rigging of their ships. They were towed up the Nile,as they were not fit to stem its stream, except when a strongfavourable wind blew. Their mode of navigating these vessels down theriver was singular; they fastened a hurdle of tamarisk with a rope tothe prow of the vessel; which hurdle they strengthened with bands ofreeds, and let it down into the water; they also hung a stone,pierced through the middle, and of a considerable weight, by anotherrope, to the poop. By this means, the stream bearing on the hurdle,carried down the boat with great expedition; the stone at the sametime balancing and keeping it steady. Of these vessels they had greatnumbers on the river; some very large.

III. The Jews were still more averse than the Egyptians tointercourse with foreigners, and maritime and commercial enterprises;indeed, their country was comparatively ill-situated for maritimecommerce. Josephus is not, however, quite correct, in stating thatJudea was not situated on the sea, and that the people of thatcountry did not carry on any trade, but that their whole thoughtswere turned to agriculture. The words of Jacob, on his death-bed, areexpressly against this opinion: in blessing his twelve sons, he saysof Zebulon, "he shall dwell at the haven of the sea, and he shall befor an haven of ships;" and we know that the tribe of Zebulon wasextended to the sea shore, and to the gates of Sidon.

It is not likely, that being in the immediate vicinity of thiscommercial city, the Jews would not be stimulated to follow itsexample, and endeavour to draw wealth from the same sources. Indeed,the Old Testament expressly speaks of Joppa as the port of Judea andJerusalem, into which foreign articles, and especially many of thematerials used by Solomon in the building of the temple, wereimported.

On the conquest of the Amalekites and Edomites by King David, theJews gained possession of some ports in the Red Sea; and during hisreign, and that of Solomon, the Jews certainly employed the ships oftheir ally, Hiram king of Tyre, extensively in foreign commerce.Indeed, the commerce of the Phoenicians from the Red Sea, appears tohave been carried on principally, if not entirely, from the harboursin that sea belonging to the Jews, though there is no ground forbelieving that the Jews themselves had any fleet on it, or were atall engaged in its commerce. These short notices are all that historysupplies us with, on the subject of the navigation and commerce ofthe Jews. From the Old Testament we may, however, collect materials,by which we may estimate the progress they had made in geography.About 500 years before Christ, they do not appear to have extendedtheir knowledge of the globe beyond Mount Caucasus to the north, theentrance of the Red Sea to the south, and the MediterraneanArchipelago 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 ofcommercial enterprize by sea and land, among those nations who werethe most early in directing their attention to these points, we shallnext proceed to an account of the navigation and commercialenterprizes of the Greeks and Romans; and as in this part of our workwe shall follow a more strictly chronological arrangement, thenavigation and commercial enterprizes of the Carthaginians will beincidentally noticed in the order of time to which they belong.Before, however, we proceed to this subject, it may be proper toenter more particularly and fully than we have hitherto done, into adescription of the construction and equipment of the ancient ships,since, so far as relates to the ships of the Greeks and Romans, wepossess much more ample materials for such a description, thanhistory supplies us with respecting the ships of the other nations ofantiquity.

The traditionary story of the Phoenicians, that one of theirheroes was the first man who had the courage to expose himself uponthe waters, in a half burnt tree, stript of its branches, has alreadybeen noticed. It is probable, however, that the first vessels had noteven so much resemblance to our present boats: indeed, conjecture, aswell as history, warrant us in believing that rafts were the mostancient mode of conveyance on the water; and even in the time ofPliny they were extensively employed, especially in the navigation ofrivers. Boats formed of slender rods or hurdles, and covered withskins, seem also to have preceded the canoe, or vessel mode of asingle piece of timber. It is probable that a considerable time wouldelapse before the means of constructing boats of planks werediscovered, since the bending of the planks for that purpose is not avery obvious art. The Greeks ascribe this invention to a native ofLydia; but at what period he lived, is not known. Among some nations,leather was almost the only material used in the construction ofships; and even in the time of Caesar, the Veneti, a people ofBrittany, distinguished as a maritime and commercial tribe, madetheir sails of hides, and their tackle of thongs. In early ages,also, the Greeks used the common rushes of their country, and theCarthaginians, the spartum, or broom of Spain.

But it is to the ships of Greece and Rome, when they wereconstructed with more skill, and better adapted to navigation, thatwe are to pay attention; and of those, only to such as were used forcommercial purposes. The latter were rounder and more capacious thanships used for war; they were principally impelled by sails; whereasthe ships of war, though not wholly without sails, were chieflyrowed. Another difference between them was, that ships of warcommonly had an helmet engraven on the top of their masts, and shipsfor trade had a basket suspended on the top of their mast as a sign.There seems to have been great variety in the construction of thelatter, according to the particular trade in which they were to beengaged; and each ship of burden had its boat attached to it. Thename of the ship, or rather of its tutelary deity, was inscribed onthe stern: various forms of gods, animals, plants, &c. were alsopainted on other parts. The inhabitants of Phoeacia, or Corsica, arerepresented as the first who used pitch to fill up the seams, andpreserve the timber; sometimes wax was used for this purpose, orrather it was mixed with the paint, to prevent its being defaced bythe sun, winds, or water. The principal instruments used innavigation were the rudder, anchor, sounding line, cables, oars,sails, and masts.

It is evident from ancient authors, that the ships of thePhoenicians, Greeks, Romans, and other people of antiquity, hadfrequently more than one rudder; but it is not easy to perceive inwhat way more than one could be applied to the same end for which therudder of modern ships is used. Small vessels had only one. Homer inhis Odyssey mentions only one, which was fastened, and perhapsstrengthened, so as to withstand the winds and waves on each side,with hurdles, made of sallow or osier; at the same period the shipsof the Phoenicians had two rudders. When there were two, one wasfixed at each end; this, however, seems to have been the case onlywhere, as was not uncommon, the ships had two prows, so that eitherend could go foremost. With respect to vessels of four rudders, astwo are described as being fixed to the sides, it is probable thatthese resembled in their construction and object the pieces of woodattached to the sides of small Dutch vessels and barges on theThames, and generally all vessels that are flat-bottomed, for thepurpose of preventing them from making much lee way, when theyare working against the wind.

The first anchors were not made of iron, but of stone, or even ofwood; these were loaded with lead. According to Diodorus, thePhoenicians, in their first voyages to Spain, having obtained moresilver than their ships could safely hold, employed some of it,instead of lead, for their anchors. Very anciently the anchor hadonly one fluke. Anacharsis is said to have invented an anchor withtwo. Sometimes baskets full of stones, and sacks filled with sand,were employed as anchors. Every ship had two anchors, one of whichwas never used, except in cases of great danger: it was larger thanthe other, and was called the sacred anchor. At the period of theArgonautic expedition, it does not appear that anchors of any kindbut stone were known; though the scholiast upon Apollonius Rhodius,quite at variance with the testimony of this author, mentions anchorsof iron with two flukes. It has been supposed that anchors were notused by the Grecian fleet at the siege of Troy, because "the Greekword which is used to mean an anchor, properly so called, is not usedin any of the poems of Homer." It is certain that iron anchors werenot then known; but it is equally certain that large stones were usedas anchors.

Homer is entirely silent respecting any implement that would servethe purpose of a sounding line; but it is expressly mention byHerodotus as common in his time: it was commonly made of lead orbrass, 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, and othermaterials. The Veneti used iron cables; hence we see that what isgenerally deemed an invention entirely modern, was known to a savagenation in Gaul, in the time of Caesar. This nation was so celebratedfor the building and equipment of their vessels, which were, from allaccounts, better able to withstand the fury of the ocean than theships even of the Greeks and Romans, that Caesar gave orders for thebuilding of vessels, on the Loire, similar to those of the Veneti,large, flat-bottomed, and high at the head and stern. Yet thesevessels, built on such an excellent model, and supplied withchain-cables, had no sails but what were made of leather; and thesesails were never furled, but only bound to the mast. Besides cables,the ancients had other ropes to fasten ships in the harbours: theusual mode was to erect stones for this purpose, which were boredthrough.

In the time of Homer, the ships of the ancients had only one bankof oars; afterwards two, three, four, five, and even nine and tenbanks of oars are said not to have been uncommon: but it is not easyto understand in what manner so many oars could have been used: weshall not enter on this question, which is still unresolved. TheRomans had seldom any vessels with more than five banks of oars. Suchvessels as were intended for lightness, had only one bank of oars;this was particularly the case with the vessels of the Liburnians, apiratical tribe on the Adriatic.

The sails, in very ancient times, were made of leather; afterwardsof rushes. In the days of Agricola, the Roman sails were made offlax: towards the end of the first century, hemp was in common useamong them for sails, ropes, and new for hunting. At first there wasonly one sail in a ship, but afterwards there appear to have beenseveral: they were usually white, as this colour was deemedfortunate; sometimes, however, they were coloured.

At the time of the Trojan war, the Greek ships had only one mast,which was lowered upon the deck when the ship was in harbour: nearthe top of the mast a ribband was fastened to point out the directionof 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 werebuilt, their size, and their crews.

The species of wood principally employed in the construction ofthe Grecian ships were alder, poplar, and fir: cedar, pine, andcypress, were also used. The Veneti, already mentioned as celebratedfor their ships, built them of oak; but theirs are the only vesselsof antiquity that seem to have been constructed of this kind of wood.The timber was so little seasoned, that a considerable number ofships are recorded as having been completely built and equipped inthirty days, after the timber was cut down in the forest. In the timeof the Trojan war, no iron was used in the building of ships; theplanks were fastened to the ribs with cords.

In the most ancient accounts of the Grecian ships, the only modeby which we can form a conjecture of their size, is from the numberof men they were capable of holding. At the siege of Troy, Homerdescribes the ships of the Beotians as the largest; and they carried,he says, one hundred and twenty men. As Thucydides informs us that atthis period soldiers served as rowers, the number mentioned by Homermust comprehend all the ship could conveniently accommodate. Ingeneral the Roman trading vessels were very small. Cicero representsthose that could hold two thousand amphorae, or about sixty tons, asvery large; there were, however, occasionally enormous ships built:one of the most remarkable for size was that of Ptolemy; it was fourhundred and twenty feet long, and if it were broad and deep inproportion, its burden must have been upwards of seven thousand tons,more than three times the burden of one of our first rates; but it isprobable that it was both flat bottomed and narrow. Of the generalsmallness of the Greek and Roman ships, we need no other proof, thanthat they were accustomed to draw them on land when in port, andduring the winter; and that they were often conveyed for aconsiderable space over land. They were sometimes made in such amanner that they could easily and quickly be taken to pieces, and puttogether again. Thucydides asserts that the ships which carried theGreeks to Troy were not covered; but in this he is contradicted byHomer.

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. The Greeks were far behind thePhoenicians in many parts of nautical knowledge: we have seen thatthe latter at an early period changed the Greater for the LesserBear, for the direction of their course; whereas the Greeks steeredby the Greater Bear. In very early periods it was the practice tosteer all day by the course of the sun, and at night to anchor nearthe shore. Several stars were observed by the pilot for the purposeof foretelling the weather, the principal of which were Arcturus, theDog Star, Orion, Castor and Pollux, &c. In the time of Homer, theGreeks knew only the four cardinal winds; they were a long timeignorant of the art of subdividing the intermediate parts of thehorizon, and of determining a number of rhombs sufficient to servethe purposes of a navigation of small extent. Even so late as thedate of the Periphes of the Erythræan Sea, which Dr. Vincenthas fixed about the tenth year of Nero's reign, only eight points ofthe compass are mentioned; these are the same as are marked upon thetemple of the winds at Athens. The utmost length to which theancients arrived in subdividing the compass, was by adding twointermediate winds between each of the cardinal winds. We havenoticed these particulars relative to the winds and theconstellations, in order to illustrate the duty which the pilot hadto perform, and the difficulty and responsibility of his office, at aperiod when navigators possessed such a small portion of experienceand knowledge.

Besides the chief pilot, there was a subordinate one, whose dutyit was to keep a look out at the prow, to manage and direct the sailsand rowers, and to assist the principal pilot by his advice: thedirections of the subordinate pilot were conveyed to the rowers byanother officer, who seems to have answered to the boatswain of ourmen of war. The rowers were enabled to pull all at once, or to keeptime, by a person who sung and played to them while they wereemployed. During the night, or in difficult navigations, the chargeof the sounding lead, or of the long poles, which were used eitherfor the same purpose, or to push the ship off, when she got a-ground,was committed to a particular officer. There were, besides, men whoseduty it was to serve out the victuals, to keep the ship's accounts,&c.

The usual day's sail of a ship of the ancients was five hundredstadia, or fifty miles; and the course run over, when they sailednight and day, double that space.

We have confined ourselves, in this account of the ships of theancients, principally to those particulars that are connected withthe construction, equipment, &c. of those employed for commercialpurposes, and shall now proceed to a historical sketch of theprogress of discovery among the Greeks, from the earliest records tothe era of Herodotus, the father of geographical knowledge.

The first maritime expedition of the Greeks, of which we have aparticular narration, and certainly one of the most celebrated inancient times, is the Argonautic expedition. As we purpose to go intosome length on the subject of this expedition, it may be proper todefend ourselves from the charge of occupying too much space, andgiving too much attention to an enterprize generally deemed fabulous,and so obscured by fable and uncertainty, as to be little capable ofillustration, and little conducive to the improvement of geographicalknowledge. This defence we shall borrow from a name deservedly highamong those who have successfully illustrated ancient geography, forthe happy and successful mutual adaptation of great learning andsound judgment, and not less worthy of respect and imitation for hiscandour and liberality: we allude to Dr. Vincent, the illustrator ofthe Voyage of Nearchus, and the Periplus of the ErythræanSea.

"The reality of the Argonautic expedition, (he observes in thePreliminary Disquisition to the latter work), has been questioned;but if the primordial history of every nation but one is tincturedwith the fabulous, and if from among the rest a choice is necessaryto be made, it must be allowed that the traditions of Greece are lessinconsistent than those of the more distant regions of the earth.Oriental learning is now employed in unravelling the mythology ofIndia, and recommending it as containing the seeds of primævalhistory; but hitherto we have seen nothing that should induce us torelinquish the authority we have been used to respect, or to make usprefer the fables of the Hindoos or Guebres, to the fables of theGreeks. Whatever difficulties may occur in the return of theArgonauts, their voyage to Colchis is consistent: it contains morereal geography than has yet been discovered in any record of theBramins or the Zendevesta, and is truth itself, both geographical andhistorical, when compared with the portentous expedition ofRám to Ceylon."

In discussing the subject of the Argonautic expedition, we shallsuccessively consider its probable era--its supposed object--thevoyage to Colchis, and the various tracks by which the Argonauts aresaid to have returned.

I. Archbishop Usher fixes the era of this expedition at about 1280years before Christ: Sir Isaac Newton, on the other hand, fixes itmuch later, about 937 years before Christ. His opinion is groundedprincipally on a supposition, that the Greek sphere was invented bytwo of the Argonauts, who delineated the expedition under the name ofArgo, one of the constellations. And as the equinoctial colure passedthrough the middle of Aries, when that sphere was constructed, heinfers, by calculations of their retrograde motion from their placethen till the year A.D. 1690, that the expedition took place in 937before Christ. To this, however, there seem to be insurmountableobjections, which it is surprising did not occur to this great man.The chief star in Argo is only 37 degrees from the south pole; andthe greatest part of the constellation is much nearer. The course ofthe Argonauts from Greece to Colchis, necessarily lay between 39 and45 degrees of north latitude. It will be evident to any personacquainted with astronomy, that within these latitudes no star of thefirst magnitude, or such as would attract observation, especially inthose times, could be visible. But, what is still more decisiveagainst the whole of Sir Isaac Newton's hypothesis, he takes forgranted that the sphere was invented by the Argonauts: if this indeedcould be proved, it would be easy to fix the era of the Argonauticexpedition; but till such proof is given, all that can be fairlyinferred from an inspection of this sphere is, that it wasconstructed 937 years before Christ. We have dwelt upon this point,because, thinking that the Argonautic expedition was not nearly solate as Newton supposes, we hence regard it as, proportionally to itsantiquity, more creditable to the Greeks, and a stronger proof oftheir advancement in maritime skill and enterprize.

II. Its alleged object was the Golden Fleece: what that actuallywas can only be conjectured;--that no commercial advantages wouldtempt the people of that age is obvious, when we reflect on theirhabits and manners;--that the precious metals would be a powerfulattraction, and would be regarded as cheaply acquired by the mosthazardous enterprizes, is equally obvious. If Sir Walter Raleigh,sound as he was for his era in the science of political economy, wasso far ignorant of the real wealth of nations, as to be disappointedwhen he did not find El Dorado in America, though that countrycontained much more certain and abundant sources of wealth,--can webe surprized if the Greeks, at the time of the Argonautic expedition,could be stimulated to such an enterprize, only by the hope ofobtaining the precious metals? It may, indeed, be contended thatplunder was their object; but it does not seem likely that they wouldhave ventured to such a distance from Greece, or on a navigationwhich they knew to be difficult and dangerous, as well as long, forthe sake of plunder, when there were means and opportunities for itso much nearer home. We must equally reject the opinion of Suidas,that the Golden Fleece was a parchment 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 andother rich furs, which Colchis furnished in abundance. And theremarks which we have made, also apply against the opinion ofEustathius, that the voyage of the Argonauts was at once a commercialand maritime expedition, to open the commerce of the Euxine Sea, andto establish forts on its shore.

Having rendered it probable, from general considerations, that theobject was the obtaining of the precious metals, we shall nextproceed to strengthen this opinion, by showing that they were theproduce of the country near the Black Sea. The gold mines to thesouth of Trebizond, which are still worked with sufficient profit,were a subject of national dispute between Justinian and Chozroes;and, as Gibbon remarks, "it is not unreasonable to believe that avein of precious metal may be equally diffused through the circle ofthe hills." On what account these mines were shadowed out under theappellation of a Golden Fleece, it is not easy to explain. Pliny, andsome other writers, suppose that the rivers impregnated withparticles of gold were carefully strained through sheeps-skins, orfleeces; but these are not the materials that would be used for sucha purpose: it is more probable that, if fleeces were used, they wereset across some of the narrow parts of the streams, in order to stopand collect the particles of gold.

III. It is said that there was an ancient law in Greece, whichforbad any ship to be navigated with more than fifty men, and thatJason was the first who offended against this law. There can belittle doubt, from all the accounts of the ancients, that Jason'sship was larger than the Greeks at that period were accustomed to.Diodorus and Pliny represent it as the first ship of war which wentout of the ports of Greece; that it was comparatively large, wellbuilt and equipped, and well navigated in all respects, must beinferred from its having accomplished such a voyage at that era.

In their course to the Euxine Sea, they visited Lemnos,Samothrace, Troas, Cyzicum, Bithynia, and Thrace; these wanderingsmust have been the result of their ignorance of the navigation ofthose seas. From Thrace they directed their course, without furtherwanderings, to the Euxine Sea. At the distance of four or fiveleagues from the entrance to the sea, are the Cyanean rocks; theArgonauts passed between them not without difficulty and danger;before this expedition, the passage was deemed impracticable, andmany fables were told regarding them: their true situation and formwere first explored by the Argonauts. They now safely entered theEuxine Sea, where they seem to have been driven about for some time,till they discovered Mount Caucasus; this served as a land mark fortheir entrance into the Phasis, when they anchored near OEa, thecapital of Colchis.

IV. The course of the Argonauts to Colchis is well ascertained;and the accessions to the geographical knowledge of that age, whichwe derive from the accounts given of that course, are considerable.But with respect to the route they followed on their return, there ismuch contradiction and fable. All authors agree that they did notreturn by the same route which they pursued in their outward voyage.According to Hesiod, they passed from the Euxine into the EasternOcean; but being prevented from returning by the same route, inconsequence of the fleet of Colchis blockading the Bosphorus, theywere obliged to sail round Ethiopia, and to cross Lybia by land,drawing their vessels after them. In this manner they arrived at theGulph of Syrtis, in the Mediterranean. Other ancient writers conductthe Argonauts back by the Nile, which they supposed to communicatewith the Eastern Ocean; while, by others, they are represented ashaving sailed up the Danube to the Po or the Rhine.

Amidst such obscure and evidently fictitious accounts, it mayappear useless to offer any conjecture; but there is one route bywhich the Argonauts are supposed to have returned, in favour of whichsome probability may be urged. All writers agree in opinion that theydid not return by the route they followed on going to the Euxine; ifthis be true, the least absurd and improbable mode of getting backinto the Mediterranean is to be preferred: of those routes alreadymentioned, all are eminently absurd and impossible. Perhaps the onewe are about to describe, may, in the opinion of some, be deemedequally so; but to us it appears to have some plausibility. Thetradition to which we allude is, that the Argonauts sailed up somesea or river from the Euxine, till they reached the Baltic Sea, andthat they returned by the Northern Ocean through the straits ofHercules, into the Mediterranean. The existence of an ocean from theeast end of the Gulf of Finland to the Caspian or the Euxine Sea, wasfirmly believed by Pliny, and the same opinion prevailed in theeleventh century; for Adam of Bremen says, people [couldsail->could formerly sail] from the Baltic down to Greece. Now thewhole of that tract of country is flat and level, and from the sandsnear Koningsberg, through the calcareous loam of Poland and theUkraine, evidently alluvial and of comparatively recentformation.

If the Trojan war happened, according to the Arundelian Marbles,1209 years before Christ, this event must have been subsequent to theArgonautic expedition only about fifty years: yet, in this shortspace of time, the Greeks had made great advances in the art of shipbuilding, and in navigation. The equipment of the Argonauticexpedition was regarded, at the period it took place, as somethingalmost miraculous; yet the ships sent against Troy seem to haveexcited little astonishment, though, considering the state of Greeceat that period, they were very numerous.

It is foreign to our purpose to regard this expedition in anyother light than as it is illustrative of the maritime skill andattainments of Greece at this era, and so far connected with ourpresent subject. The number of ships employed, according to Homer,amounted to 1186: Thucydides states them at 1200; and Euripides,Virgil, and some other authors, reduce their number to 1000. Theships of the Boeotians were the largest; they carried 120 men each;those of the Philoctetæ were the smallest, each carrying onlyfifty men. Agamemnon had 160 ships; the Athenians fifty; Menelaus,king of Sparta, sixty; but some of his ships seem to have beenfurnished by his allies; whereas all the Athenian vessels belonged toAthens alone. We have already mentioned that Thucydides iscontradicted by Homer, in his assertion that the Greek ships, at thesiege of Troy, had no decks; perhaps, however, they were onlyhalf-decked, as it would appear, from the descriptions of them, thatthe fore-part was open to the keel: they had a mainsail, and wererowed by oars. Greece is so admirably situated for maritime andcommercial enterprize, that it must have been very early sensible ofits advantages in these respects. The inhabitants of the isle ofEgina are represented as the first people in Greece who weredistinguished for their intelligence and success in maritime traffic:soon after the return of the Heraclidæ they possessedconsiderable commerce, and for a long time they are said to have heldthe empire of the adjoining sea. Their naval power and commerce werenot utterly annihilated till the time of Pericles.

The Corinthians, who are not mentioned by Homer as having engagedin the Trojan war, seem, however, not long afterwards, to haveembarked with great spirit and success in maritime commerce; theirsituation was particularly favourable for it, and equally wellsituated to be the transit of the land trade of Greece. Corinth hadtwo ports, one upon each sea. The Corinthians are said to have firstbuilt vessels with three banks of oars, instead of galleys.

Although the Athenians brought a considerable force against Troy,yet they did not engage in maritime commerce till long after theperiod of which we are at present treating.

Of the knowledge which the Greeks possessed at this time, on thesubject of geography, we must draw our most accurate and fullestaccount from the writings of Homer and Hesiod. The former representsthe shield of Achilles as depicting the countries of the globe; on itthe earth was figured as a disk surrounded by the ocean; the centreof Greece was represented as the centre of the world; the diskincluded the Mediterranean Sea, much contracted on the west, and theEgean and part of the Euxine Seas. The Mediterranean was so muchcontracted on this side, that Ithaca, and the neighbouring continent,or at the farthest, the straits which separate Sicily from Italy,were its limits. Sicily itself was just known only as the land ofwonders and fables, though the fable of the Cyclops, who lived in it,evidently must nave been derived from some obscure report of itsvolcano. The fables Homer relates respecting countries to the west ofSicily, cannot even be regarded as having any connection with, orresemblance to the truth. Beyond the Euxine also, in the otherdirection, all is fable. Colchis seems to have been known, though notso accurately as the recent Argonautic expedition might have led usto suppose it would have been. The west coast of Asia Minor, thescene of his great poem, is of course completely within hisknowledge; the Phoenicians and Egyptians are particularly described,the former for their purple stuffs, gold and silver works, maritimescience and commercial skill, and cunning; the latter for their riverEgyptos, and their knowledge of medicine. To the west of Egypt heplaces Lybia, where he says the lambs are born with horns, and thesheep bring forth three times a year.

In the Odyssey he conducts Neptune into Ethiopia; and the accounthe gives seems to warrant the belief, that by the Ethiopians he meantnot merely the Ethiopians of Africa, but the inhabitants of India: weknow that the ancients, even so late as the time of Strabo andPtolemy, considered all those nations as Ethiopians who lived uponthe southern ocean from east to west; or, as Ptolemy expresses it,that under the zodiac, from east to west, inhabit the inhabitantsblack of colour. Homer represents these two nations as respectivelythe last of men, one of them on the east and the other on the west.From his description of the gardens of Alcinous, it may even beinferred that he had received some information respecting the climateof the tropical regions; for this description appears to us ratherborrowed from report, than entirely the produce of imagination.

Close to the gates a spacious garden lies, From storms defendedand inclement skies. Four acres was th' allotted space of ground,Fenc'd with a green enclosure all around, Tall thriving treesconfess'd the fruitful mould; The red'ning apple ripens here to gold.Here the blue fig with luscious juice o'erflows, With deeper red thefull pomegranate glows, The branch here bends beneath the weightypear, And verdant olives flourish round the year. The balmy spirit ofthe western gale Eternal breathes on fruits untaught to fail: Eachdropping pear a following pear supplies, On apples apples, figs onfigs arise: The same mild season gives the blooms to blow, The budsto harden, and the fruits to grow; Here order'd vines in equal ranksappear, With all th' united labours of the year; Some to unload thefertile branches run, Some dry the black'ning clusters in the sun,Others to tread the liquid harvest join, The groaning presses foamwith floods of wine. Here are the vines in early flow'r descry'd,Here grapes discolour'd on the sunny side, And there in autumn'srichest purple dy'd. Beds of all various herbs, for ever green, Inbeauteous order terminate the scene.

Odyssey, b. vii. v. 142.

This description perfectly applies to the luxuriant anduninterrupted vegetation of tropical climates.

From the time of Homer to that of Herodotus, the Greeks spreadthemselves over several parts of the countries lying on theMediterranean sea. About 600 years before Christ, a colony of PhoceanGreeks from Ionia, founded Massilia, the present Marseilles; andbetween the years 500 and 430, the Greeks had established themselvesin Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and even in some of the southernprovinces of Spain. They were invited or compelled to theseemigrations by the prospect of commercial advantages, or by intestinewars; and they were enabled to accomplish their object by thegeographical and nautical charts, which they are said to haveobtained from the Phoenicians, and by means of the sphere constructedby Anaximander the Milesian. The eastern parts of the Mediterranean,however, seem still to have been unexplored. Homer tells us that nonebut pirates ventured at the risk of their lives to steer directlyfrom Crete to Lybia; and when the Ionian deputies arrived at Egina,where the naval forces of Greece were assembled, with an earnestrequest that the fleet might sail to Ionia, to deliver their countryfrom the dominion of Xerxes, who was at that time attempting tosubdue Greece, the request was refused, because the Greeks wereignorant of the course from Delos to Ionia, and because they believedit to be as far from Egina to Samos, as from Egina to the Pillars ofHercules.

CHAPTER II.

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY AND COMMERCIALENTERPRIZE, FROM THE AGE OF HERODOTUS TO THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER THEGREAT, B.C. 324.

From the scanty materials respecting the Phoenicians, with whichwe are supplied by ancient history, it is evident that they foundedseveral colonies, either for the purpose of commerce, or, induced byother motives, in different parts of Africa. Of these colonies, themost celebrated was that of Carthage: a state which maintained anarduous contest with Rome, during the period when the martial ardourand enterprize of that city was most strenuously supported by thestern purity of republican virtue, which more than once drove it tothe brink of ruin, and which ultimately fell, rather through the viceof its own constitution and government, and the jealousies andquarrels of its own citizens, and through the operation of extraneouscirc*mstances, over which it could have no controul, than from thefair and unassisted power of its adversary.

The era of the foundation of Carthage is unknown. According tosome writers, it was built so early as 1233 years before Christ; butthe more general, as well as more probable opinion, assigns it a muchlater foundation--about 818 years before the Christian era. If thisopinion be correct, Rome and Carthage were founded nearly about thesame period. The circ*mstances which led to and accompanied thefoundation of Carthage, though related with circ*mstantial fulness bythe ancient poets, are by no means accurately know to authentichistory.

The situation of Carthage was peculiarly favourable to commerceand maritime enterprize; in the centre of the Mediterranean; in reachof the east as well as of the west; the most fertile, and most highlycultivated 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 forty-five miles in circumference; and its strengthand security were further aided by the isthmus which connected thispeninsula to the main land, as it was little more than three milesbroad; by a projection of land on the west side, which was only halfa stadium in breadth; and by a lake or morass which lay on theopposite side: this projection, which ran out considerably into thesea, was naturally strong by the rocks with which it was covered, andwas rendered still stronger by art. In one point only had thisprojection been neglected; this was an angle, which from thefoundation of the city had been overlooked, advancing into the seatowards the western continent, as far as the harbours, which lay onthe same side of the city. There were two harbours, so placed andconstructed as to communicate with each other. They had one entrance,seventy feet in breadth, which was shut up and secured by strongchains stretched across it. One of these harbours was exclusively setapart for merchant ships; and in its vicinity were to be found everything necessary for the accommodation of the seamen. In the middle ofthe other harbour was an island called Cothon; though, according tosome writers, this was the name of the harbour itself. The wordCothon, we are informed by Festus, (and his etymology is confirmed byBochart and Buxtorf,) signifies, in the oriental languages, a portnot formed by nature, but the result of labour and art. The secondharbour, as well as the island in it, seems to have been intendedprincipally, if not exclusively, for ships of war; and it was socapacious, that of these it would contain 220. This harbour andisland were lined with docks and sheds, which received the ships,when it was necessary to repair them, or protect them from theeffects of the weather. On the key were built extensive ranges ofwharfs, magazines, and storehouses, filled with all the requisitematerials to fit out the ships of war. This harbour seems to havebeen decorated with some taste, and at some expence; so that both itand the island, viewed at a distance, appeared like two extensive andmagnificent galleries. The admiral's palace, which commanded a viewof the mouth of the harbour and of the sea, was also a building ofconsiderable taste. Each harbour had its particular entrance into thecity: a double wall separated them so effectually, that the merchantvessels, when they entered their own harbour, could not see the shipsof war; and though the admiral, from his palace, could perceivewhatever was doing at sea, it was impossible that from the sea anything in the inward harbour could be perceived.

Nor were these advantages, though numerous and great, the onlyones which Carthage enjoyed as a maritime city; for its situation wasso admirably chosen, and that situation so skilfully renderedsubservient to the grand object of the government and citizens, thateven in case the accidents of war should destroy or dispossess themof one of their harbours, they had it in their power, in a greatmeasure, to replace the loss. This was exemplified in a striking andeffective manner at the time when Scipio blocked up the old port; forthe Carthaginians, in a very short time, built a new one, the tracesand remains of which were plainly visible so late as the period whenDr. Shaw visited this part of Africa.

Carthage, at a comparatively early period of its history,possessed a very large extent of sea coast, though in it there werebut few harbours fitted for commerce. The boundaries of theCarthaginian dominions on the west were the PhilænorumAræ, so called from two brothers of this name, who were buriedin the sand at this place, in consequence of a dispute between theCarthaginians and the Cyreneans, respecting the boundaries of theirrespective countries. On the other, or western side, the Carthaginiandominions extended as far as the Pillars of Hercules, a distance,according to Polybius, of 16,000 stadia, or 2000 miles; but,according to the more accurate observations of Dr. Shaw, only 1420geographical miles.

Next to Carthage itself, the city of Utica was most celebrated asa place of commerce: it lay a short distance to the west of Carthage,and on the same bay. It had a large and convenient harbour; and afterthe destruction of Carthage, it became the metropolis of AfricaPropria. Neapolis was also a place of considerable trade, especiallywith Sicily, from which the distance was so short, that the voyagecould be performed in two days and a night. Hippo was a frontier townon the side of Numidia; though Strabo says, there were two of thesame name in Africa Propria. The Carthaginian Hippo had a port,arsenal, storehouses, and citadel: it lay between a large lake andthe sea. We have already noticed the etymological meaning of the wordCothon: that this meaning is accurate may be inferred from the wordbeing applied to several artificial harbours in the Carthaginiandominion, besides that of Cartilage itself: it was applied to theport of Adrumetum, a large city built on a promontory,--and to theport of Thapsus, a maritime town, situated on a kind of isthmus,between the sea and a lake. The artificial nature, of this latterharbour is placed beyond all doubt, as there is still remaining agreat part of it built on frames: the materials are composed ofmortar and small pebbles, so strongly and closely cemented, that theyhave the appearance, as well as durability, of solid rock. It issingular, that in the dominions of Carthage, extending, as we haveseen, upwards of 1400 miles along the shores of the Mediterranean,there should be no river of any magnitude or importance for commerce:the Bagrada and the Catada alone are noticed by ancient historians,and both of these were insignificant streams.

Having thus pointed out the natural advantages for commercepossessed by the Carthaginians, we shall next proceed to notice suchof their laws, and such parts of their political institutions, andfeatures of their character, as either indicated their bias forcommerce, or tended to strengthen it. The monarchical government ofCarthage was not of long continuance; it afterwards becamerepublican, though the exact form of the republic is not certainlyknown. As late as the time of Aristotle, there seems to have beensuch a complete and practical counterpoise of the powers in which thesupreme authority was vested, that, according to him, there had beenno instance from the foundation of the city, of any popularcommotions sufficient to disturb its tranquillity; nor, on the otherhand, of any tyrant, who had been able to destroy its liberty. Thissagacious philosopher foresaw the circ*mstance which would destroythe constitution of Carthage; for when there was a disagreementbetween the two branches of the legislature, the suffetes and thesenate, the question in dispute was referred to the people, and theirresolve became the law. Till the second and third wars between Romeand Carthage, no fatal effects resulted from this principle of theconstitution; but during these, the people were frequently calledupon to exercise their dangerous authority and privileges; the senateyielded to them; cabals and factions took place among those who wereanxious to please, for the purpose of guiding the people; rashmeasures were adopted, the councils and the power of Carthage becamedistracted and weak, and its ruin was precipitated and completed.

But though to this defect in the constitution of Carthage its ruinmay partly be ascribed, there can be little doubt that commerceflourished by means of the popular form of its government. Commercewas the pursuit of all ranks and classes, as well as the main concernand object of the government The most eminent persons in the statefor power, talents, birth, and riches, applied themselves to it withas much ardour and perseverance as the meanest citizens; and thissimilarity and equality of pursuit, as it sprang in some measure fromthe republican equality of the constitution, so also it tended topreserve it.

The notices which we possess respecting the political institutionsof the Carthaginians are very scanty, and are almost entirely derivedfrom Aristotle: according to him they had a custom, which must atonce have relieved the state from those whom it could not wellsupport, and have tended to enlarge the sphere of their commercialenterprize. They sent, as occasion required, colonies to differentparts, and these colonies, keeping up their connection with themother country, not only drew off her superabundant trade, but alsosupplied her with many articles she could not otherwise have procuredat so easy and cheap a rate.

The fertility and high state of cultivation of those parts ofAfrica which adjoined Carthage, has already been alluded to; andtheir exports consisted either of the produce of those parts, or oftheir own manufactures. Of the former there were all kinds ofprovisions; wax, oil, honey, skins, fruits, &c.; their principalmanufactures were cables, especially those fit for large vessels,made of the shrub spartum; all other kinds of naval stores;dressed leather; the particular dye or colour, called from thempunic, the preparation of which seems not to be known; toys, &c.&c. From Egypt they imported flax, papyrus, &c.; from the RedSea, spices, drugs, perfumes, gold, pearls, &c.; from thecountries on the Levant, silk stuffs, scarlet and purple dyes,&c.; and from the west of Europe their principal imports seem tohave been iron, lead, tin, and the other useful metals.

Such was the commerce by sea, as far as the imperfect notices onthis subject, by the ancient historians, instruct us: but they alsocarried on a considerable and lucrative commerce by land, especiallywith the Persians and Ethiopians. The caravans of these nationsgenerally resorted to Carthage; the rarest and most esteemed articleswhich they brought were carbuncles, which, by means of this traffic,became so plenty in this city, that they were generally known by theappellation of Carthaginian gems. The mode of selling by auctionseems to have been practised by this nation; at least there arepassages in the ancient authors, particularly one in Polybius, whichwould naturally lead to the conclusion, that in the sale of theirmerchandize, the Carthaginians employed a person to name and describetheir various kinds and qualities, and also a clerk to note down theprice at which they were sold. Their mode of trafficking with rudenations, unaccustomed to commerce, as described by Herodotus,strongly resembles that which has been often adopted by ournavigators, when they arrive on the coast of a savage people.According to this historian, the Carthaginians trafficked with theLybians, who inhabited the western coast of Africa, in the followingmanner: having conducted their vessels into some harbour or creek,they landed the merchandize which they meant to exchange or disposeof, and placed it in such a manner and situation, as exposed it tothe view of the inhabitants, and at the same time indicated thepurpose for which it was thus exposed. They afterwards lighted a fireof such materials as caused a great smoke; this attracted the Lybiansto the spot, who laid down such a quantity of gold as they deemed anadequate price for the merchandize, and then retired. TheCarthaginians next approached and examined the gold: if they deemedit sufficient, they took it away, and left the merchandize; if theydid not, they left both. In the latter event, the Lybians againreturned, and added to the quantity of gold; and this, if necessary,was repeated, till the Carthaginians, by taking it away, shewed thatin their judgment it was an adequate price for their goods. Duringthe whole of this transaction, no intercourse or words passed, nordid the Carthaginians even touch the gold, nor the Lybians themerchandize, till the former took away the gold.

The earliest notice we possess of a commercial alliance formed bythe Carthaginians, fixes it a very few years before the birth ofHerodotus: it was concluded between them and the Romans about theyear 503 before Christ. The Carthaginians were the first nation theRomans were connected with out of Italy. Polybius informs us, that inhis time (about 140 years before Christ) this treaty, written in theold language of Rome, then nearly unintelligible, was extant on thebase of a column, and he has given a translation of it: the terms ofpeace between the Carthaginians and their allies, and the Romans andtheir allies, were to the following purport. The latter agreed not tosail beyond the fair promontory, (which lay, according to ourhistorian, a very short distance to the north of Carthage,) unlessthey were driven beyond it by stress of weather, or by an enemy'svessel. In case they were obliged to land, or were shipwrecked, theywere not to take or purchase any thing, except what they might need,to repair their ships, or for the purpose of sacrifice. And in nocase, or under no pretext, were they to remain on shore above fivedays. 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 makea return to government of all the goods that were bought or sold inAfrica and Sardinia. It was moreover provided, that if the Romansshould visit any places in Sicily, subject to the Carthaginians, theyshould be civilly treated, and have justice done them in everyrespect. On the other hand, the Carthaginians bound themselves not tointerfere with any of the Italian allies, or subjects of the Romans;nor build any fort in their territory. Such were the principalarticles in this commercial treaty; from it, it appears, that soearly as the year 503 before Christ, the first year after theexpulsion of the Tarquins, and twenty-eight years before the invasionof Greece by Xerxes, the Carthaginians were in possession ofSardinia, and part of Sicily;--that they were also acquainted with,and had visited the coasts of Italy; and there are expressions in thetreaty, which render it highly probable that the Carthaginians had,before this period, attempted to establish, either for commerce orconquest, colonies and forts in Italy: it is also evident that theywere acquainted with the art of fortification.

Though it will carry us rather out of chronological order, it maybe proper to notice in this place a second treaty of commerce betweenthe Carthaginians and Romans, which was entered into about 333 yearsbefore Christ, during the consulship of Valerius Corvus, and PopiliusLaenas. The Carthaginians came to Rome for the purpose of concludingthis treaty: it differed in some particulars from the former, and wasto the following effect. The Romans and their allies were to possessthe friendship of the people of Carthage, the Tyrians, and theinhabitants of Utica, provided they carried on no hostilities againstthem, and did not trade beyond the fair promontory, Mastica andTarseium. In case the Carthaginians should take any town in Italy,not under the jurisdiction of the Romans, they might plunder it, butafter that they were to give it up to the Romans. Any captives takenin Italy, who in any Roman port should be challenged by the Romans asbelonging to any state in amity with Rome, were to be immediatelyrestored. The Romans, in case they put into the harbours of theCarthaginians, or their allies, to take in water or othernecessaries, were not to be molested or injured; but they were not tocarry on any commerce in Africa or Sardinia; nor even land on thosecoasts, except to purchase necessaries, and refit their ships: insuch cases, only five days were allowed them, at the expiration ofwhich they were to depart. But, in the towns of Sicily belonging tothe Carthaginians, and even in the city of Carthage itself, theRomans were permitted to trade, enjoying the same rights andprivileges as the Carthaginians; and, on the other hand, theCarthaginians were to be allowed to traffic in Rome on terms equallyfavourable.

It is not our intention, because it would be totally foreign tothe object and nature of this work, to give a history of Carthage;but only to notice such events and transactions, supplied by itshistory, as are illustrative of the commercial enterprise of by farthe most enterprising commercial nation of antiquity. In conformityto this plan, we shall briefly notice their first establishment inSpain, as it was from the mines of this country that they drew greatwealth, and thus were enabled, not only to equip formidable fleetsand armies, but also to extend their traffic very considerably.

The city of Cadiz, was founded by the Phoenicians, as well asCarthage; and as there was a close connection between most of thePhoenician colonies, it is probable that some time before theCarthaginians established themselves in Spain, they traded with thepeople of Cadiz: at any rate it is certain, that when the latter werehard pressed by the Spaniards, they applied to the Carthaginians forassistance: this was readily given, and being effectual, theCarthaginians embraced the opportunity, and the pretext thus affordedfor establishing themselves in the part of Spain adjoining Cadiz. Itis singular, however, that though the Carthaginians were inpossession of Majorca and Minorca from so remote an antiquity, "thattheir first arrival there is prior to every thing related of them byany historian now extant," yet they do not seem to have establishedthemselves on the main land of Spain till they assisted the people ofCadiz. With respect to the other foreign possessions of theCarthaginians, we have already seen that, at the period of theirfirst treaty with the Romans, they occupied Sardinia and part ofSicily; and there are several passages in the ancient historians,particularly in Herodotus, which render it highly probable that theyhad establishments in Corsica about the same time. Malta and itsdependent islands were first peopled by the Phoenicians, and seemafterwards to have fallen into the possession of theCarthaginians.

Of the particular voyages undertaken by the Carthaginians, for thepurpose either of discovery or of commercial enterprise, we possesslittle information; as, however, these topics are most particularlywithin the scope of our work, it will be indispensable to detail allthe information relating to them which can be collected. The voyagesof Hamilcar or Himilco, as he is called by some historians, and ofHanno, are the most celebrated, or, rather, to speak more accurately,the only voyages of the Carthaginians of which we possess anydetails, either with regard to their object or consequences. Himilco,who was on officer in the navy of Carthage, was sent by the senate toexplore the western coasts of Europe: a journal of his voyage, and anaccount of his discoveries, were, according to the custom of thenation, inscribed in the Carthaginian annals. But the onlyinformation respecting them which we now possess, is derived from thewritings of the Latin poet Rufus Festus Avienus. This poet flourishedunder Theodosius, A.D. 450, translated the Phænomena of Aratus,and Dionysius's Description of the World, and also wrote an originalpoem, on the sea coasts. In the last he mentions Himilco, andintimates that he saw the original journal of his voyage in theCarthaginian annals. According to the account of Festus, the voyageof Himilco lasted four months, or rather he sailed for the space offour months, towards the north, and arrived at the isles Ostrymnidesand the coast of Albion. In the extracts given by Avienus from thejournal of Himilco, frequent mention is made of lead and tin, and ofships cased with leather (or, more probably, entirely made of thatmaterial, like the coracles still used by the Greenlanders, and evenin Wales, for crossing small rivers). In these parts, he adds, theEast Rymni lived, with whom the people of Tartessus and Carthagetraded: we have given this appellation to the inhabitants of theisles Ostrymnides, because in the first part of the latter word, theTeutonic word, OEst, distinctly appears.

Hanno was sent by the senate to explore the western coast ofAfrica, and to establish Carthaginian colonies wherever he might deemit expedient or advantageous. He sailed from Carthage with a fleet of60 vessels, each rowed with 50 oars, and had besides, a convoycontaining 30,000 persons of both sexes. He wrote a relation of hisvoyage, 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, PomponiusMela, and Pliny. The era at which it was performed, and the extent ofthe voyage, have given rise to much discussion. Isaac Vossius fixesthe date of it prior to the age of Homer: Vossius the father,subsequent to it: Wesseling doubts whether it was even prior toHerodotus. Campomanes fixes it about the 93d Olympiad: and Mr.Dodwell somewhere between the 92d and the 129th Olympiad. Accordingto Pliny, Hanno and Himilco were contemporaries; the latter authormentions the commentaries of Hanno, but in such a manner as if he hadnot seen, and did not believe them.

With respect to the extent of his voyage along the western coastof Africa, some modern writers assert, without any authority, that hedoubled the Cape of Good Hope: this assertion is made in directunqualified terms by Mickle the translator of the Lusiad. Otherwriters limit the extent of his navigation to Cape Nun; while,according to other geographers, he sailed as far as Cape ThreePoints, on the coast of Guinea. That there should be any doubt on thesubject appears surprising; for, as Dr. Vincent very justly remarks,we have Hanno's own authority to prove that he never was within 40degrees of the Cape.

That the Carthaginians, before the voyage of Hanno, had discoveredthe Canary Islands, is rendered highly probable, from the accounts ofDiodorus Siculus, and Aristotle: the former mentions a large,beautiful, and fertile island, to which the Carthaginians, in theevent of any overwhelming disorder, had determined to remove theirgovernment; and Aristotle relates that they were attracted to abeautiful island in such numbers, that the senate were obliged toforbid any further emigration to it on pain of death.

The voyages of the Carthaginians were, from the situation of theirterritory, and the imperfect state of geography and navigation atthat period, usually confined to the Mediterranean and to the westernshores of Africa and Europe; but several years antecedent to the dateusually assigned to the voyages of Himilco and Hanno, a voyage ofdiscovery is said to have been accomplished by the king of a nationlittle given to maritime affairs. We allude to the voyage of Scylax,undertaken at the command of Darius the son of Hystaspes, about 550years before Christ. There are several circ*mstances respecting thisvoyage which deserve attention or examination; the person whoperformed it, is said by Herodotus, (from whom we derive all ourinformation on the subject), to have been a native of Caryandria, orat least an inhabitant of Asia Minor: he was therefore most probablya Greek: he was a geographer and mathematician of some eminence, andby some writers is supposed to have first invented geographicaltables. According to Herodotus, Darius, after his Scythianexpedition, in order to facilitate his design of conquest in thedirection of India, resolved, in the first place, to make a discoveryof that part of the world. For this purpose he built and fitted out afleet at Cespatyrus, a city on the Indus, towards the upper part ofthe navigable course of that river. The ships, of course, firstsailed to the mouth of the Indus, and during their passage thecountry on each side was explored. The directions given to Scylaxwere, after he entered the ocean, to steer to the westward, and thusreturn to Persia. Accordingly, he is said to have coasted from themouth of the Indus to the Straits of Babelmandel, where he enteredthe Red Sea; and on the 30th month from his first embarking he landedat Egypt, at the same place from which Necho, king of that country,had despatched the Phoenicians to circumnavigate Africa. From Egypt,Scylax returned to Susa, where he gave Darius a full account of hisexpedition.

The reality of this voyage, or at least the accuracy of some ofthe particulars it records, has been doubted. Scylax describes thecourse of the Indus to the east; whereas it runs to the south-west.It is also worthy of remark, that as Darius, before the voyage ofScylax, was master of the Attock, Peukeli, and Multan, he needed noinformation respecting the route to India, as every conqueror hasfollowed this very obvious and easy route. Dr. Vincent also objectsto the authority of this voyage, or rather to the track assigned toit: "I cannot believe," he observes, "from the state of navigation inthat age, that Scylax could perform a voyage round India, from whichthe bravest of Alexander's navigators shrunk, or that men who hadexplored the desert coast of Gadrosia, should be less daring than anexperienced native of Caryandria. They returned with amazement fromthe sight of Mussenden and Ras-al-had, while Scylax succeeded withouta difficulty upon record. But the obstacles to such a voyage arenumerous; first, whether Pactzia be Peukeli, and Caspatyrus, Multan:secondly, if Darius were master of Multan, whether he could send aship or a fleet down the sea, through tribes, where Alexander foughthis way at every step: thirdly, whether Scylax had any knowledge ofthe Indian Ocean, the coast, or the monsoon: fourthly, if the coastof Gadrosia were friendly, which is doubtful, whether he couldproceed along the coast of Arabia, which must be hostile from port toport: these and a variety of other difficulties which Nearchusexperienced, from famine, from want of water, from the constructionof his ships, and from the manners of the natives, must induce anincredulity in regard to the Persian account, whatever respect we mayhave to the fidelity of Herodotus."

Such are the objections urged by Dr. Vincent to the authority ofthis voyage. In some of the particular objections there may beconsiderable force; but with respect to the general ones, from themanners or hostility of the natives inhabiting the coasts along whichthe voyage was performed, they apply equally to the voyages of theCarthaginians along the western coasts of Africa and Europe, andindeed to all the voyages of discovery, or distant voyages of theancients. It may be added, that according to Strabo, Posidoniusdisbelieved the whole history of Scylax. In the Geographi Minores ofHudson, a voyage ascribed to Scylax is published; but great doubtsare justly entertained on the subject of its authenticity. Dodwell isdecidedly against it. The Baron de Sainte Croix, in a dissertationread before the Academy of Inscriptions, defends the work which bearsthe name of Scylax as genuine. Dr. Vincent states one strongobjection to its authenticity: mention is made in it of Dardanus,Rhetium, and Illium, in the Troad; whereas there is great doubtwhether Rhetium was in existence in the time of the real Scylax:besides, it is remarkable that nothing is said respecting India inthe treatise now extant. That the original and genuine work describedIndia is, however, undoubted, on the authority of Aristotle, whomentions that there was such a person as Scylax, that he had been inIndia, and that his account of that country was extant in his(Aristotle's) time.

In fact, the work which we possess under the name of Scylax, isevidently a collection of the itineraries of ancient navigators: itmay have been drawn up by the Scylax whom Darius employed, though, ifthat were the case, it is very extraordinary he should not haveincluded the journal of his own voyage; or his name, as that of acelebrated geographer may have been put to it; or there may have beenanother geographer of that name. The collection is evidentlyimperfect; what is extant contains the coasts of the Palus Maeotis,the Euxine, the Archipelago, the Adriatic, and all the Mediterranean,with the west coast of Africa, as far as the isle of Cerne, which heasserts to be the limit of the Carthaginian navigation and commercein that direction. The sea, according to him, is not navigablefurther to the south than this island, on account of the thick weedswith which it was covered. The mention of this impediment is adducedby D'Anville to prove the reality of the Carthaginian voyages to thesouth: it is not, indeed, true, that the sea is impassable on accountof these weeds to modern navigators, but it is easy to conceive thatthe timidity and inexperience of the ancients, as well as theimperfect construction of their vessels, would prevent them fromproceeding further south, when they met with such a singularobstacle. If a ship has not much way through the water, theseweeds will impede her course. It has been very justly remarked, thatif the latitude where these weeds commence was accurately determined,it would fix exactly the extent of the voyages of the Carthaginiansin this direction. The weed alluded to is probably the fucus natans,or gulf-weed.

Hitherto the knowledge that the ancients possessed of thehabitable world, had not been collected by any writer, and is to begathered entirely from short, vague, and evidently imperfectnarrations, scattered throughout a great number of authors. Herodotushas been celebrated as the father of history; he may with equaljustice be styled the father of geographical knowledge: he flourishedabout 474 years before Christ. In dwelling upon the advances togeographical knowledge which have been derived from him, it will beproper and satisfactory, before we explain the extent and nature ofthem, to give an account of the sources from which he derived hisinformation; those were his own travels, and the narrations orjournals of other travellers. A great portion of the vigour of hislife seems to have been spent in travelling; the oppressive tyrannyof Lygdamis over Halicarnassus, his native country, first induced orcompelled him to travel; whether he had not also imbibed a portion ofthe commercial activity and enterprize which distinguished hiscountrymen, is not known, but is highly probable. We are not informedwhether his fortune were such as to enable him, without entering intocommercial speculations, to support the expences of his travels; itis evident, however, from the extent of his travels, as well as fromthe various, accurate, and, in many cases, most importantinformation, which he acquired, that these expences must have beenvery considerable. From his work it is certain that he was endowedwith that faculty of eliciting the truth from fabulous, imperfect, orcontradictory evidence, at all times so necessary to a traveller, andindispensably so at the period when he travelled, and in most of thecountries where his enquiries and his researches were carried on. Hisgreat and characteristic merit consists in freeing his mind from theopinions which must have previously occupied it;--in trustingentirely either to what e himself saw, or to what he learned from thebest authority;--always, however, bringing the information acquiredin this latter mode to the test of his own observation and goodsense. It is from the united action and guidance of these twoqualifications--individual observation and experience gained by mostpatient and diligent research and enquiry on the spot, and a highdegree of perspicacity, strength of intellect, and good sense,separating the truth from the fable of all he learnt from theobservation and experience of others, that Herodotus has justlyacquired so high degree of reputation, and that in almost everyinstance modern travellers find themselves anticipated by him, evenon points in which such a coincidence was the least likely.

His travels embraced a variety of countries. The Greek colonies inthe Black Sea were visited by him: he measured the extent of thatsea, from the Bosphorus to the mouth of the river Phasis, at theeastern extremity. All that track of country which lies between theBorysthenes and the Hypanis, and the shores of the Palus Maeotis, hediligently explored. With respect to the Caspian, his informationaffords a striking proof of his accuracy, even when gained, as it wasin this instance, from the accounts of others. He describes itexpressly as a sea by itself, unconnected with any other: its length,he adds, is as much as a vessel with oars can navigate in fifteendays: its greatest breadth as much as such a vessel can navigate ineight days. It may be added, as a curious proof and illustration ofthe decline of geographical knowledge, or, at least, of the want ofconfidence placed in the authority of Herodotus by subsequent ancientgeographers, that Strabo, Pomponius Mela, and Pliny, represent theCaspian Sea as a bay, communicating with the great Northern Ocean;and that even Arrian, who, in respect to care and accuracy, bears noslight resemblance to Herodotus, and for some time resided asgovernor of Cappadocia, asserts that there was a communicationbetween the Caspian Sea and the Eastern Ocean.

But to return from this digression to the geographical knowledgeof Herodotus, as derived from his own travels, he visited Babylon andSusa, and while there, or perhaps in excursions from those places,made himself well acquainted with the Persian empire. The whole ofEgypt was most diligently and thoroughly explored by him, as well asthe Grecian colonies planted at Cyrene, in Lybia. He traced thecourse of the river Ister, from its mouth nearly as far as itssource. The extent of his travels in Greece is not accurately known;but his description of the Straits of Thermopylae is evidently theresult of his own observation. All these countries, together with aportion of the south of Italy, were visited by him. The informationwhich his history conveys respecting other parts of the world wasderived from others: in most cases, it would seem, from personalenquiries and conversation with them, so that he had an opportunityof rendering the information thus acquired much more complete, aswell as satisfactory, than it would have been if it had been derivedfrom their journals.

Herodotus trusted principally or entirely to the information hereceived, with respect to the interior of Africa and the north ofEurope, and Asia to the east of Persia. While he was in Egypt heseems to have been particularly inquisitive and interested respectingthe caravans which travelled into the interior of Africa; andregarding their equipment, route, destination, and object, he hascollected a deal of curious and instructive information. On theauthority of Etearchus, king of the Ammonians, he relates a journeyinto the interior of Africa, undertaken by five inhabitants of thecountry near the Gulf of Libya; and, in this journey, there is goodreason to believe that the river Niger is accurately described, atleast as far as regards the direction of its course.

It is evident from the introduction to his third book that theGreek merchants of his time were eminently distinguished for theircourage, industry, and abilities; that in pursuit of commercialadvantages they visited very remote and barbarous countries in thenorth-eastern parts of Europe, and the adjacent parts of Asia; andthat the Scythians permitted the Greek merchants of the Euxine topenetrate farther to the east and north "than we can trace theirprogress by the light of modern information." To them Herodotus wasmuch indebted for the geographical knowledge which he displays ofthose parts of the world; and it is by no means improbable that thespirit of commercial enterprize which invited the Greek merchants onthe Euxine to penetrate among the barbarous nations of thenorth-east, also led them far to the east and south-east; and thatfrom them, as well as from his personal enquiries, while at Babylonand Susa, Herodotus derived much of the information with which he hasfavoured us respecting the country on the Indus, and the borders ofCashmere and Arabia. Having thus pointed out the sources from whichHerodotus derived his geographical knowledge, we shall now sketch thelimits of that knowledge, as well as mention in what respects heyielded to the fabulous and absurd notions of his contemporaries.

He fails most in endeavouring to give a general and combined ideaof the earth; even where his separate sketches are clear andaccurate, when united they lose both their accuracy and clearness. Heseems to doubt whether he should divide the world into three parts;and at last, having admitted such a division, he makes the riversPhasis and Araxes, and the Caspian Sea, the boundaries between Europeand Asia; and to Europe he assigns an extent greater than Asia andLibya taken together. His knowledge of the west of Europe was veryimperfect: in some part he fixes the Cassiterides, from which thePhoenicians derived their tin. The Phoenician colony of Gadez wasknown to him. His geography extended to the greater part of Polandand European Russia. Such appear to have been its limits with respectto Europe; and such the general notion he entertained of this quarterof the world. As to Asia, he believed that a fleet sent by Darius hadcircumnavigated it from the Indus to the confines of Egypt; butthough his general idea of it was thus erroneous, he possessedaccurate information respecting it from the confines of Europe to theIndus. Of the countries to the east of that river, as well as of thewhole of the north and southern parts of it, he was completelyignorant. He particularly notices that the Eastern Ethiopians, orIndians, differ from those of Africa by their long hair, as opposedto the woolly head of the African. In his account of India heinterweaves much that is fabulous; but in the same manner as moderndiscoveries in geography have confirmed many things in Herodotuswhich were deemed errors in his geography, so it has been ascertainedthat even his fables have, in most instances, a foundation in fact.With regard to Africa, his knowledge of Egypt, and of the country tothe north of it, seems to have been very accurate, and more minuteand satisfactory than his knowledge of any other part of the world.It is highly probable that he was acquainted with the course of thewestern branch of the Nile, as far as the 11th degree of latitude. Hecertainly knew the real course of the Niger. On the east coast ofAfrica he was well acquainted with the shores of the Arabian Gulph;but though he sometimes mentions Carthage, and describes the trafficcarried on, without the intervention of language, between theCarthaginians and a nation beyond the Pillars of Hercules, which wenave already mentioned in treating of the commerce of theCarthaginians, yet he seems to have been unacquainted with any pointbetween Carthage and the Pillars of Hercules.

In the history of Herodotus, there is an account of a mapconstructed by Aristagoras, tyrant of Miletus, when he proposed toCleomenes, king of Sparta, to attack Darius, king of Persia, at Susa;from this account, the vague, imperfect, and erroneous ideasentertained in his time of the relative situations and distances ofplaces, as well as of the extremely rude and feeble advances whichhad been made towards the construction of maps, may be inferred.Major Rennell, in his Illustrations of Herodotus, has endeavoured toascertain from his history the parallel and meridian ofHalicarnassus, the birth-place of the historian. According to him,they intersect at right angles over that town, cutting the 37thdegree of north latitude, and the 45-1/2 of east longitude, from theFortunate Islands.

For a considerable period after the time of Herodotus, theancients seem to have been nearly stationary in their knowledge ofthe world. About 368 years before Christ, Eudoxus, of Cnidus, whosedesire of studying astronomy induced him to visit Egypt, Asia, andItaly, who first attempted to explain the planetary motions, and whois said to have discovered the inclination of the moon's orbit, andthe retrograde motion of her nodes, is celebrated as having firstapplied geographical observations to astronomy; but he does notappear to have directed his researches or his conjectures towards thefigure or the circumference of the earth, or the distances orrelative situations of any places on its surface.

Nearly about the same period that Eudoxus died Aristotleflourished. This great philosopher, collecting and combining into onesystem of geographical knowledge the discoveries and observations ofall who had preceded him, stamped on them a dignity and value theyhad not before possessed, as well as rendered them less liable to beforgotten or misapplied: he inferred the sphericity of the earth fromthe observations of travellers, that the stars seen in Greece werenot visible in Cyprus or Egypt; and thus established the fundamentalprinciple of all geography. But though this science, in its mostimportant branch, derived much benefit from his powerful mind, yet itwas not advanced in its details. He supposed the coasts of Spain notvery distant from those of India; and he even embraced a modifiednotion of Homer's Ocean River, which had been ridiculed and rejectedby Herodotus; for he describes the habitable earth as a great ovalisland, surrounded by the ocean, terminated on the west by the riverTartessius, (supposed to be the Guadelquiver,) on the east by theIndus, and on the north by Albion and Ierne, of which islands hisideas were necessarily very vague and imperfect. In some otherrespects, however, his knowledge was more accurate: he coincides withHerodotus in his description of the Caspian Sea, and expressly statesthat it ought to be called a great lake, not a sea. A short periodbefore Aristotle flourished, that branch of geography which relatesto the temperature of different climates, and other circ*mstancesaffecting health, was investigated with considerable diligence,ingenuity, and success, by the celebrated physician Hippocrates. Inthe course of his journeys, with this object in view, he seems tohave followed the plan and the route of Herodotus, and sometimes tohave even penetrated farther than he did.

Pytheas, of Marseilles, lived a short time before Alexander theGreat: he is celebrated for his knowledge in astronomy, mathematics,philosophy, and geography, and for the ardour and perseverance withwhich either a strong desire for information, or the characteristiccommercial spirit of his townspeople, or both united, carried himforward in the path of maritime discovery. The additions, however,which he made to geography as a science, or to the sciencesintimately connected with it, are more palpable and undisputed, thanthe extent and discoveries of his voyages.

He was the first who established a distinction of climate by thelength of days and nights: and he is said to have discovered thedependence of the tides upon the position of the moon, affirming thatthe flood-tide depended on the increase of the moon, and the ebb onits decrease. By means of a gnomon he observed, at the summersolstice at Marseilles, that the length of the shadow was to theheight of the gnomon as 120 to 41-1/5; or, in other words, that theobliquity of the ecliptic was 23:50. He relates, that in the countrywhich he reached in his voyage to the north, the sun, at the time ofthe summer solstice, touched the northern part of the horizon: hepointed out three stars near the pole, with which the north starformed a square; and within this square, he fixed the true place ofthe pole. According to Strabo, he considered the island of Thule asthe most western part of the then known world, and reckoned hislongitude from thence.

With respect to the extent and discoveries of his voyage to thenorth, there is great difference of opinion. The veracity of Pytheasis utterly denied by Strabo and Polybius, and is strongly suspectedby Dr. Vincent: on the other hand, it has found able supporters inD'Anville, Huet, Gessner, Murray of Goettingen, Gosselin, and MalteBrun; and in our opinion, though it may not be easy to ascertain whatwas really the country which be reached in his voyage, and thoughsome of the particulars he mentions may be fabulous, orirreconcileable with one another, yet it seems carrying scepticismtoo far to reject, on these accounts, his voyage as altogether afiction.

The account is, that Pytheas departed from Marseilles, coastedSpain, France, and the east or north-east side of Britain, as far asits northern extremity. Taking his departure from this, he continuedhis voyage, as he says, to the north, or perhaps to the north-east;and after six days' navigation, he arrived at a land called Thule,which he states to be 46,300 stadia from the equator. So far there isnothing improbable or inconsistent; but when he adds, that beingthere at the summer solstice, he saw the sun touching the northernpoint of the horizon, and at the same time asserts that the day andnight were each of six months' continuance, there is a palpablecontradiction: and when he adds, that millet was cultivated in thenorth of this country, and wheat in the south, and that honeyabounded, he mentions productions utterly incompatible with hisdescription of the climate and latitude.

As, however, this voyage forms an important epoch in the historyof discovery, it may be proper to endeavour to ascertain what countrythe Thule of Pytheas really was. We have already observed, that theday's sail of an ancient vessel was 500 stadia, or 50 miles;supposing the largest stadia of 666-2/3 equal to one degree of theequator, if the vessel sailed during the night as well as day, thecourse run was, on an average, 1000 stadia, or 100 miles. Now, as thevoyage from the extremity of Britain to Thule was of course not acoasting voyage, and as the nights in that latitude, at the season ofthe year when the voyage was made, were very short, (Pytheas says thenight was reduced to two or three hours) we must suppose that hesailed night as well as day; and consequently, that in six days hehad sailed 600 miles, either directly north or to east or west of thenorth, for his exact course cannot well be made out.

What country lies 600 miles to the north or the north-east of theextremity of Britain? None exactly in this direction: if, however, wesuppose that Pytheas could not fix exactly the point of the compasswhich he steered, (a supposition by no means improbable, consideringthe ignorance of the ancients,) and that his course tended to thewest of the north, 600 miles would bring him nearly to Greenland.There were, however, other stadia besides those by which we computedthe day's sail of the ancients; and though the stadia we have takenare more generally alluded to by the ancients, yet it may be properto ascertain what results will be produced if the other stadia aresupposed to have been used in this instance. The stadia we havealready founded our calculations upon will bring us to the latitudeof 69° 27': the latitude of the southernmost point of Greenlandis very nearly 70°. But the description given by Pytheas of theproductions of the country by no means coincides with Greenland. Atthe same time, other parts of his description agree with thiscountry; particularly when he says, that there the sea, the earth,and the air, seem to be confounded in one element. In the south ofGreenland the longest day is two months which does not coincide withPytheas' account; though this, as we have already pointed out, iscontradictory with itself.

Let us now consider what will be the result if we suppose that adifferent stadia were employed: the next in point of extent to thaton which we have already founded our conjectures, (there being 700equal to one degree of the equator) will bring him to the latitude of66° 8'; the latitude of the northernmost part of Iceland is66° 30', coinciding with this result as nearly as possible. Thedescription of the climate agrees with Pytheas' description; but nothis account of the length of the day, nor of the productions of thecountry. Of the third kind of stadia, 833-1/3 were equal to onedegree of the equator; calculating that 1000 of these were sailedduring a day and night's voyage, Pytheas would arrive in the latitudeof 55° 34', at the end of six days. This, however, is absolutelyat variance with the fact, that he took his departure from thenorthernmost point of Britain, and would in fact bring him back fromit 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 isthe country at which he arrived. But this obliges us to believe thathis course from the northern extremity of Britain, instead of beingnorth or north-east, or indeed at all to the north, was in factsouth-west; a supposition which cannot be admitted, unless we imaginethat the ancients were totally ignorant of the course which theysteered. On the other hand, Pytheas' description of the productionsof Thule agrees with Jutland; the culture of millet in the north, andof wheat 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 ofthe coast still denominated Thyland; and in the ancient language ofScandinavia, Thiuland. The account of Pytheas, that near Thule, thesea, air, and earth, seemed to be confounded in one element, issupposed by Malte Brun to allude to the sandy downs of Jutland, whosehills shift with the wind; the marshes, covered with a crust of sand,concealing from the traveller the gulf beneath, and the fogs of apeculiarly dense nature which frequently occur. We must confess,however, that the course having been north, or north-east, ornorth-west, for this latitude of course may be allowed inconsideration of the ignorance or want of accuracy of the ancients,never can have brought Pytheas to a country lying to the south-westof the extremity of Britain.

We are not assisted in finding out the truth, if, instead offounding our calculations and conjectures on the distance sailed inthe six days, we take for their basis the distance which Pytheasstates Thule to be from the equator. This distance, we have alreadymentioned, was 46,300 stadia; which, according as the different kindsof stadia are calculated upon, will give respectively the latitude ofthe south of Greenland, of the north of Iceland, or of the west coastof Jutland; or, in other words, the limit of Pytheas' voyage will bedetermined to be in the same latitude, whether we ascertain it by theaverage length of the day and night's sail of the vessels of theancients, or by the distance from the equator which he assigns toThule. It may be proper to state, that there is a district on thecoast of Norway, between the latitudes of 60° and 62°, calledThele, or Thelemarle. Ptolemy supposes this to have been the Thule ofPytheas, Pliny places it within three degrees of the pole,Eratosthenes under the polar circle. The Thule discovered byAgricola, and described by Tacitus, is evidently either the Orkney orthe Shetland Islands.

It may appear presumptuous as well as useless, after this displayof the difficulties attending the question, to offer any newconjecture; and many of our renders may deem it a point of very minorimportance, and already discussed at too great length. It is obvious,from the detail into which we have entered, that no country exists inthe latitude which must be assigned to it, whether we fix thatlatitude by Pytheas' statement of the distance of Thule from theequator, or by the space sailed over in six days, the productions ofwhich at all agree with those mentioned by Pytheas. On the otherhand, we cannot suppose that his course was south-west, and not atall to the north, which must have been the case, if the country atwhich he arrived in sailing from the northern extremity of Britain,was Jutland. The object must, therefore, be to find out a country theproductions of which correspond with those mentioned by Pytheas; for,with regard to those, he could not be mistaken: and a countrycertainly not the least to the south of the northern part of Britain.As it is impossible that he could have reached the pole, what hestates respecting the day and night being each six months long mustbe rejected; and his other account of the length of the day, deducedfrom his own observation of the sun, at the time of the summersolstice, touching the northern point of the horizon, must bereceived. If we suppose that this was the limit of the sun's coursein that direction (which, from his statement, must be inferred), thiswill give us a length of day of about twenty hours, corresponding toabout sixty-two degrees of north latitude. The next point to beascertained is the latitude of his departure from the coast ofBritain. There seems no good reason to believe, what all thehypothesis we have examined assume, that Pytheas sailed along thewhole of the east coast of Britain: on the other hand, it seems morelikely, that having passed over from the coast of France to the coastof Britain, he traced the latter to its most eastern point, that is,the coast of Norfolk near Yarmouth; from which place, the coasttaking a sudden and great bend to the west, it is probable thatPytheas, 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 anorth course, or rather with a little inclination to the east of thenorth, would bring him to the entrance of the Baltic. We have alreadyconceived it probable that the country he describes lay in thelatitude of about 62°, and six days' sail from the coast ofNorfolk would bring him nearly into this latitude, supposing heentered the Baltic. The next point relates to the productions of thecountry: millet, wheat, and honey, are much more the characteristicproductions of the countries lying on the Gulf of Finland, than theyare of Jutland; and Pytheas' account of the climate also agreesbetter with the climate of this part of the Baltic, than with that ofJutland.

That Pythias visited the Baltic, though perhaps the Thule hementions did not lie in this sea, is evident from the followingextract from his journal, given by Pliny:--"On the shores of acertain bay called Mentonomon, live a people called Guttoni: and atthe distance of a day's voyage from them, is the island Abalus(called by Timæus, Baltea). Upon this the waves threw theamber, which is a coagulated matter cast up by the sea: they use itfor firing, instead of wood, and also sell it to the neighbouringTeutones." The inhabitants on the coast of the Baltic, near the Frishor Curish Sea (which is probably the bay Pytheas describes) arecalled in the Lithuanian language, Guddai: and so late as the periodof the Crusades, the spot where amber is found was called Wittland,or Whiteland; in Lithuanian, Baltika. From these circ*mstances, aswell as from the name Baltea given by Timaeus to the islandmentioned by Pytheas, as the place where amber is cast up by thewaves, there appears no doubt that Pytheas was in the Baltic Sea,though his island of Thule might not be there. As amber was in greatrepute, even so early as the time of Homer, who describes it as beingused to adorn the golden collars, it is highly probable that Pytheaswas induced to enter the Baltic for the purpose of obtaining it: inwhat manner, or through whose means, the Greeks obtained it inHomer's time, is not known.

After all, the question is involved in very great obscurity; andthe circ*mstance not the most probable, or reconcileable with acountry even not further north than Jutland is, that, in the age ofPytheas, the inhabitants should have been so far advanced inknowledge and civilization, as to have cultivated any species ofgrain.

Till the age of Herodotus the light of history is comparativelyfeeble and broken; and where it does shine with more steadiness andbrilliancy, its rays are directed almost exclusively on the warlikeoperations of mankind. Occasionally, indeed, we incidentally learnsome new particulars respecting the knowledge of the ancients ingeography: but these particulars, as must be obvious from thepreceding part of this volume, are ascertained only afterconsiderable difficulty; and when ascertained, are for the most partmeagre, if not obscure. In the history of Herodotus, we, for thefirst time, are able to trace the exact state and progress ofgeographical knowledge; and from his time, our means of tracing itbecome more accessible, as well as productive of more satisfactoryresults. Within one hundred years after this historian flourished,geography derived great advantages and improvement from acirc*mstance which, at first view, would have been deemed adverse tothe extension of any branch of science: we allude to the conquests ofAlexander the Great. This monarch seems to have been actuated by adesire to be honoured as the patron of science, nearly as strong asthe desire to be known to posterity as the conquerer of the world:the facilities he afforded to Aristotle in drawing up his naturalhistory, by sending him all the uncommon animals with which histravels and his conquests supplied him, is a striking proof of this.With respect to his endeavours to extend geographicalknowledge,--this was so intimately connected with his plans ofconquest, that it may appear to be ascribing to him a more honourablemotive than influenced him, if we consider the improvement thatgeography received through his means as wholly unconnected with hischaracter as a conquerer: that it was so, in some measure, however iscertain; for along with him he took several geographers, who weredirected and enabled to make observations both on the coasts and theinterior of the countries through which they passed; and from theirobservations and discoveries, a new and improved geography of Asiawas framed. Besides, the books that till his time were shut up in thearchives of Babylon and Tyre were transferred to Alexandria; and thusthe astronomical and hydrographical observations of the Phoeniciansand Chaldeans, becoming accessible to the Greek philosophers,supplied them with the means of founding their geographical knowledgeon the sure basis of mathematical science, of which it had hithertobeen destitute.

The grand maxim of Alexander in his conquests was, to regard themas permanent, and as annexing to his empire provinces which were toform as essential parts of it as Macedonia itself. Influenced by thisconsideration and design, he did not lay waste the countries heconquered, as had been done in the invasions of Persia, by Cimon theAthenian and the Lacedemonians: on the contrary, the people, andtheir religion, manners, and laws were protected. The utmost orderand regularity were observed; and it is a striking fact, "that hismeasures were taken with such prudence, that during eight years'absence at the extremity of the East, no revolt of consequenceoccurred; and his settlement of Egypt was so judicious, as to serveas a model to the Romans in the administration of that province atthe distance of three centuries."

The voyage of Nearchus from Nicea on the Hydaspes, till he arrivedin the vicinity of Susa (which we shall afterwards more particularlydescribe); the projected voyage, the object of which was to attemptthe circumnavigation of Arabia; the survey of the western side of theGulf of Persia, by Archias, Androsthenes, and Hiero, of whichunfortunately we do not possess the details; the projectedestablishment of a direct commercial intercourse between India andAlexandria; and the foundation of this city, which gave a new turnand a strong impulse to commerce, as will be more particularly shownafterwards;--are but a few of the benefits geography and commercereceived from Alexander, or would have received, had not his plansbeen frustrated by his sudden and early death at the age of 33.

We have the direct testimony of Patrocles, that Alexander was notcontent with vague and general information, nor relied on thetestimony of others where he could observe and judge for himself; andin all cases in which he derived his information from others, he wasparticularly careful to select those who knew the country best, andto make them commit their intelligence to writing. By these means,united to the reports of those whom he employed to survey hisconquests, "all the native commodities which to this day form thestaple of the East Indian commerce, were fully known to theMacedonians." The principal castes in India, the principles of theBramins, the devotion of widows to the flames, the description of thebanyan-tree, and a great variety of other particulars, sufficientlyprove that the Macedonians were actuated by a thirst after knowledge,as well as a spirit of conquest; and illustrate as well as justifythe observation made to Alexander by the Bramin mandarin, "You arethe only man whom I ever found curious in the investigation ofphilosophy at the head of an army."

When Alexander invaded India, he found commerce flourishinggreatly in many parts of it, particularly in what are supposed to bethe present Multan, Attock, and the Panjob. He every where tookadvantage of this commerce, not by plundering and thus destroying itfor the purpose of filling his coffers, but by nourishing andincreasing it, and thus at once benefitting himself and theinhabitants who wore engaged in it. By means of the commerce in whichthe natives of the Panjob were engaged on the Indus, Alexanderprocured the fleet with which he sailed down that river. This fleetis supposed to have consisted of eight hundred vessels, only thirtyof which were ships of war, the remainder being such as were usuallyemployed in the commerce of the Indus. Even before he reached thisriver, he had built vessels which he had sent down the Kophenes toTaxila. By the completion of his campaign at the sources of theIndus, and by his march and voyage down the course of that river, hehad traced and defined the eastern boundary of his conquests: theline of his march from the Hellespont till the final defeat ofDarius, and his pursuit of that monarch, had put him in possession oftolerably accurate knowledge of the northern and western boundaries;the southern provinces alone remained to be explored: they had indeedsubmitted to his arms; but they were still, for all the purposes ofgovernment and commerce, unknown.

"To obtain the information necessary for the objects they had inview, he ordered Craterus, with the elephants and heavy baggage, topenetrate through the centre of the empire, while he personallyundertook the more arduous task of penetrating the desert ofGadrosia, and providing for the preservation of the fleet. A glanceover the map will show that the route of the army eastward, and thedouble route by which it returned, intersect the whole empire bythree lines, almost from the Tigris to the Indus: Craterus joined thedivision under Alexander in the Karmania; and when Nearchus, afterthe completion of his voyage, came up the Posityris to Susa, thethree routes through the different provinces, and the navigationalong the coast, might be said to complete the survey of theempire."

The two divisions of his army were accompanied on their return toSusa by Beton and Diognetus, who seem to have united the characterand duties of soldiers and men of science; or, perhaps, were like thequarter-masters- general of our armies. It appears from Strabo andPliny, in whose time the surveys drawn by Beton and Diognetus wereextant, that they reduced the provinces through which they passed, aswell as the marches of the army, to actual measurement; and thus, thedistances being accurately set down, and journals faithfully kept,the principles of geographical science, next in importance andutility to astronomical observations, were established. The journalsof Beton and Diognetus, the voyage of Nearchus, and the works ofPtolemy, afterwards king of Egypt, and Aristobulus, who accompaniedAlexander in his expedition and wrote his life, all prove that theauthority or the example of the sovereign influenced the pursuits ofhis officers and attendants; and it is highly to the credit of theirdiligence and accuracy, that every increase of geographical knowledgetends to confirm what they relate respecting the general appearanceand features of the countries they traversed, as well as the positionof cities, rivers, and mountains.

Alexander appears to have projected or anticipated an intercoursebetween India and the western provinces of his dominions in Egypt,not only by land but by sea: for this latter purpose he founded twocities on the Hydaspes and one on the Axesimes, both navigablerivers, which fall into the Indus. And this also, most probably, wasone reason for his careful survey of the navigation of the Indusitself. When he returned to Susa, he surveyed the course of theTigris and Euphrates. The navigation near the mouths of those riverswas obstructed by cataracts, occasioned by walls built across them bythe ancient monarchs of Persia, in order to prevent their subjectsfrom defiling themselves by sailing on the ocean[4]: theseobstructions he gave directions to be removed. Had he lived,therefore, the commodites of India would have been conveyed from thePersian Gulf into the interior provinces of his Asiatic dominions,and to Alexandria by the Arabian Gulf.

[4] The object of these dykes is supposed by Niebuhr tohave been very different: be observes that they were constructed forthe purpose of keeping up the waters to inundate the contiguouslevel: he found these dykes both in the Euphrates and Tigris. AndTavernier mentions one, 120 feet high, in the fall between Mosul andthe great Zab.

To conclude in the words of Dr. Vincent: "The Macedonians obtaineda knowledge both of the Indus and the Ganges: they heard that theseat of empire was, where it always has been, on the Ganges or Indus:they acquired intelligence of all the grand and leading features ofIndian manners, policy, and religion [and he might have added,accurate information respecting the geography of the western parts ofthat country]: they discovered all this by penetrating throughcountries, where, possibly, no Greek had previously set his foot; andthey explored the passage by sea which first opened the commercialintercourse with India to the Greeks and Romans, through the mediumof Egypt and the Red Sea, and finally to the Europeans, by the Capeof Good Hope." When we reflect on the character and state of theMacedonians, prior to the reign of Alexander, and the condition intowhich they sunk after his death, we shall, perhaps, not hesitate toacknowledge that Alexander infused his own soul into them; and thathistory, ancient or modern, does not exhibit any similiar instance ofsuch powerful individual influence on the character and fate of anation. Alexander himself has always been honoured by conquerors, andis known to mankind only, as the first of conquerors; but if militaryrenown and achievements had not, unfortunately for mankind, been moreprized than they deserved, and, on this account, the records of thembeen carefully preserved, while the records of peaceful transactionswere neglected and lost, we should probably have received the fulldetails of all that Alexander did for geographical science andcommerce; and in that case his character would have been as highlyprized by the philosopher and the friend of humanity, civilization,and knowledge, as it is by the powerful and ambitious.

Fortunately the details of one of the geographical and commercialexpeditions undertaken by order of Alexander are still extant; weallude to the voyage of Nearchus. Of this voyage we are now to speak;and as it is curious and important, not merely on account of thegeographical knowledge it conveys, but also from the insight it givesus into the commercial transactions of the countries which hevisited, we shall give rather a full abstract of it, availingourselves of the light which has been thrown upon it by the learnedand judicious researches of Dr. Vincent.

It was on the banks of the Hyphasis, the modern Beyah, thatAlexander's army mutinied, and refused to proceed any farthereastward. In consequence of this insurmountable obstacle to hisplans, he resolved to return to the Hydaspes, and carry intoexecution his design of sailing down it into the Indus, and thence bythe ocean to the Persian Gulf. He had previously given orders to hisofficers, when he had left the Hydaspes to collect, build, and equipa sufficient number of vessels for this enterprise; and they had beenso diligent and successful, that on his return he found a numerousfleet assembled. Nearchus was appointed to command the fleet: butAlexander himself resolved to accompany it to the mouth of theriver.

On the 23d of October, 327 years before Christ, the fleet sailedfrom Nicoea, on the Hydaspes, a city built by Alexander on the sciteof the battle in which he defeated Porus. The importance which heattached to this expedition, as well as his anxiety respecting itsskilful conduct and final issue, are strongly painted by Arrian, towhom we are indebted for the journal of Nearchus. Alexander at firstdid not know whom to trust with the management of the expedition, orwho would undertake it. when the length of the voyage, thedifficulties and dangers of a barren and unknown coast, the want ofharbours, and the obstacles in the way of obtaining provisions, wereconsidered. In this state of anxiety, doubt, and expectation,Alexander ordered Nearchus to attend him, and consulted him on thechoice of a commander. "One," said he, "excuses himself, because hethinks the danger insuperable; others are unfit for the service fromtimidity; others think of nothing but how to get home; and many Icannot approve for a variety of other reasons." "Upon hearing this,"says Nearchus, "I offered myself for the command: and promised theking, that under the protection of God, I would conduct the fleetsafe into the Gulf of Persia, if the sea were navigable, and theundertaking within the power of man to perform." The only objectionthat Alexander made arose from his regard for Nearchus, whom he wasunwilling to expose to the dangers of such a voyage; but Nearchuspersisting, and the king being convinced that the enterprise, ifpracticable, would be achieved by the skill, courage, andperseverance of Nearchus, at length yielded. The character of thecommander, and the regard his sovereign entertained for him, removedin a great degree the apprehension that the proposed expedition wasdesperate: a selection of the best officers and most effective menwas now soon made; and the fleet was not only supplied with everything that was necessary, but equipped in a most splendid manner.Onesicritus was appointed pilot and master of Alexander's own ship;and Evagoras was secretary of the fleet. The officers, includingthese and Nearchus, amounted to 33; but nearly the whole of them, aswell as the ships which they commanded, proceeded no farther than themouth of the Indus. The seamen were natives of Greece, or the GrecianIslands, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Cyprians, Ionians, &c. The fleetconsisted of 800 ships of war and transports, and about 1200 gallies.On board of these, one-third of the army, which consisted of 120,000men, embarked; the remainder, marching in two divisions, one on theleft, the other on the right of the river.

"The voyage down the river is described rather as a triumphalprocession, than a military progress. The size of the vessels, theconveyance of horses aboard, the number, and splendour of theequipment, attracted the natives to be spectators of the pomp. Thesound of instruments, the clang of arms, the commands of theofficers, the measured song of the modulators, the responses of themariners, the dashing of the oars, and these sounds frequentlyreverberated from overhanging shores, are all scenery presented toour imagination by the historians, and evidently bespeak the languageof those who shared with pride in this scene of triumph andmagnificence."

No danger occurred to alarm them or impede their passage, tillthey arrived at the junction of the Hydaspes with the Akesines. Atthis place, the channel of the river became contracted, though thebulk of water was of course greatly increased; and from thiscirc*mstance, and the rapidity with which the two rivers unite, thereis a considerable current, as well as strong eddies; and the noise ofthe rushing and confined waters, is heard at some distance. Thisnoise astonished or alarmed the seamen so much, that the rowersceased to row, and the modulators to direct and encourage them bytheir chant, till the commanders inspired them with confidence; andthey plied the oars with their utmost strength in order to stem thecurrent, and keep the vessels as steady and free from danger aspossible. The eddy, however, caught the gallies, which from theirlength were more exposed to it than the ships of war: two of themsank, many more were damaged, while Alexander's own ship wasfortunate enough to find shelter near a projecting point of land. Atthe junction of the Akesines with the Indus, Alexander founded acity; of which, however, no traces at present remain.

On the arrival of Alexander at Pattala, near the head of the Deltaof the Indus, he seems to have projected the formation of acommercial city; and for this purpose, ordered the adjoining countryto be surveyed: his next object was to sail down the western branchof the river. With this view he left Pattala with all his gallies,some of his half-decked vessels, and his quickest sailing transports,ordering at the same time a small part of his army to attend hisfleet. Considerable difficulties arose, and some loss was sustainedfrom his not being able to procure a native pilot, and from the swellin the river, occasioned by a violent wind blowing contrary to thestream. He was at length compelled to seize some of the natives, andmake them act as pilots. When they arrived near the confluence of theIndus with the sea, another storm arose; and as this also blew up theriver, while they were sailing down with the current and the tide,there was considerable agitation in the water. The Macedonians werealarmed, and by the advice of their pilots ran into one of the creeksof the river for shelter: at low tide, the vessels being leftaground, the sharp-built gallies were much injured.

The astonishment of the Macedonians was greatly excited when theysaw the waters of the river and of the sea ebb and flow. It is wellknown, that in the Mediterranean the tides are scarcely perceptible.The flux and reflux of the Euripus, a narrow strait which separatesthe island of Euboea from the coast of Beotia, could give them noidea of the regularity of the tides; for this flux and refluxcontinued for eighteen or nineteen days, and was uncommonly unsettledthe rest of the month. Besides, the tides at the mouth of the Indus,and on the adjacent coast, are very high, and flow in with very greatforce and rapidity; and are known in India, in the Bay of Fundy, andin most other places where this phenomenon occurs, by the name of theBore; and at the mouth of the Severn, by the name of Hygre, or Eagre.Herodotus indeed, mentions, that in the Red Sea there was a regularebb and flow of the sea every day; but as Dr. Robertson very justlyobserves, "among the ancients there occur instances of inattention tofacts, related by respectable authors, which appear surprising inmodern times." Even so late as the time of Caesar, a spring tide inBritain, which occasioned great damage to his fleet, created greatsurprize, and is mentioned as a phenomenon with which he and hissoldiers were unacquainted.

Soon after Alexander had repaired the damage that his fleet hadsustained, he surveyed two islands lying at the west mouth of theIndus; and afterwards leaving the river entirely, entered the ocean,either for the purpose of ascertaining himself whether it wereactually navigable, or, as Arrian conjectures, in order to gratifyhis vanity by having it recorded, that he had navigated the IndianOcean.

Having accomplished this object, he returned to Pattala, where hehad directed a naval arsenal to be formed, intending to station afleet at this place. The eastern branch of the Indus was yetunexplored. In order, that an accurate knowledge of it might begained, Alexander resolved to explore it himself: accordingly, hesailed from Pattala till he arrived at a large bay or lake, whichprobably, however, was only a number of the smaller branches of theIndus, overflowing their banks. The passage from this place to theocean, he ascertained to be more open and convenient than that by thewestern branch. He does not seem, however, to have advanced into theocean by it; but having landed, and proceeded along the coast, in thedirection of Guzerat and Malabar, three days' march, makingobservations on the country, and directing wells to be sunk, here-embarked, and returned to the head of the bay. Here he againmanifested his design of establishing a permanent station, byordering a fort to be built, a naval yard and docks to be formed, andleaving a garrison and provisions for four months.

Before the final departure of Alexander with his convoy fromPattala, he directed Nearchus to assume the entire command of thefleet, and to sail as soon as the season would permit. Twelve months,within a few days, elapsed between the departure of the fleet fromNicaea, and the sailing of Nearchus from the Indus; the former havingtaken place, as we have already observed, on the 23d of October, inthe year 327 before Christ, and the latter on the 2d of October, inthe year 326 B.C. Only about nine months, however, had elapsed in theactual navigation of the Indus and its tributary streams; and eventhis period, which to us appears very long, was considerably extendedby the operations of the army of Alexander, as well as by the slowsailing of such a large fleet as he conducted.

In consequence, it is supposed, of the prevalence of thenorth-east monsoon, Nearchus, after having reached the ocean (which,however, he could not effect till he had cut a passage for his fleetthrough a sand bank or bar at the mouth of the Indus), was obliged tolie in a harbour which he called Port Alexander, and near which heerected a fort on the 3d of November; about which time we know thatthe monsoon changes. Nearchus again set sail. About the 8th of thismonth he reached the river Arabis, having coasted along among rocksand islands, the passage between which was narrow and difficult. Thedistance between this river and the Indus is nearly eighty miles, andthe fleet had occupied almost forty days in completing the navigationof this space. During the greater part of this time, they were veryscantily supplied with provisions, and seem, indeed, to have dependedprincipally on the shell-fish found on the coast. Soon after leavingthe mouth of the Arabis, they were obliged, by the nature of theshore and the violence of the wind, to remain on board their shipsfor two nights; a very unusual as well as inconvenient anduncomfortable circ*mstance for the ancients. We have alreadydescribed their ships as either having no deck, or only a kind ofhalf-deck, below which the cables were coiled. Under this deck theremight be accommodation for part of the crew; but in cases where allwere obliged to remain on board at night, the confinement must havebeen extremely irksome, as well as prejudicial to their health. Atthe end of these two days, they were enabled to land and refreshthemselves; and here they were joined by Leonatus, one of Alexander'sgenerals, who had been despatched with some troops to watch andprotect their movements, as far on their course as was practicable.He brought a supply of provisions, which had become very necessary.On leaving this place, their progress became much more rapid than ithad been before, owing probably to the wind having become moreregularly and permanently favourable.

As it is our intention, in giving this short abstract of thevoyage of Nearchus, to select only such particulars as illustrate themode of navigation practised among the ancients--the progress ofdiscovery, or the state of commerce,--we shall pass over every topicor fact not connected with these. We cannot, however, refrain fromgiving an account of the transactions of the fleet at the riverTomerus, when it arrived on the 21st of November, fifty days after itleft the Indus; as on reading it, our readers will be immediatelystruck with the truth of Dr. Vincent's observation, that it bears avery strong resemblance to the landing of a party from the Endeavour,in New Zealand, under protection of the ship's guns. We make use ofDr. Vincent's translation, or rather abstract:--

"At the Tomerus the inhabitants were found living on the lowground near the sea, in cabins which seemed calculated rather tosuffocate their inhabitants than to protect them from the weather;and yet these wretched people were not without courage. Upon sight ofthe fleet approaching, they collected in arms on the shore, and drewup in order to attack the strangers on their landing. Their arms werespears, not headed with iron, but hardened in the fire, nine feetlong; and their number about 600. Nearchus ordered his vessels to laytheir heads towards the shore, within the distance of bow-shot; forthe enemy had no missile weapons but their spears. He likewisebrought his engines to bear upon them, (for such it appears he had onboard,) and then directed his light-armed troops, with those who werethe most active and the best swimmers, to be ready for commencing theattack. On a signal given, they were to plunge into the sea: thefirst man who touched ground was to be the point at which the linewas to be formed, and was not to advance till joined by the others,and the file could be ranged three deep. These orders were exactlyobeyed; the men threw themselves out of the ships, swam forward, andformed themselves in the water, under cover of the engines. As soonas they were in order, they advanced upon the enemy with a shout,which was repeated from the ships. Little opposition was experienced;for the natives, struck with the novelty of the attack, and theglittering of the armour, fled without resistance. Some escaped tothe mountains, a few were killed, and a considerable number madeprisoners. They were a savage race, shaggy on the body as well as thehead, and with nails so long and of such strength, that they servedthem as instruments to divide their food, (which consisted, indeed,almost wholly of fish,) and to separate even wood of the softer kind.Whether this circ*mstance originated from design, or want ofimplements to pare their nails, did not appear; but if there wasoccasion, to divide harder substances, they substituted stonessharpened, instead of iron, for iron they had none. Their dressconsisted of the skins of beasts, and some of the larger kinds offish."

Along the coast of the Icthyophagi, extending from Malan to CapeJaser, a distance, by the course of the fleet, of nearly 625 miles,Nearchus was so much favoured by the winds and by the straightness ofthe coast, that his progress was sometimes nearly 60 miles a day. Inevery other respect, however, this portion of the voyage was veryunfortunate and calamitous. Alexander, aware that on this coast,which furnished nothing but fish, his fleet would be in distress forprovisions, and that this distress would be greatly augmented by thescarcity of water which also prevailed here, had endeavoured toadvance into this desolate tract, to survey the harbours, sink wells,and collect provisions. But the nature of the country rendered thisimpracticable; and his army became so straightened for cornthemselves, that a supply of it, which he intended for the fleet, andon which he had affixed his own seal, was seized by the men whom hehad ordered to protect and escort it to the coast. At last he wasobliged to give up all attempts of relieving Nearchus; and afterstruggling 60 days with want of water,--during which period, if hehimself 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 armymust have perished,--he with great difficulty reached the capital ofthis desert country. Nearchus, thus left to himself, was indebted tothe natives for the means of discovering water, by opening the sands,as the king had done; but to the Greeks, who regarded the want ofbread as famine, even when its place was supplied by meat, the fishthe natives offered them was no relief.

We have already remarked, that the real character of Alexanderwill be much elevated in the opinion of men of humanity andphilosophers, if the particulars we possess of his endeavours toimprove the condition of those he conquered, and to advance theinterests of science, scanty and imperfect as they are, were moreattentively considered, and had not been neglected and overlooked inthe glare of his military achievements. His march through the desertsof Gadrosia has been ascribed solely to vanity; but this imputationwill be removed, and must give way to a more worthy impression of hismotives on this occasion, when it is stated, that it was part of thegreat design which he had formed of opening a communication betweenhis European dominions and India by sea; and that as theaccomplishment of this design mainly depended on the success of theexpedition committed to Nearchus, it was a paramount object with himto assist the fleet, which he thrice attempted, even in the midst ofhis own distress in the deserts.

On their arrival at the river Kalama, which is supposed to be theChurmut, 60 days after their departure from the Indus, they at lengthobtained from the natives some sheep; but the flesh of it, as well asthe fowls which they obtained, had a very fishy taste--the sheep,fowls, and inhabitants, all feeding on fish, there being no herbageor trees of any kind, except a few palm-trees. On the next day,having doubled a cape, they anchored in a harbour called Mosarna,where they found a pilot, who undertook to conduct the fleet to theGulf of Persia. It would appear from Arrian, that the intercoursebetween this place and the Gulf was frequent, the voyage lessdangerous, and the harbours on the coast better known. Owing to thesefavourable circ*mstances, the skill of the pilot, and the breezewhich blew from the land during the night, their course was morerapid; and they sailed by night as well as day. The coast, however,still continued barren, and the inhabitants unable to supply themwith any thing but fish till they arrived at Barna on the 64th day:here the inhabitants were more civilized; they had gardens producingfruit-trees, flowers, myrtle, &c., with which the Greek sailorsformed garlands to adorn their hair.

On the 69th day, December 9., they arrived at a small town, thename of which is not given; nor is it possible to fix its scite. Whatoccurred here we shall give in the words of Dr. Vincent:--

"When the fleet reached this place, it was totally without breador grain of any kind; and Nearchus, from the appearance of stubble inthe neighbourhood, conceived hopes of a supply, if he could findmeans of obtaining it; but he perceived that he could not take theplace by assault, and a siege the situation he was in renderedimpracticable. He concerted matters, therefore, with Archias, andordered him to make a feint of preparing the fleet to sail; while hehimself, with a single vessel, pretending to be left behind,approached the town in a friendly manner, and was received hospitablyby the inhabitants. They came out to receive him upon his landing,and presented him with baked fish, (the first instance of cookery hehad yet seen on the coast,) accompanied with cakes and dates. Thesehe accepted with proper acknowledgments, and informed them he wishedfor permission to see the town: this request was granted withoutsuspicion; but no sooner had he entered, than he ordered two of hisarchers to take post at the gate, and then mounting the wallcontiguous, with two more and his interpreter, he made the signal forArchias, who was now under weigh to advance. The natives instantlyran to their arms; but Nearchus having taken an advantageousposition, made a momentary defence till Archias was close at thegate, ordering his interpreter to proclaim at the same time, that ifthey wished their city to be preserved from pillage, they mustdeliver up their corn, and all the provisions which the placeafforded. These terms were not rejected, for the gate was open, andArchias ready to enter: he took charge of this post immediately withthe force which attended him; and Nearchus sent proper officers toexamine such stores as were in the place, promising the inhabitantsthat, if they acted ingenuously, they should suffer no other injury.Their stores were immediately produced, consisting of a kind of meal,or paste made of fish, in great plenty, with a small quantity ofwheat and barley. This, however insufficient for his wants, Nearchusreceived: and abstaining from farther oppression, returned on boardwith his supply."

The provisions he obtained here, notwithstanding the consumptionof them was protracted by occasionally landing and cutting off thetender shoots of the head of the wild palm-tree, were so completelyexhausted in the course of a few days, that Nearchus was obliged toprevent his men from landing, under the apprehension, that though thecoast was barren, their distress on board would have induced them notto return. At length, on the 14th of December, on the seventy-fourthday of their departure, they reached a more fertile and hospitableshore, and were enabled to procure a very small supply of provisions,consisting principally of corn, dried dates, and the flesh of sevencamels. Nearchus mentions the latter evidently to point out theextreme distress to which they were reduced. As it is evident thatthis supply would be soon exhausted, we are not surprised thatNearchus, in order to reach a better cultivated district, should urgeon his course as rapidly as possible; and accordingly we find, thathe sailed at a greater rate in this part of his voyage than he everhad done before. Having sailed day and night without intermission, inwhich time he passed a distance of nearly sixty-nine miles, he atlength doubled the cape, which formed the boundary of the barrencoast of the Icthyophagi, and arrived in the district of Karmania. AtBadis, the first town in this district, which they reached on the17th of December, after a voyage of 77 days, they were supplied withcorn, wine, and every kind of fruit, except olives, the inhabitantsbeing not only able but willing to relieve their wants.

The length of the coast of the Icthyophagi is about 462 miles;and, as Nearchus was twenty-one days on this coast, the average rateof sailing must have been twenty-one miles a day. The whole distance,from the Indus to the cape which formed the boundary of Karmania, isabout 625 miles: this distance Nearchus was above seventy days insailing. It must be recollected, however, that when he first set outthe monsoon was adverse, and that for twenty-four days he lay inharbour: making the proper deductions for these circ*mstances, he wasnot at sea more than forty days with a favourable wind; which givesrather more than fifteen miles a day. The Houghton East Indiaman madethe same run in thirteen days; and, on her return, was only five daysfrom Gomeroon to Scindy Bay.

The manners of the wretched inhabitants have occasionally beenalready noticed; but Nearchus dwells upon some further particulars,which, from their conformity with modern information, are worthy ofremark. Their ordinary support is fish, as the name of Icthyophagi,or fish-eaters, implies; but why they are for this reason specifiedas a separate tribe from the Gadrosians, who live inland, does notappear. Ptolomy considers all this coast as Karmania, quite toMosarna; and whether Gadrosia is a part of that province, or aprovince itself, is a matter of no importance; but the coast musthave received the name Nearchus gives it from Nearchus himself; forit is Greek, and he is the first Greek who explored it. It may,perhaps, be a translation of a native name, and such translations theGreeks indulged in sometimes to the prejudice of geography. "Butthese people, though they live on fish, are few of them fishermen,for their barks are few, and those few very mean and unfit for theservice. The fish they obtain they owe to the flux and reflux of thetide, for they extend a net upon the shore, supported by stakes ofmore than 200 yards in length, within which, at the tide of ebb, thefish are confined, and settle in the pits or in equalities of thesand, either made for this purpose or accidental. The greaterquantity consists of small fish; but many large ones are also caught,which they search for in the pits, and extract with nets. Their netsare composed of the bark or fibres of the palm, which they twine intoa cord, and form like the nets of other countries. The fish isgenerally eaten raw, just as it is taken out of the water, at leastsuch as are small and penetrable; but the larger sort, and those ofmore solid texture, they expose to the sun, and pound them to a pastefor store: this they use instead of meal or bread, or form them intoa sort of cakes or frumenty. The very cattle live on dried fish, forthere is neither grass nor pasture on the coast. Oysters, crabs, andshell-fish, are caught in plenty; and though this circ*mstance isspecified twice only in the early part of the voyage, there is littledoubt but these formed the principal support of the people duringtheir navigation. Salt is here the production of nature, by which weare to understand, that the power of the sun in this latitude, issufficient for exhalation and crystallization, without the additionalaid of fire; and from this salt they formed an extract which theyused as the Greeks use oil. The country, for the most part, is sodesolate, that the natives have no addition to their fish but dates:in some few places a small quantity of grain is sown; and there breadis their viand of luxury, and fish stands in the rank of bread. Thegenerality of the people live in cabins, small and stifling: thebetter sort only have houses constructed with the bones of whales,for whales are frequently thrown upon the coast; and, when the fleshis rotted off, they take the bones, making planks and doors of suchas are flat, and beams or rafters of the ribs or jaw-bones; and manyof these monsters are found fifty yards in length." Strabo confirmsthe report of Arrian, and adds, that "the vertebræ, or socketbones, of the back, are formed into mortars, in which they poundtheir fish, and mix it up into a paste, with the addition of a littlemeal."--(Vincent's Nearchus, p. 265.)

Dr. Vincent, in this passage, does not seem to be aware that nowhale was ever found nearly so long as fifty yards, and that halfthat length is the more common size of the largest whales, even inseas more suitable to their nature and growth. That the animal whichNearchus himself saw was a whale, there can be little doubt: while hewas off Kyiza, the seamen were extremely surprised, and not a littlealarmed, at perceiving the sea agitated and thrown up, as Arrianexpresses it, as if it were forcibly lifted up by a whirlwind. Thepilot informed them that it was occasioned by the whales blowing;this information, however, does not seem to have quieted their fears:they ceased rowing, the oars dropped from their hands, and Nearchusfound himself under the necessity of exerting all his presence ofmind and authority to recall them to their duty. He gave directionsto steer towards the place where the sea was lifted up: in theiradvance the crew shouted all together, dashed the water with theiroars, and sounded their trumpets. The whales were intimidated, sunkon the near approach of the vessels, and, though they rose againastern, and renewed their blowing, they now excited no alarm.

The Gulf of Persia, which Nearchus was now about to enter,comprehends the coasts of Karmania, Persis, and Susiana. Nothingimportant occurred till the vessels arrived off Cape Mussenden inKarmania, where they anchored: at this place Nearchus and Onesicritusdiffered in opinion relative to the further prosecution of thevoyage; the latter wished to explore this cape, and extend the voyageto the Gulf of Arabia. The reason he assigned was, that they knewmore of this gulf, than of the Gulf of Persia; and that, as Alexanderwas master of Egypt, in the former gulf they would meet with moreassistance than in the latter. Nearchus, on the contrary, insistedthat Alexander's plan in directing, this voyage should be exactlypursued: this plan was, to obtain a knowledge of the coast, with suchharbours, bays, and islands, as might occur in the course of thevoyage; "to ascertain whether there were any towns bordering on theocean, and whether the country was habitable or desert." The opinionof Nearchus prevailed, and the voyage was pursued according to itsoriginal course and purpose.

As Nearchus had reason to believe that the army of Alexander wasat no great distance, he resolved to land, form a naval camp, and toadvance himself into the interior, that he might ascertain thispoint. Accordingly, on the 20th of December, the 80th day after hisdeparture, he formed a camp near the river Anamis; and having securedhis ships, proceeded in search of Alexander. The first intelligenceof their sovereign, however, seems to have been obtainedaccidentally. The crew of Nearchus were strolling up the country,when some of them met with a man whose dress and language instantlydiscovered that he was a Greek: the joy of meeting with a countrymanwas greatly heightened when he informed them that the army which hehad lately left, was encamped at no great distance, and that thegovernor of the province was on the spot. As soon as Nearchus learntthe exact situation of the army, he hastened towards it; but thegovernor, eager to communicate to Alexander intelligence of hisfleet, anticipated him. Alexander was exceedingly pleased; but whenseveral days elapsed, and Nearchus did not arrive, he began to doubtthe truth of what the governor had told him, and at last ordered himto be imprisoned.

[Illustration]

In the mean time Nearchus was prosecuting his journey along withArchias and five or six others, when he fortunately fell in with aparty from the army, which had been sent out with horses andcarriages for his accommodation. The admiral and his attendants, fromtheir appearance, might have passed unnoticed. Their hair long andneglected, their garments decayed, their countenance pale andweather-worn, and their persons emaciated by famine and fatigue,scarcely raised the attention of the friends they had encountered.They were Greeks, however; and if Greeks, it was natural to inquireafter the army, and where it was now encamped. An answer was given totheir inquiry; but still they were neither recognized by the party,nor was any question asked in return. Just as they were separatingfrom each other, "Assuredly," says Archias, "this must be a partysent out for our relief, for on what other account can they bewandering about the desert? There is nothing strange in their passingus without notice, for our very appearance is a disguise. Let usaddress them once more, and inform them who we are, and learn fromthem on what service they are at present employed." Nearchus approvedof this advice, and approaching them again, inquired which way theywere directing their course. "We are in search of Nearchus and hispeople," replied the officer: "And I am Nearchus," said the admiral;"and this is Archias. Take us under your conduct, and we willourselves report our history to the king." They were accordinglyplaced in the carriages, and conducted towards the army withoutdelay. While they were upon their progress, some of the horsem*n,impatient to carry the news of this happy event, set off to the campto inform the king, that Nearchus and Archias were arrived with fiveor six of his people; but of the rest they had no intelligence. Thissuggested to Alexander that perhaps these only were preserved, andthat the rest of the people had perished, either by famine orshipwreck; nor did he feel so much pleasure in the preservation ofthe few, as distress for the loss of the remainder. During thisinterval, Nearchus and his attendants arrived. It was not withoutdifficulty that the king discovered who they were, under the disguiseof their appearance; and this circ*mstance contributed to confirm himin his mistake, imagining that both their persons and their dressbespoke ship wreck, and the destruction of the fleet. He held out hishand, however, to Nearchus, and led him aside from his guards andattendants without being able to utter a word. As soon as they werealone, he burst into tears, and continued weeping for a considerabletime; till, at length recovering in some degree hiscomposure,--"Nearchus," says he, "I feel some satisfaction in findingthat you and Archias have escaped; but tell me where and in whatmanner did my fleet and my people perish?" "Your fleet," repliedNearchus, "are all safe,--your people are safe; and we are come tobring you the account of their preservation." Tears, but from adifferent source, now fell much faster from his eyes. "Where then aremy ships?" says he. "At the Anamis," replied Nearchus; "all safe onshore, and preparing for the completion of their voyage." "By theLybian Ammon and Jupiter of Greece, I swear to you," rejoined theking, "I am more happy at receiving this intelligence, than in beingconqueror of all Asia; for I should have considered the loss of myfleet and the failure of this expedition, as a counterbalance to allthe glory I have acquired." Such was the reception of the admiral;while the governor, who was the first bearer of the glad tidings, wasstill in bonds: upon the sight of Nearchus, he fell at his feet, andimplored his intercession. It may be well imagined that his pardonwas as readily granted as it was asked.--(Vincent's Nearchus, p.312.)

Sacrifices, games, and a festival ensued; and when these wereended, Alexander told Nearchus that he would expose him to no furtherhazard, but despatch another to carry the fleet to Susa. "I am boundto obey you," replied the admiral, "as my king, and I take a pleasurein my obedience; but if you, wish to gratify me in return, suffer meto retain my command, till I have completed the expedition. I shallfeel it as an injustice, if, after having struggled through all thedifficulties of the voyage, another shall finish the remainder almostwithout an effort, and yet reap the honour of completing what I havebegun." Alexander yielded to this just request, and about the end ofthe 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 ofthe former coast is rather more than three hundred miles: the timeoccupied by Nearchus in this part of his voyage was about twelvedays. He arrived at Badis, the first station in Karmania, on the 7thof December; at Anamis on the 10th; here he remained three days. Hisjourney to the camp, stay there, return, and preparations for againsailing, may have occupied fifteen days. Three hundred miles intwelve days is at the rate of twenty-five miles a day.

Hitherto the voyage of Nearchus has afforded no informationrespecting the commerce of the ancients. The coasts along which hesailed were either barren and thinly inhabited by a miserable andignorant people, or if more fertile and better cultivated, Nearchus'attention and interest were too keenly occupied about the safety ofhimself and his companions, to gather much information of acommercial nature. The remainder of his voyage, however, affords afew notices on this subject; and to these we shall attend.

In the island of Schitwar, on the eastern side of the Gulf ofPersia, Nearchus found the inhabitants engaged in a pearl fishery: atpresent pearls are not taken on this side of the Gulf. At the Rohillapoint a dead whale attracted their attention; it is represented asfifty cubits long, with a hide a cubit in thickness, beset withshell-fish, probably barnacles or limpets, and sea-weeds, andattended by dolphins, larger than Nearchus had been accustomed to seein the Mediterranean Sea. Their arrival at the Briganza river affordsDr. Vincent an opportunity of conjecturing the probable draught of aGrecian vessel of fifty oars. At ebb-tide, Arrian informs us, thevessels were left dry; whereas at high tide they were able tosurmount the breakers and shoals. Modern travellers state that theflood-tide rises in the upper part of the Gulf of Persia, nine or tenfeet: hence it may be conjectured that the largest vessel in thefleet drew from six to eight feet water. The next day's sail broughtthem from the Briganza to the river Arosis, the boundary riverbetween Persis and Susiana, the largest of the rivers which Nearchushad met with in the Gulf of Persia. The province of Persis isdescribed by Nearchus as naturally divided into three parts. "Thatdivision which lies along the side of the Gulf is sandy, parched, andsterile, bearing little else but palm-trees." To the north andnorth-east, across the range of mountains, the country improvesconsiderably in soil and climate; the herbage is abundant andnutritious; the meadows well watered; and the vine and every kind offruit, except the olive, flourishes. This part of the province isadorned by the parks and gardens of the kings and nobles; the riversflow from lakes of pure water, abounding in water-fowl of alldescriptions; horses and cattle feed on the rich pastures, while inthe woods there is abundance of animals for the chace. To this thethird division of Persis forms a striking contrast. This lies farthernorth, a mountainous district, wild and rugged, inhabited bybarbarous tribes: the climate is so cold, that the tops of themountains are constantly covered with snow.

The coast of Susiana, along which Nearchus was now about to sail,he represents as difficult and dangerous, from the number of shoalswith which it was lined. As he was informed that it would not be easyto procure water while he was crossing the mouths of the streamswhich divide the Delta, he took in a supply for five days before heleft the Arosis. On account of the shoals which stretch aconsiderable way out to sea, they could not approach the coast, andwere consequently obliged to anchor at night, and sleep on board. Inorder to pass this dangerous coast with the least risk, they formed aline by single ships, each following in order, through a channelmarked by stakes; in the same manner, Arrian remarks, as the passagebetween Leukas and Akarnania in Greece, except that at Leukas thereis a firm sand, so that a ship takes no damage, if she runs ashore:whereas in this passage there was deep mud on both sides, in which avessel grounding stuck fast; and if her crew endeavoured to get heroff by going overboard, they sunk above the middle in the mud. Theextent of this difficult passage was thirty-seven miles, at the endof which Nearchus came to an anchor at a distance from the coast.Their course next day was in deep water, which continued till theyarrived, after sailing a day and a half, at a village at the mouth ofthe Euphrates: at this village there was a mart for the importationof the incenses of Arabia. Here Nearchus learnt that Alexander wasmarching to Susa; this intelligence determined him to return back, tosail up the Pasi-Tigris, and join him near that city. At Aginis heentered the Pasi-Tigris, but he proceeded only about nine miles to avillage which he describes as populous and flourishing; here hedetermined to wait, till he received further information respectingthe exact route of the army. He soon learnt that Alexander with histroops was at a bridge which he had constructed over the Pasi-Tigris,at the distance of about one hundred and twenty miles: at this placeNearchus joined him. Alexander embraced Nearchus with the warmth of afriend; and his reception from all ranks was equally gratifying andhonourable. Whenever he appeared in the camp, he was saluted withacclamations: sacrifices, games, and every other kind of festivitycelebrated the success of his enterprize. Nearly five months had beenoccupied in performing the voyage from the mouth of the Indus--avoyage which a modern vessel could perform in the course of threeweeks.

Immediately after the junction of the fleet and army, Alexandercrossed the Pasi-Tigris, and proceeded to Susa: here he distributedrewards and honours among his followers for their long, arduous,faithful, and triumphant services. Those officers who had served asguards of Alexander's person received crowns of gold; and the samepresent was made to Nearchus as admiral, and to Onesicritus asnavigator of the fleet.

We have already mentioned that Alexander projected thecircumnavigation of Arabia to the Red Sea, in order to complete thecommunication between India and Egypt, and through Egypt with Europe.Nearchus was selected for this enterprize; its execution, however,was prevented by the death of Alexander. That he was extremelyanxious for its completion, is evident from the personal trouble hetook in the preparations for it, and in the necessary preliminarymeasures. In order that he might himself take a view of the Gulf ofPersia, he embarked on board a division of his fleet, and sailed downthe same stream which Nearchus had sailed up. At the head of theDelta, the vessels which had suffered most in Nearchus' voyages weredirected to proceed with the troops they had on board, through acanal which runs into the Tigris, Alexander himself proceeding withthe lightest and best sailing vessels through the Delta to thesea.

Soon after his return to Opis, where the mutiny of his troops tookplace, Alexander gave another proof of his attention to maritimeaffairs; for he despatched Heraclides into Hyrcania, with orders tocut timber and prepare a fleet for the purpose of exploring theCaspian Sea--an attempt which, like that of the projected voyage ofNearchus up the Arabian Gulf, was prevented by Alexander's death. Inthe mean time Nearchus had been collecting the vessels that weredestined for his expedition; they were assembled at Babylon: to thiscity also were brought from Phoenicia forty-seven vessels which hadbeen taken to pieces, and so conveyed over land to Thapsacus. Two ofthese were of five banks, three of four, twelve of three, and thirtyrowed with fifteen oars on a side. Others likewise were ordered to bebuilt on the spot of cypress, the only wood which Babyloni afforded;while mariners were collected from Phoenicia, and a dock was directedto be cut capable of containing one thousand vessels, with buildingsand arsenals in proportion to the establishment. To accomplish thisextensive design, Alexander had sent one of his officers to Phoeniciawith 500 talents (about 106,830 l.) to buy slaves fit for theoar, and hire mariners. These preparations were so extensive, that itseems highly probable that Alexander meant to conquer Arabia, as wellas explore the navigation of the Arabian Gulf; and indeed his planand policy always were to unite conquest with discovery. As soon ashe had put these preparations in a proper train, he again embarked,and sailed down the Euphrates as far as Pallacopas. The immediateobject of this voyage is not exactly known. As the Euphrates flowsover the adjacent country at certain seasons, the Persian monarchshad cut a canal at Pallacopas, which diverted its superfluous watersinto a lake, where they were employed to flood the land. This andsimilar canals had been long neglected; but as Alexander seems tohave fixed on Babylon as the future capital of his empire, it wasnecessary to restore the canals to their original utility, in orderthat the ground on both sides of the Euphrates might be drained orflooded at the proper season. This may have been the only object ofAlexander's voyage, or it may have been connected with the projectedvoyage of Nearchus. It is certain, however, that by his directionsthe principal canal was much improved; indeed it was in reality cutin a more convenient and suitable place; for the soil where it hadbeen originally cut was soft and spongy, so that much labour and timewere required to restore the waters to their course, and secure itsmouth in a safe and firm manner. A little lower down, the soil wasmuch more suitable, being strong and rocky; here then Alexanderordered the opening of the canal to be made: he afterwards entered itwith his fleet, and surveyed the whole extent of the lake with whichit communicated. On the Arabian side of the Gulf, he ordered a cityto be built: immediately afterwards he returned to Babylon, where hedied.

In the mean time, and while Nearchus was at Babylon, three vesselswere sent down the Arabian side of the Gulf, to collect suchinformation as might be useful to him in his projected voyage. Onewas commanded by Archias, who proceeded as far as Tylos, or Bahrein,the centre of the modern pearl fishery. A short distance from themouth of the Euphrates, Archias discovered two islands; on one ofwhich a breed of goats and sheep was preserved, which were neverkilled, except for the purpose of sacrifice. The second vessel saileda little way round the coast of Arabia. The third, which wascommanded by Hiero of Soli, went much farther than either of theother two, for it doubled Cape Mussendoon, sailed down the coastbelow Moscat, and came in sight of Cape Ras-el-hed: this cape he wasafraid to double. On his return he reported that Arabia was much moreextensive than had been imagined. None of these vessels proceeded sofar as to be of much service to Nearchus, or to carry into effect thegrand object of Alexander: for his instructions to Hiero inparticular were, to circumnavigate Arabia; to go up the Red Sea; andreach the Bay of Hieropolis, on the coast of Egypt. All these vesselswere small, having only fifty oars, and therefore not well calculatedfor such a long and hazardous navigation.

At the time when Alexander was seized with the illness whichoccasioned his death, Nearchus was ready to sail, and he himself,with the army, was to accompany him as far as was practicable, in thesame manner as he had done from the Indus to the Tigris: two daysbefore the fever commenced, he gave a grand entertainment to Nearchusand his officers.

Only a very few circ*mstances regarding Nearchus are known afterthe death of Alexander: he was made governor of Lycia and Pamphylia,and seems to have attached himself to the fortunes of Antigonus.Along with him, he crossed the mountains of Loristan, when he marchedout of Susiana, after his combat with Eumenes. In this retreat hecommanded the light-armed troops, and was ordered in advance, todrive the Cosseams from their passes in the mountains. When Antigonusdeemed it necessary to march into Lesser Asia, to oppose the progressof Cassander, he left his son Demetrius, with part of his army, inSyria; and as that prince was not above 22 years old, he appointedhim several advisers, of whom Nearchus was one. It is by no meansimprobable that the instructions or the advice of Nearchus may haveinduced Demetrius to survey with great care the lake of Asphaltes,and to form a computation of the profit of the bitumen which itafforded, and of the balm which grew in the adjacent country, and mayhave contributed to his love for and skill in ship-building; forafter he was declared king of Macedonia, he built a fleet of fivehundred gallies, several of which had fourteen, fifteen, and sixteenbenches of oars. We are informed that they were all built by theparticular contrivance of Demetrius himself, and that the ablestartizans, without his directions, were unable to construct suchvessels, which united the pomp and splendour of royal ships to thestrength and conveniences of ordinary ships of war. The period andcirc*mstances of the death of Nearchus are not known. Dr. Vincentsupposes that he may have lost his life at the battle of Ipsus, whereAntigonus fell: or, after the battle, by command of the four kingswho obtained the victory. Previous to his grand expedition, itappears that he was a native of Crete, and enrolled a citizen ofAmphipolis, it is supposed, at the time when Philip intended to formthere a mart for his conquests in Thrace. He soon afterwards came tothe court of Philip, by whom he and some others were banished,because he thought them too much attached to the interests ofAlexander in the family dissensions which arose on the secession ofOlympias, and some secret transactions of Alexander in regard to amarriage with a daughter of a satrap of Caria. On the death ofPhilip, Nearchus was recalled, and rewarded for his sufferings by thefavour of his sovereign.

CHAPTER III.

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY, AND COMMERCIALENTERPRIZE, FROM THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT, TO THE TIME OFPTOLEMY THE GEOGRAPHER, A.D. 150.--WITH A DIGRESSION ON THE INLANDTRADE BETWEEN INDIA AND THE SHORES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN, THROUGHARABIA, FROM THE EARLIEST AGES.

For several centuries after the death of Alexander, the impulseand direction of discovery and commercial enterprize continuedtowards the countries of the East. Of his successors, SeleucusNicanor and some of the Ptolemies of Egypt prosecuted his plans ofcommerce with this part of the world with the most zeal and success.Seleucus, after the death of Alexander, obtained possession of thoseprovinces of his empire which were comprized under the name of UpperAsia; he, therefore, naturally regarded the conquered districts ofIndia as belonging to him. In order to secure these, and at the sametime to derive from them all the political and commercial advantageswhich they were capable of bestowing, he marched into India; and itis supposed that he carried his arms into districts that had not beenvisited by Alexander. The route assigned to his march is obscurelygiven; but it seems to point out the country from the Hyphasis to theHysudrus, from thence to Palibothra, at the junction of the Saone andthe Ganges, or, perhaps, where Patna now stands. There is no goodreason to believe, with some authors, that he reached the mouth ofthe Ganges. Seleucus was stopt in his progress by the intelligencethat Antigonus was about to invade his dominions; but before heretraced his steps towards the Euphrates, he formed a treaty with theIndian king Sandracottus, who resided at Palibothra: and afterwardssent Megasthenes, who had some knowledge of the country, from havingaccompanied Alexander, as his ambassador to him. In this city,Megasthenes resided several years, and on his return he published anaccount of that part of India; fragments of this account are given byDiodorus Siculus, Strabo, and Arrian; and though it contains manyfalse and fabulous stories, yet these are intermixed with much thatis valuable and correct. He gives a faithful picture of the Indiancharacter and manners; and his account of the geography anddimensions of India is curious and accurate. Some further insightinto these countries was derived from the embassy of Daimachus, tothe son and successor of Sandracottus; this terminated the connectionof the Syrian monarchs with India which was probably wrested fromthem soon after the death of Seleucus. At the time when this monarchwas assassinated, Pliny informs us, that he entertained a design ofjoining the Euxine and Caspian seas, by means of a canal; he wasundoubtedly the most sagacious of the Syrian kings, and the only onewho imitated Alexander in endeavouring to unite conquest withcommerce.

But it is to the Egyptian successors of Alexander that we mustlook for the systematic extension of commerce; towards which theywere in a manner impelled by the highly favourable situation ofAlexandria. It has justly been observed by Harris, in his Collectionof Voyages, that most of the cities founded by the Syrian kingsexisted little longer than their founders; and, perhaps, with theexception of Antioch, on the Orontes, and Seleucia, on the Tigris,none of them, from the situation in which they were built, and thecountries by which they were surrounded, could under anycirc*mstances be of long duration. With respect to the cities foundedby Alexander it was quite otherwise. The Alexandria of Paropamisusmay still be traced in Candahar; and the Alexandria on the Iaxartes,in Cogend: and the Alexandria of Egypt, after surviving therevolutions of empires for eighteen ages, perished at last, (as acommercial city,) only in consequence of a discovery which changedthe whole system of commerce through the world.

On the destruction of Tyre, Alexander sought for a situation onwhich he might build a city that would rival it in the extent of itscommerce; and he quickly perceived the advantages that would bederived from the seat of commerce being established near one of thebranches of the Nile. By means of this river his projected city wouldcommand at once the commerce of the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Itwas, however, necessary to select a spot near the mouths of the Nile,which would secure these advantages in the highest degree, and whichwould at the same time be of the highest importance in a militarypoint of view, and afford a harbour constantly accessible. The siteof Alexandria combined all these advantages: on three sides it hasthe sea, or the lake Mareotis, which, according to Strabo, was nearly300 stadia long, and 150 broad; the country adjoining this lake wasfertile, and by means of it, and natural or artificial channels,there was a communication with the Delta and Upper Egypt. Betweenthis lake and the Canopic branch of the Nile, Alexander built hiscity: to less sagacious minds this site would have appeared improperand injudicious in some respects; for the sea-coast from Pelusium toCanopus is low land, not visible at a distance; the navigation alongthis coast, and the approach to it, is dangerous, and the entranceinto the mouths of the Nile, at some seasons, is extremely hazardous.But these disadvantages the genius of Alexander turned to the benefitof his city, by the erection of the Pharos, and the plan of a doubleharbour, which was afterwards completed by the Ptolemies; for he thusunited in a single spot the means of defence and facility ofaccess.

Denocrates, a Macedonian architect, who proposed to Alexander tocut Mount Athos in the form of a statue holding a city in one hand,and in the other a bason, into which all the waters of the mountainshould empty themselves, was employed by that monarch to build andbeautify Alexandria. Its site was on a deep and secure bay, formed bythe shore on the one side, and the island of Pharos on the other; inthis bay numerous fleets might lie in perfect safety, protected fromthe winds and waves. The form in which the city was built was that ofa Macedonian chlamys, or cloak; the two ports, one of which only wasbuilt by Alexander, though both (as has been already observed) wereprojected by him, were formed and divided from each other by a moat amile long, which stretched from the isle of Pharos to the continent:that harbour which lay to the north was called the Great Harbour, andthe other, to the west, was called Eunostus, or the Safe Return. Inorder to secure the vessels from the storms of the Mediterranean,even more effectually than they could be by the natural advantages ofthese harbours, the piers on each side were bent like a bar, so thatonly a small space was left for the entrance of vessels.

The successors of Alexander in the Egyptian empire followed hisexample, in nourishing commerce and improving Alexandria. Ptolemy,the son of Lagus, as soon as he took possession of Egypt, establishedthe seat of government there, and succeeded, partly by harsh anddespotic measures, and partly by offering great advantages, and byhis just and humane character, to draw thither a great number ofinhabitants. He began, and his son completed, the famous watch-towerin the island of Pharos; the causeway which united it to the mainland, already mentioned, was built by Dexiphanes. Sostratus, the sonof this architect, was employed to erect the watch-tower: the designof this tower was to direct the vessels which entered the harbour,and it was justly reckoned one of the wonders of the world. It was alarge and square structure of white marble, on the top of which fireswere constantly kept burning for the direction of sailors. Thebuilding of this tower cost 800 talents, which, if they were Attictalents, were equivalent to 165,000 l. sterling, but ifthey were Alexandrian, to double that sum. This stupendous and mostuseful undertaking was completed in the fortieth year of the reign ofPtolemy, the son of Lagus, and in first year of the reign of PtolemyPhiladelphus; and at the same time that Sostratus finished it, hisfather, Dexiphanes, finished the mole, which united the island ofPharos to the continent. The inscription on the tower was, "KingPtolemy to the Gods, the saviours, for the benefit of sailors;" butSostratus put this inscription on the mortar, while underneath hecut, in the solid marble, the following inscription, "Sostratus theCnidian, son of Dexiphanes, to the Gods, the saviours, for thebenefit of sailors." In process of time the mortar wore off, thefirst inscription disappeared along with it, and the secondinscription became visible.

The erection of the tower of Pharos was by no means the onlyservice the first Ptolemy did to commerce; throughout all his reignhe manifested great attention to it and maritime affairs, as well asto those sciences by which they might be improved and advanced. Assoon as he had made himself master of Palestine, Syria, andPhoenicia, he turned his thoughts to the conquest of Cyprus: thisisland abounded in wood, of which Egypt was almost destitute; and onthis account, as well as on account of its situation, in the bosom,as it were, of the Levant, it was of the utmost importance to amaritime power. He succeeded in obtaining possession of this valuableisland, and thus improved and enlarged the commercial advantages ofEgypt. His next step, with this view, was to invite the sailors ofPhoenicia to his new capital. His increasing power, especially atsea, roused the envy of Antigonus, who, by extraordinary exertions,in the course of twelve months built and equipped a fleet, which wasable to cope with the naval power of Ptolemy. It is foreign to ourpurpose to notice the wars between them, except in so far as they areconnected with the commercial history of Alexandria. This city wasbenefited by these wars, for Antigonus, in his progress, had drivenmany of the inhabitants of Syria, Palestine, and Phoenicia from theirnative lands: to these Ptolemy gave great encouragement, andextraordinary privileges and immunities, which induced them to settlein Alexandria, where they followed their mercantile or commercialpursuits. The report of these advantages granted to foreigners, ledJews, Greeks and Macedonians to flock to Egypt, by which means thepopulation and wealth of that country, and particularly of itscapital, were greatly augmented.

The foundation of the museum and library of Alexandria, both ofwhich contributed so essentially to science and to the establishmentof the Alexandrian school of philosophy, which, as we shallafterwards perceive, produced men that greatly advanced geographicalknowledge, is another proof of the wise and comprehensive characterof Ptolemy's mind.

But Ptolemy rather prepared the way for the advancement ofcommerce and maritime discovery, than contributed directly to themhimself: fortunately, his son, Ptolemy Philadelphus, was a worthysuccessor, and emulous of treading in his father's steps. About thebeginning of his reign, Tyre, the ancient station of the trade withIndia, again reared its head as a commercial city, and engagedextensively and successfully in this lucrative traffic. It becamenecessary, therefore, in order to draw it from Tyre and to secure itscentering in Alexandria, to extend the facilities and advantages ofthis city for this traffic. With this view, Ptolemy sent travellersto penetrate into the interior of his dominions, bordering on the RedSea, by land, while his fleet was exploring the coast: he began tomake a canal, 100 cubits broad and 30 deep, between Arsinoe on theRed Sea, and the eastern branch of the Nile, in order to complete awater-communication between India and Alexandria. This canal,however, was never completed; probably on account of the tedious anddifficult navigation towards the northern extremity of the Red Sea.He therefore altered his plan, and instead of Arsinoe fixed on MyosHormos, as the port from which the navigation to India shouldcommence. The same reason which induced him to form this port; ledhim afterwards to the establishment of Berenice; he was farther ledto this, as Berenice was lower down in the Red Sea, and consequentlyships sailing from it reached the ocean sooner and with lessdifficulty. It appears, however, that till the Romans conqueredEgypt, the greatest portion of the trade between Alexandria and[Egypt->India] was carried on through Myos Hormos. The route inthe time of Ptolemy and his successors was as follows: vessels passedup 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 monthof September, and for India in July. As the country over which thecaravans travelled was the desart of Thebais, which is almostdestitute of water, Ptolemy ordered springs to be searched for, wellsto be dug, and caravanseras to be erected.

In order to protect his merchant ships in the Mediterranean andthe Red Sea, he fitted out two great fleets, one of which heconstantly kept in each sea. That in the Mediterranean was verynumerous, and had several ships of an extraordinary size: two of themin particular had 30 oars on a side, one 20, four 14, two 12,fourteen 11, thirty 9, &c., besides a great number of vessels offour oars and three oars on a side. With these fleets he protectedthe commerce of his subjects, and kept in subjection most of themaritime provinces of Asia Minor; viz. Cilicia, Pamphylia, Lycia andCaria. The names of some of the most celebrated geographers who werepatronized by this monarch, have been handed down to us: Plinymentions Dalion, Bion, Boselis, and Aristocreon, as having visitedEthiopia, and contributed to the geographical knowledge of thatcountry; and Simonides as having resided five years at Meroe.Timosthenes lived in this reign: he published a description of theknown sea-ports, and a work on the measure of the earth. He saileddown the coast of Africa, probably as far as Madagascar, certainlylower down than the Egyptians traded under the Ptolemies, or evenunder the Romans.

The reign of Ptolemy Euergetes was equally distinguished, with,those of his predecessors, by attention to commerce, and a desire toextend it. As the navigation of the Red Sea had now become a sourceof great wealth to his subjects, he deemed it necessary to free it asmuch as possible from the pirates that infested it's coasts; for thispurpose, as well as to preserve a communication between Egypt and thecountries which extended to its mouth, he established governors fromthe isthmus of Suez, along the Arabian and African coasts, as far asthe straits of Babelmandeb; and planted colonies of Greeks andEgyptians to carry on the commerce, and protect the interests of hissubjects. But the most extraordinary instance of his enterprisingspirit is to be found in his conquest (evidently for the purpose offacilitating and securing the commerce of the Red Sea) of part ofAbyssinia. The proof of this, indeed, rests entirely on aninscription found at Aduli, which there can be no doubt is theharbour and bay of Masuah; the only proper entrance, according toBruce, into Abyssinia. The inscription to which we have alluded wasextant in the time of Cosmas (A.D. 545), by whom it was seen. Fromit, Ptolemy appears to have passed to the Tacazze, which he calls theNile, and to have penetrated into Gojam, in which province thefountains of the Nile are found. He made roads, opened acommunication between this country and Egypt, and during thisexpedition obliged the Arabians to pay tribute, and to maintain theroads free from robbers and the sea from pirates; subduing the wholecoast from [Leucke->Leuke] Come to Sabea. The inscription adds:"In the accomplishment of this business I had no example to follow,either of the ancient kings of Egypt, or of my own family; but wasthe 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 sacrificed to Jupiter, to Mars, and toNeptune, imploring his protection for all who navigate theseseas."

Ptolemy Euergetes was particularly attentive to the interests ofthe library at Alexandria. The first librarian appointed by Ptolemythe successor of Alexander, was Zenodotus; on his death, PtolemyEuergetes invited from Athens Eratosthenes, a citizen of Cyrene, andentrusted to him the care of the library: it has been supposed thathe was the second of that name, or of an inferior rank in learningand science, because he is sometimes called Beta; but by thisappellation nothing else was meant, but that he was the secondlibrarian of the royal library at Alexandria. He died at the age of81, A.C. 194. He has been called a second Plato, the cosmographer andthe geometer of the world: he is rather an astronomer andmathematician than a geographer, though geography is indebted to himfor some improvements in its details, and more especially for helpingto raise it to the accuracy and dignity of a science. By means ofinstruments, which Ptolemy erected in the museum at Alexandria, heascertained the obliquity of the ecliptic to be 23° 51' 20". Heis, however, principally celebrated as the first astronomer whomeasured a degree of a great circle, and thus approximated towardsthe real diameter of the earth.

The importance of this discovery will justify us in entering onsome 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, whichhe used for this purpose, was dug by his directions, or existedpreviously. Pliny seems to be of the former opinion; but there isreason to believe that it had a much higher antiquity. The followingobservations on its structure by Dr. Horsley, Bishop of Rochester,are ingenious and important. "The well, besides that it was sunkperpendicularly, with the greatest accuracy, was, I suppose, in shapean exact cylinder. Its breadth must have been moderate, so that aperson, standing upon the brink, might safely stoop enough over it tobring his eye into the axis of the cylinder, where it would beperpendicularly over the centre of the circular surface of the water.The water must have stood at a moderate, height below the mouth ofthe well, far enough below the mouth to be sheltered from the actionof the wind, that its surface might be perfectly smooth andmotionless; and not so low, but that the whole of its circularsurface might be distinctly seen by the observer on the brink. A wellformed in this manner would afford, as I apprehend, the most certainobservation of the sun's appulse to the zenith, that could be madewith the naked eye; for when the sun's centre was upon the zenith,his disc would be seen by reflection on the water, in the very middleof the well,--that is, as a circle perfectly concentric with thecircle of the water; and, I believe, there is nothing of which thenaked eye can judge with so much precision as the concentricity oftwo circles, provided the circles be neither very nearly equal, northe inner circle very small in proportion to the outer."

Eratosthenes observed, that at the time of the summer solsticethis well was completely illuminated by the sun, and hence heinferred that the sun was, at that time, in the zenith of this place.His next object was to ascertain the altitude of the sun, at the samesolstice, and on the very same day, at Alexandria. This he effectedby a very simple contrivance: he employed a concave hemisphere, witha vertical style, equal to the radius of concavity; and by means ofthis he ascertained that the arch, intercepted between the bottom ofthe style and the extreme point of its shadow, was 7° 12'. This,of course, indicated the distance of the sun from the zenith ofAlexandria. But 7° 12' is equal to the fiftieth part of a greatcircle; and this, therefore, was the measure of the celestial arccontained between the zeniths of Syene and Alexandria. The measureddistance between these cities being 5000 stadia, it followed, that5000 X 50 = 250,000, was, according to the observations ofEratosthenes, the extent of the whole circumference 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 accountswhich have been transmitted to us of the result of the operations ofEratosthenes, (for the ancients employed different stadia,) we shouldbe able precisely to ascertain the circumference which thisphilosopher ascribed to the earth, and also, whether a nearerapproximation to the truth was made by any subsequent or priorancient philosopher. The circumference of the earth was conjectured,or ascertained, by Aristotle, Cleomedes, Posidonius, and Ptolemyrespectively, to be 400, 300, 240, and 180 thousand stadia. It isimmediately apparent that these various measures have some relationto each other, and probably express the same extent; measured indifferent stadia; and this probability is greatly increased bycomparing the real distances of several places with the ancientitinerary distances.

The observation of Eratosthenes respecting the obliquity of theecliptic (though undoubtedly not so immediately or essentiallyconnected with our subject as his observation of the circumference ofthe earth) is too important to be passed over entirely withoutnotice. He found the distance between the tropics less than 53°6', and greater than 52° 96', which gives a mean of 23° 51'for the obliquity of the ecliptic. The observations of Hipparchus(who flourished at Alexandria about 140 years before Christ, and whomwe shall have occasion to mention more particularly afterwards)coincided with those of Eratosthenes. Plutarch, however, who diedA.D. 119, informs us, that, in his time, the gnomons at Syene were nolonger shadowless on the day of the summer solstice. As the intervalbetween Eratosthenes and Plutarch was only about 512 years, BishopMorsley has very naturally expressed his doubts of the accuracy ofPlutarch's assertion. He says, that the change in the obliquity ofthe ecliptic in this interval was only 2' 36". "A gnomon, therefore,at Syene, of the length of twelve inches, if it cast no shadow on theday of the solstice in the time of Eratosthenes, should have cast ashadow in the time of Plutarch of the length only of 9/1000th, or notquite 1/100th part of an inch. The shadow of a perpendicular columnof the height of 100 feet would have been 9/10ths of an inch." As,however, the ancients do not appear to have constructed gnomons ofsuch a size, and as gnomons of inferior size would have given ashadow scarcely perceptible, it is probable that Plutarch is mistakenin his assertion; or, at any rate, that the very small variationwhich did take place between his time and that of Eratosthenes (if itwere observed at all) was ascertained by means of the well itself,which would point it out much more distinctly and accurately than anygnomon the ancients can be supposed to have used.

We are also indebted to Eratosthenes for the first regularparallel of latitude, and also for tracing a meridian. His parallelof latitude began at the Straits of Gibraltar, and passed eastwardthrough Rhodes to the mountains of India; the intermediate placesbeing carefully set down. His meridian line passed through Rhodes andAlexandria, as far as Syene and Meroe. Meroe, on this account, becamean object of the greatest interest and importance to all thesucceeding ancient geographers and astronomers, and they have takenthe 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 theextent of his geographical knowledge. At the extremity of the worldto the east, bounded by the ocean, Thina was placed in the map ofEratosthenes, in the parallel of Rhodes; a parallel which passesthrough the empire of China, within the Great Wall. Eratosthenes,according to Strabo, (to whom we are indebted for nearly all we knowrespecting this philosopher,) asserts that Thina had been, previouslyto the construction of his map, incorrectly placed in the moreancient maps. His information respecting Meroe or Abyssinia, is mostprobably derived from Dalion, Aristocreon, and Bion, who had beensent by Ptolemy Philadelphus and his successors into that country, orfrom Timosthenes, who sailed down the coast of Africa as low asCerne. His information on the subject of India (which, however, asfar as regards oriental commerce, is very confused) must have beenderived from the Macedonians. There is little doubt that the libraryof Alexandria afforded him access to all the knowledge which thenexisted respecting the various countries of the globe; but the turnof his mind led him rather to astronomical than geographical studies;or rather, perhaps, he directed his labours and his talents to thediscovery of the figure and circumference of the earth, thinking,that till this was effected, the delineation of the habitable world,and the relative position of different countries, must be veryinaccurate as well as incomplete. This opinion regardingEratosthenes, that he was more of a geometrician than a geographer,seems to be confirmed by the testimony of Marcian of Heraclia, whoinforms us, that Eratosthenes took the whole work of Timosthenes,preface and all, as it stood, and in the very same words. If thisaccount be accurate, it is probable that Eratosthenes' knowledge ofThina, and his being able to correct the erroneous position of thiscountry in more ancient maps, was derived from Timosthenes, who hadcommanded the fleet of Ptolemy Philadelphus on the Indian Ocean.

If we reflect on the rude and imperfect state of science at thisperiod, the paucity and inadequacy of the instruments by means ofwhich it might be improved, and the superstitions and prejudiceswhich opposed the removal of error or the establishment of truth, weshall not be disposed to question the justice of the panegyricpronounced by Pliny on Eratosthenes. This author, after detailing allthat was then known on the subject of the circumference of the earth,and on the distances which had been ascertained by actualadmeasurement, or approximated by analogy or probable conjecture,between the most remarkable places on its surface, adds, thatEratosthenes, whose acuteness and application had advanced him far inevery branch of knowledge, but who had outstripped all hispredecessors or contemporaries in that particular branch which wasconnected with the admeasurement of the earth, had fixed itscircumference at 250,000 stadia; a bold and almost presumptuousenterprize, (improbum ausum) but which had been conductedwith so much judgment, and on such sound principles, that itcommanded and deserved our credit. Hipparchus, who was distinguishedfor his correctness and diligence in every part of geometrical andastronomical science, and who had specially exerted those qualitiesin his endeavours to correct the errors of Eratosthenes, had beenable to add only the comparatively small extent of 25,000 stadia tothe computation of Eratosthenes.--Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. ii. c.108.

Eratosthenes seems, from the nature of his studies, not to haveavailed himself so much as he might have done of the treasurescontained in the Alexandrian library under his care, to correct orextend the geographical knowledge of his contemporaries. The sameobservation will not apply to Agatharcides, who was president of thelibrary after Eratosthenes. The exact time at which he flourished isnot known: according to Blair, he was contemporary with Eratosthenes,though younger than him, and flourished 177 A.C., Eratosthenes havingdied at the age of eighty-one, in the year 194 A.C. Dodwell, however,fixes him at a later period; viz. 104 A.C.; but this date must beerroneous, because Artemidorus of Ephesus, who evidently copiesAgatharcides, undoubtedly lived 104 A.C. Agatharcide's was born atCnidus in Caria: no particulars are known respecting him, except thathe was president of the Alexandrian library, in the reign of PtolemyPhilometor, if he flourished 177 A.C.; and in the reign of PtolemyLathyrus, if, according to Dodwell, he did not flourish till 104A.C.

The only work of his which is preserved, is a Treatise on theErythraean Sea; and this we possess only in the Bibliotheca ofPhotius, and incorporated in the history of Diodorus Siculus. Theauthority of Agatharcides was very high among the ancients. Strabo,Pliny, and Diodorus, always mention him with the utmost respect, andplace implicit confidence in his details. Diodorus expressly statesthat Agatharcides and Artemidorus (who, as we have already mentioned,was merely his copyist) are the only authors who have written truthconcerning Egypt and Ethiopia; and Strabo follows him in all thatrelates to the latter country, the countries lying to the south ofEgypt, and the western coast of Arabia. In fact, for nearly 200years, the ancient historians and geographers drew all theinformation they possessed respecting the portions of the worldembraced in the work of Agatharcides from that work. It has been wellobserved, "that when Pliny speaks of the discoveries on the coast ofMalabar in his own age, and adds, that the names he mentions are new,and not to be found in previous writers, we ought to consider him asspeaking of all those who had followed the authority of theMacedonians, or the school of Alexandria; of which, in this branch ofscience, Eratosthenes and Agatharcides were the leaders." From thecirc*mstance that Strabo appeals very frequently to the authority ofEratosthenes, in conjunction with that of Agatharcides, it has beenconjectured, that the work of the latter contains all that the formerknew, with the addition of his own information; and this conjectureis highly probable, considering that Agatharcides had access to thesources whence Eratosthenes drew his information; to the works ofEratosthenes themselves, which of course would be deposited in theAlexandrian library; and to all the additional works which hadenriched the library from the time of Eratosthenes, as well as theadditional information which the extensive commerce of Alexandriawould supply.

The work of Agatharcides, therefore, having been in suchestimation by the ancient historians and geographers, and the onlysource from which, during 200 years, they drew their information, andhaving been compiled by a person, who, it is probable, had better andfuller means of rendering it accurate and complete than any of hiscontemporaries enjoyed; it will be proper to give a pretty fullabstract of the most interesting and important part of itscontents.

The veracity of this author was questioned by Plutarch, from hisnarrating a circ*mstance, which, to us of the present day, is astrong confirmation of the truth and accuracy of his information.Agatharcides takes notice of the worm which is formed in the legs,and which insinuates itself there in such a manner, that it isnecessary to wind it out with the utmost caution. Plutarch ridiculesand rejects this story, and says it never has happened, and neverwill. But that such a worm exists, and that when it insinuates itselfinto the leg it must be drawn out with the utmost caution, lest thesmallest portion of it remain, and thus produce disease, is directlyand fully attested by all the travellers, and particularly by Bruce,who carried with him to the grave the marks and effects of the attackof this species of worm.

But the most curious and important portion of the work ofa*gatharcides on the Red Sea, relates to Abyssinia; for in this workwe meet with the first genuine characteristics of this nation. Hespecifies particularly the gold mines wrought by the kings of Egypton the coast of the Red Sea;--the process which they followed toprocure and separate this metal;--the sufferings which the minersunderwent in their operations are painted in very strong language:"The multitude of bones still found in these excavations, he says, isincredible, of wretches crushed by the falling-in of the earth, asmust naturally happen in a loose and crumbling soil." He adds acirc*mstance, to which there are many parallel in our own country, inthose mines which are supposed to have been wrought by the Romans;viz. the tools of copper found in these gold mines, supposed to havebeen used by the native Egyptians, prior to the conquest of Egypt bythe Persians. The next particular mentioned by Agatharcides,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 elephants and hamstring them, and afterwards cutthe flesh out of the animal alive: he adds, that the inhabitants areso extremely fond of the flesh of the elephant, thus procured, thatwhen Ptolemy would have paid any price to purchase these animalsalive, as he wanted them for his army, the Abyssinian hunters refusedhis offer, declaring that not all the wealth of Egypt would temptthem to forego their favourite and delicious repast. It is aremarkable fact, that the credit of Bruce on this topic should thusbe confirmed by a writer who lived nearly 2000 years before him, ofwhose writings we possess only a very short treatise, and of whoselife we know scarcely a single particular. It may be added, thatStrabo, in a passage, in which he is apparently copying Agatharcides,mentions [Greek: Kreophagoi] and as he would scarcely particularizethe fact of a native eating the flesh of animals cooked, it is to bepresumed, he means raw flesh. In the same place he mentions theexcisio feminarum.

Every reader of Brace's Travels in Abyssinia must remember thefly, called Tsalpsalza, an insect more formidable than the strongestor most savage wild beasts: "As soon as the buzzing of this insect isheard, the utmost alarm and trepidation prevails; the cattle forsaketheir food and run wildly about the plain, till at length they falldown, worn out with terror, hunger and fatigue; even the camel,elephant and rhinoceros, are not safe from the attacks of thisformidable insect." This fly is described by Agatharcides in the samemanner as by Bruce. The ensete tree of Bruce, the leaves of whichresemble the banana, with fruit like figs, but not eatable, with atrunk esculent till it reaches its perfect growth and is full ofleaves, resembles in some of its particulars a tree described byAgatharcides. This author also describes the locusts, as generallyused for food; the troglodytes; the rhinoceros; the cameleopard; whathe calls sphinxes, but which are represented as tame, and aresupposed to be apes, distinguished from the common ape in the facebeing smooth and without hair. He also mentions an animal he callscrocetta, which is described as being between a wolf and a dog, andas imitating the human voice; these particulars seem to point it outas the hyena, though some suppose it to be the jackall. It deservesto be remarked, that the animals enumerated by Agatharcides asnatives of Abyssinia, are all named in the same manner, as well asdepicted on the celebrated Palestrine Mosaic.

In his description of the coast of the Red Sea he commences withArsinoe, and goes down the western side as far as Ptolemais Theron; aplace so called, because elephants were there hunted and taken, andare still, according to Bruce. Agatharcides adds, that the usualnavigation was to this place for elephants. He notices Myos Hormos,but not Berenice; he has even mentioned the islands at the straits ofBabelmandeb, and the prodigies which in his time, and much later,were supposed to lie beyond them. There is, however, one part of hiswork, in which he seems to indicate the curvature of the Africancoast to the east beyond the straits; but it is doubtful whether inthis place he is speaking of the coast within or without thestraits.

In his description of the coast between Myos Hormos and Ptolemais,he points out a bay, which, both from the identity of the name, andthe circ*mstances respecting it which he narrates, undoubtedly is theFoul Bay of the moderns. Strabo, who, as we have already stated,borrows freely and frequently from Agatharcides, describes this bayas full of shoals and breakers, and exposed to violent winds; and headds, that Berenice lies at the bottom of it. The accuracy of ourauthor, even when he is opposed by the testimony of Bruce, is fullyproved in what he relates of the coast below Foul Bay: aftermentioning two mountains, which he calls the Bulls, he particularlyadverts to the dangerous shoals which often proved fatal to theelephant ships on their passage to and from Ptolemais. Bruce says nosuch shoals exist; but, as is justly observed by Dr. Vincent; thecorrectness of the ancients respecting them, especially Eratosthenes,Agatharcides and Artemidorus, is fully borne out by the danger andloss to which many English ships have been exposed by reason of thesevery shoals.

The description of Agatharcides of this side of the coast of theRed Sea, reaches no lower down than Ptolemais; this circ*mstance isremarkable, since we have seen that, from the inscription found atAduli there can be no doubt that Ptolemy Euergetes had conqueredAbyssinia, and established a commerce considerably lower down thanPtolemais Theron. As, however, we have not the original, and perhapsnot the entire work of Agatharcides, we cannot infer any thing,either respecting his ignorance or inattention, from thisomission.

Agatharcides, having thus described this coast, returns fromPtolemais to Myos Hormos, and passing the Bay of Arsinoe, crosses toPhoenicum, in the Elanitic Gulf, and describes the coast of Arabia asfar as Sabea. Almost the very first particular noticed by him in thispart of his work, bears evidence to his accuracy as a geographer. Hestates that, at the entrance of the Elanitic Gulph there are threeislands, one of which is dedicated to Isis: he describes them as,"covering several harbours on the Arabian shore. To these islandssucceeds the rocky coast of Thamudeni, where, for more than 1000stadia, there is no harbour, no roadsted in which a vessel couldanchor, no bay into which she could run for shelter, no point of landwhich could protect her; so that those who sail alone this part ofthe coast are exposed to certain destruction, if they should beovertaken by a storm." Yet these islands lying in such a conspicuoussituation, and of such importance to the mariner, and this coast sodangerous to him, do not appear to have been noticed in any Europeanchart or description, till, after the lapse of twenty centuries, theywere restored to geography by Mr. Irwin.

As one of our principal objects is to do justice to the accuracyof the ancient geographers, by pointing out instances of the extremecare which many of them took to obtain correct information we shalladduce one other proof of this accuracy and care in Agatharcides.This author particularly describes the sea as having a whiteappearance off the coast of Arabia; on this point he was wellinformed though the circ*mstance is treated as fabulous by theancients, and even by some of the moderns; but more observant moderntravellers confirm this phenomenon. It is well observed by Dr.Vincent, that we are every day lessening the bulk of the marvellousimputed to the ancients; and as our knowledge of the east increases,it is possible that the imputation will be altogether removed.

The account which Agatharcides gives of Sabæa is verycurious and important; and, as we shall afterwards have occasion tomake use of it, in endeavouring to prove that, in very early ages,the Arabians supplied the western world with the productions of theeast, we shall extract here what he says of Sabæa from thetranslation of Dr. Vincent.

"Sabæa, (says Agatharcides,) abounds with every productionto make life happy in the extreme: its very air is so perfumed withodours, that the natives are obliged to mitigate the fragrance byscents that have an opposite tendency, as if nature could not supporteven pleasure in the extreme. Myrrh, frankincense, balsam, cinnamon,and casia are here produced, from trees of extraordinary magnitude.The king, as he is, on the one hand, entitled to supreme honour, onthe other, is obliged to submit to confinement in his palace; but thepeople are robust, warlike, and able mariners: they sail in verylarge vessels to the country where the odoriferous commodities areproduced; they plant colonies there, and import from thence thelarimna, an odour no where else to be found. In fact, there is nonation on the earth so wealthy as the Gerrheans and Sabeans, as beingin the centre of all the commerce that passes between Asia andEurope. These are the nations which have enriched the kingdom ofPtolemy: these are the nations that furnish the most profitableagencies to the industry of the Phoenicians, and a variety ofadvantages which are incalculable. They possess themselves everyprofusion of luxury, in articles of plate and sculpture, in furnitureof beds, tripods, and other household embellishments, far superior indegree to any thing that is seen in Europe: their expence of livingrivals the magnificence of princes: their houses are decorated withpillars glistening with gold and silver: their doors are crowned withvases and beset with jewels: the interior of their houses correspondswith the beauty of their outward appearance, and all the riches ofother countries are here exhibited in a variety of profusion. Such anation, and so abounding in superfluity, owes its independence to itsdistance from Europe; for their luxurious manners would soon renderthem a prey to the European sovereigns, who have always troops onfoot prepared for any conquest; and who, if they could find the meansof invasion, would soon reduce the Sabeans to the condition of theiragents and factors; whereas they are now obliged to deal with them asprincipals."

The importance and the bearing of these curious facts, firstbrought to our notice by Agatharcides, as well as the inferenceswhich may be drawn from them regarding the mode in which the ancientsobtained their commodities of India, will call our particularattention afterwards: at present we shall merely notice thecharacteristic and minute picture which Agatharcides has drawn of theSabeans, and the just notions he had formed on the nature of acommerce, of which all the other writers of antiquity seemed to havebeen utterly ignorant.

Beyond Sabæa to the east, Agatharcides possessed noinformation, though, like all the ancients, he is desirous ofsupplying his want of it by indulging in the marvellous: it is,however, rather curious that, among other particulars, undoubtedlyunfounded, such as placing the Fortunate islands off the coast beyondSabæa, and his describing the flocks and herds as all white,and the females as polled;--he describes that whiteness of the sea,to which we have already alluded, as confirmed by modern travellers.From these unfounded particulars, our author soon emerges again intothe truth; for he describes the appearance of the differentconstellations, and especially notices that to the south ofSabæa there is no twilight in the morning; but when he adds,that the sun, at rising, appears like a column--that it casts noshadow till it has been risen an hour, and that the evening twilightlasts three hours after it has set; it is obvious that theinformation of that age (of which we may justly suppose the libraryof Alexandria was the great depository) did not extend beyondSabæa.

That Agatharcides had access to and made ample use of the journalof Nearchus (of which we have given such a complete abstract), isevident from various parts of his work; but it is also evident, bycomparing his description of those countries and their inhabitants,which had been visited and described by Nearchus, that he had accessto other sources of intelligence, by means of which he added to thematerials supplied by the latter.

It will be recollected that Nearchus describes in a particularmanner, the Icthyophagi of Gadrosia: Agatharcides also describesIcthyophagi, though it is not clear whether he means to confine hisdescription to those of Gadrosia, or to extend it to others on thecoast of Arabia and Africa. The mode practised by the Icthyophagi,according to him, is exactly that which was practised by them incatching fish, according to Nearchus: he also coincides with thatauthor in various other particulars respecting the use of the bonesof whales, or other large fish, in the construction of their houses;their ignorance and barbarism, their dress and mode of life. All thishe probably borrowed from Nearchus; but he adds one circ*mstancewhich indubitably proves, that the knowledge of the eastern part ofthe world had considerably advanced since the era of Alexander: heexpressly states, that beyond the straits that separate Arabia fromthe opposite coast, there are an immense number of islands,scattered, very small, and scarcely raised above the surface of theocean. If we may advert to the situation assigned to these islands,on the supposition that the straits which separate Arabia from theopposite coast, mean the entrance to the Gulph of Persia, we shallnot be able to ascertain what these islands are; but if in additionto the circ*mstances of their being scattered, very small, and verylow, we add what Agatharcides also notices, that the natives have noother means of supporting life but by the turtles which are foundnear them in immense numbers, and of a very large size, we shall bedisposed, with Dr. Vincent, to consider these as the Maldive Islands.It may be objected to this supposition, that the Maldives aresituated at a very great distance from the straits that separateArabia from the opposite coast; but a cursory acquaintance with thegeographical descriptions of the ancients will convince us, thattheir information respecting the situation of countries wasfrequently vague and erroneous, (as indeed it must have been,considering the imperfect means they possessed of measuring or evenjudging of distances, especially by sea) while, at the same time,their information respecting the nature of the country, theproductions of its soil, and the manners, &c. of its inhabitants,was surprisingly full and accurate. In identifying places mentionedby the ancients, we should therefore be guided more by thedescriptions they give, than by the locality they assign to them.Agatharcides, it is true, adds that these islands extend along thesea, which washes Gadrosia and India; but he probably had veryconfused notions of the extent and form of India; and, at any rate,giving the widest latitude to the term, the same sea may be said towash Gadrosia and the Maldive Islands. If these are the islandsactually meant by Agatharcides, it is the earliest notice of themextant.

Our concern with Agatharcides relates only to the geographicalknowledge which his writings display; and even of that we can onlyselect such parts as are most important, and at the same time pointout and prove the advances of geographical knowledge, and ofcommercial enterprize; before, however, we leave him, we may add onefact, not immediately relating to our peculiar subject, which herecords: after stating that the soil of Arabia was, as it were,impregnated with gold, and that lumps of pure gold were found therefrom the size of an olive to that of a nut, he adds, that iron wastwice, and silver ten times, the value of gold. If he is accurate inthe proportionate values which he respectively assigns to thesemetals, it proves the very great abundance of gold; since, in most ofthe nations of antiquity, the values of gold and silver were thereverse of what they were in Arabia, gold being ten times the valueof silver. The comparative high value of iron to gold is still moreextraordinary, and seems to indicate not only a great abundance ofthe latter metal, but also a great scarcity of the former, or a verygreat demand for it in consequence of the extended and improved stateof those arts and manufactures in which iron is an essentialrequisite, and which indicate an advanced degree of knowledge andcivilization. We are not aware of a similar fact, with respect to theproportionate value of iron and silver, being recorded of any othernation of antiquity. It is not to be supposed, however, that thecheapness of gold, measured by iron and silver, could long continuein Arabia, unless we believe that their intercourse with othernations was very limited; because a regular and extensive intercoursewould soon assimilate, in a great degree at least, the value of goldmeasured by iron and silver, as it existed in Arabia, to its value,as measured by the same metals in those countries with which Arabiatraded.

But to return from this slight digression;--Artemidorus has beenalready mentioned as a geographer subsequent to Agatharcides, whocopied Agatharcides, and from whom Diodorus Siculus and Strabo intheir turns copied. There were two ancient writers of this name bornat Ephesus; the one to whom we have alluded, is supposed to havelived in the reign of Ptolemy Lathyrus, A.C. 169; by others he isbrought down to A.C. 104. Little is known respecting him; nor does heseem to have added much to geographical science or knowledge: he issaid by Pliny to have first applied the terms of length and breadth,or latitude and longitude. By comparing those parts of DiodorusSiculus and Strabo, which they avowedly copy from him, with the trackof Agatharcides: in the Red Sea, we are enabled to discover only afew additions of importance to the geographical knowledge supplied bythe former: Agatharcides, it will be remembered, brings his accountof the African side of the Red Sea no lower down than Ptolemais: hedoes not even mention the expedition of Ptolemy Euergetes to Aduli;nor the passage of the straits, though Eratosthenes, as cited byStrabo, proves that it was open in his time. In the time ofArtemidorus, however, the trade of Egypt on the coast of Africa hadreached as low down as the Southern Horn; that this trade was stillin its infancy, is apparent from a circ*mstance mentioned by Strabo,on the authority of Artemidorus; that at the straits the cargo wastransferred from ships to boats; bastard cinnamon, perhaps casialignea or hard cinnamon, is specified as one of the principalarticles which the Egyptians obtained from the coast of Africa, whenthey passed the straits of Babelmandeb.

The next person belonging to the Alexandrian school, to whom thesciences on which geography rest, as well as geography itself, isgreatly indebted, was Hipparchus. Scarcely any particulars are knownrespecting him: even the exact period in which he flourished, is notaccurately fixed; some placing him 159 years, others 149, and othersagain bringing him down to 129 years before Christ. He was a nativeof Nice in Bithynia, but spent the greater part of his life at thecourt of one of the Ptolemies. It is supposed that he quitted hisnative place in consequence of some ill treatment which he hadreceived from his fellow citizens: at least we are informed byAurelius Victor, that the emperor Marcus Aurelius obliged theinhabitants of Nice to send yearly to Rome a certain quantity ofcorn, for having beaten one of their citizens, by name Hipparchus, aman of great learning and extraordinary accomplishments. Theycontinued to pay this tribute to the time of Constantine, by whom itwas remitted. As history does not inform us of any other person ofnote of this name, a native of Nice in Bithynia, it is highlyprobable that this was the Hipparchus, the astronomer and geographer.That it was not unusual for conquerors and sovereigns to reward orpunish the descendants of those who had behaved well or ill tocelebrated men who had flourished long previously, must be well knownto those conversant with ancient history. The respect paid to thememory of Pindar, by the Spartans, and by Alexander the Great, whenthey conquered Thebes, is a striking instance of the truth of thisobservation.

Hipparchus possessed the true spirit of philosophy: havingresolved to devote himself to the study of astronomy, his firstgeneral [principal->principle] was to take nothing for granted;but setting aside all that had been taught by former astronomers, tobegin anew, and examine and judge for himself: he determined not toadmit any results but such as were grounded either in observationsand experiments entirely new, made by himself or on a new examinationof former observations, conducted with the utmost care and caution.In short, he may justly be regarded as one of the first philosophersof antiquity who had a slight glimpse of the grand maxim, whichafterwards immortalized Bacon, and which has introduced modernphilosophers to a knowledge of the most secret and most sublimeoperations of nature.

One of his first endeavours was, to verify the obliquity of theecliptic, as settled by Eratosthenes: he next fixed, as accurately aspossible, the latitude of Alexandria; but it would lead us far fromthe object of our work, if we were even briefly to mention hisdiscoveries in the science of pure astronomy. We must confineourselves to those parts of his discoveries which benefittedgeography, either directly or indirectly. After having, assuccessfully as his means and the state of the science would permithim to do, fixed the position of the stars, he transferred the methodwhich he had employed for this purpose to geography: he was the firstwho determined the situation of places on the earth, by theirlatitudes and longitudes, with any thing like accuracy. The latitude,indeed, of many places had been fixed before; and the means of doingit were sufficiently simple and obvious: but with respect to somegeneral and safe mode of ascertaining the longitudes, the ancientphilosophers before Hipparchus, were ignorant of it. He employed forthis purpose the eclipses of the moon. After having ascertained thelatitudes and longitudes of a great many places, he proposed to drawup a catalogue of terrestial latitudes and longitudes, but this hewas not able to accomplish: he had set the example, however and itwas followed by subsequent astronomers. He fixed on the FortunateIslands, which are supposed to be the Canaries, for his firstmeridian. His principal works most probably were destroyed in theconflagration of the Alexandrian library. His catalogue of the starsis preserved in the Almagest of Ptolemy; and his commentary on Aratusand Eudoxus is still extant.

Such is a brief sketch of the advantages which geography, asfounded on astronomy, derived from the labours of Hipparchus. Wepossess little information respecting his ideas of the form of theearth, or the relative position or extent of the different quartersand countries on the surface of the globe. He seems to have been thefirst who conceived the idea of a southern continent, uniting Africaand India: he had evidently some information, though very vague anderroneous, of India, beyond the Ganges. On the east coast of Africa,his knowledge did not extend beyond Cape Guardaferi. On the whole,geography is more indebted to him for his discoveries in astronomy,and, above all, for his setting the example of carefully ascertainingfacts, and not indulging, so much as his predecessors had done, inconjectures and hypotheses, than for any actual discoveries oradvances he made in it. The eulogium which Pliny has pronounced onhim is very eloquent, and fully deserved. "Hipparchus can scarcelyreceive too high praise: he has proved, more satisfactorily than anyother philosopher, that man is allied to heaven, and his soul derivedfrom on high. In his time, more than one new star was discovered, orrather appeared for the first time; and this induced him to believe,that future ages might witness stars for the first time moving fromthe immense regions of space, within the limits of our observation.But the grandeur and boldness of Hipparchus's mind rested not here:he attempted, and in some measure succeeded in doing, what seemsabove human knowledge and power: he numbered the stars, laid downrules by which their rising and setting might be ascertainedbeforehand; and, finally, he constructed an apparatus on which theposition of each star was accurately given, and a miniature pictureof the heavens, with the motions of the celestial bodies, theirrising and setting, increase and diminution. He thus may be said tohave left the heavens as a legacy to that man, if any such were to befound, who could rival him and follow his steps."

From the time of Hipparchus to that of Ptolemy the geographer, theAlexandrian school, though rich in philosophers, who devoted theirstudies and labour to other branches of physical and metaphysicalscience, did not produce one, who improved geography, or the scienceson which it depends, with the exception of Posidonius. Thisphilosopher, who belonged to the sect of the Stoics, was born atApamea in Syria: he usually resided at Rhodes, and was the friend ofPompey and Cicero. The former, on his return from Syria, came thitherto attend his lectures. Arriving at his house, he forbad his lictorto knock, as was usual, at the door; and paid homage to philosophy,by lowering the fasces at the abode of Posidonius. Pompey, beinginformed that he was at that time ill of the gout, visited him in hisconfinement, and expressed himself very much disappointed that hecould not have the benefit of his lectures. Posidonius, thus honouredand flattered, in spite of his pain, delivered a lecture in thepresence of his noble visitor; the subject of which was to prove,that nothing is good which is not honourable. Cicero informs us, thathe also attended his lectures; and according to Suidas Marcellus,brought him to Rome in the year of the city 702; in this, however,Suidas is not supported by other and contemporary writers.

We are indebted to Cleomedes for most of what we know of hisopinions and discoveries; with such as relate to morals or to pureastronomy, we have no concern. But he was of service also togeography. He measured an arc of the terrestrial meridian; but hisoperation, as far as we can judge by the details which have reachedus, was far from exact, and of course his result could not beaccurate; it would appear, however, that his object was rather toverify the ancient measures of the earth, particularly that ofEratosthenes, and that he found them to agree nearly with his own. Heexplained the ebbing and flowing of the sea, from the motion of themoon, and seems to have been the first who observed the law of thisphenomenon. In order to represent the appearance of the heavens,Cicero informs us that he constructed a kind of planetarium, by meansof which he exhibited the apparent motion of the sun, moon, andplanets round the earth. It is on the authority of Posidonius, thatStrabo relates the voyage of Eudoxus of Cyzicum from the Persian Gulfround Africa to Cadiz, which we have already mentioned.

Having thus exhibited a view of the discoveries in geography, theadvances in the sciences connected with it, and the commercialenterprises of the Egyptians, while under the dominion of thePtolemies, it will be proper, before beginning an account of thegeographical knowledge and commercial enterprises of the Romans (who,by their conquest of Egypt, may be said to have absorbed all thegeographical knowledge, as well as all the commerce of the world, atthat period), to recapitulate the extent of the Egyptian geographyand commerce, especially towards the east We shall direct ourretrospect to this quarter, because the commodities of the east beingmost prized, it was the grand object of the sovereigns and merchantsof Egypt, to extend and facilitate the intercourse with that quarterof the globe as much as possible. And we are induced to undertake theretrospect, because the exact limit of the geographical knowledge andcommercial enterprise of the Ptolemies is differently fixed bydifferent authors: some maintaining that the Egyptians had a regularand extensive trade directly with India, and of course, were wellacquainted with the seas and coasts beyond the Red Sea; while otherauthors maintain, that they never passed the straits of Babelmandeb,and that even within the straits, their geographical knowledge andcommercial enterprises were very limited.

It cannot be doubted that commerce and the spirit of discoveryflourished with more vigour, and pushed themselves to a greaterdistance in the reigns of Ptolemy Philadelphus, and PtolemyEuergetes, than in the reign of any of their successors. If,therefore, there are no proofs or traces of a direct and regulartrade with India in their time, we may safely conclude it did notexist in Egypt, previously to the conquest of that country by theRomans.

We are well aware, that there are great authorities opposed to theopinion which we hold; but these authorities are modern; they arenot, we think, supported by the ancient writers, and in opposition tothem, we can place the authority of Dr. Vincent, a name of the verygreatest weight in questions of this nature. The authorities wealluded to in support of the opinion, that there was a direct tradewith India under the Ptolemies, are Huet, in his History of theCommerce and Navigation of the Ancients; Dr. Robertson, in hisDisquisition on India, and Harris, or perhaps, more properlyspeaking, Dr. Campbell, in his edition of Harris's Collection ofVoyages and Travels. Huet, as is justly remarked by Dr. Vincent,drops the prosecution of the question at the very point he ought tointroduce 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, adirect trade was carried on with India; yet, after all, he concludesin this manner: "it is probable that their voyages were circ*mscribedwithin very narrow limits, and that under the Ptolemies noconsiderable progress was made in the discovery of India:" and whenhe comes to the discovery of the Monsoon by Hippalus and theconsequent advantage taken of it to trade directly to India, bysailing from shore to shore, he acknowledges that all proofs of amore early existence of such a trade are wanting. Dr. Campbellvirtually gives up his support of the opinion, that a direct tradewas carried on under the Ptolemies, in the same manner.

We have already remarked, that the strongest spirit of enterprizethat distinguished Egypt existed in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphusand Ptolemy Euergetes; that these monarchs pushed their discoveries,and extended their commercial connections much farther than any oftheir predecessors; and that therefore, if a direct and regularcommunication between Egypt and India did not take place in theirreigns, we may be assured it was unknown to the Egyptians at theperiod of the Roman conquest. To their reigns, then, we shallprincipally direct our enquiries.

That Ptolemy Philadelphus was extremely desirous to improve thenavigation of the Red Sea, is evident from his having built MyosHormos, or rather improved it, because it was more convenient thanArsinoe, on account of the difficulty of navigating the westernextremity of that sea: he afterwards fixed on Berenice in preferenceto Myos Hormos, when the navigation and commerce on this sea wasextended and improved, since Berenice being lower down, thenavigation towards the straits was shorter, as well as attended withfewer difficulties and dangers. But there is no evidence that hisfleets, which sailed from Berenice, were destined for India, or evenpassed the Straits of Babelmandeb. It is, however, not meant to beasserted that no vessels passed these straits in the time of thisPtolemy. On the contrary, we know that his admiral, Timosthenes,passed the straits as low as Cerne, which is generally supposed to beMadagascar; but commerce, which in our times, directed by muchsuperior skill and knowledge, as well as stimulated by a strongerspirit of enterprize and rivalship, and a more absorbing love ofgain, immediately follows in the track of discovery, was thencomparatively slow, languid, and timid as well as ignorant; so thatit is not surprizing that it did not follow the track of Timosthenes.Ptolemy Philadelphus also pushed his discoveries by land as far asMeroc: he opened the route between Coptus and Berenice, establishingports and opening wells; and from these and other circ*mstances heseems to have been actuated by a stronger wish to extend commerce,and to have formed more plans for this purpose, than any of hissuccessors.

Ptolemy Euergetes directed his thoughts more to conquest than tocommerce, though he rendered the former, in some degree, useful andsubservient to the latter. After having passed the Nile, and subduedthe nations which lay on the confines of Egypt, he compelled them toopen a road of communication between their country and Egypt. Thefrankincense country was the next object of his ambition: this hesubdued; and having sent a fleet and army across the Red Sea intoArabia, he compelled the inhabitants of the district to maintain theroads free from robbers, and the sea from pirates--a proof that thesepeople had made some advances in seafaring matters, and also of theattention paid by Euergetes to the navigation of the Red Sea, as wellas to the protection of land commerce. Indeed the whole of hisprogress to Aduli, which we have more particularly mentioned inanother place, was marked as much by attention to commerce as by thelove of conquest; but though by this enterprize he rendered both thecoasts of the Red Sea tributary, and thus better adapted to commerce,there is no proof that he passed the Straits of Babelmandeb. It istrue, indeed, that he visited Mosullon, which lies beyond thestraits, but not by sea, having marched by land to that place,through the interior of Abyssinia and Adel. From the whole of thisenterprize of Euergetes we may justly infer, that though hefacilitated the intercourse by land between Egypt and those parts ofAfrica which lay immediately beyond the straits, yet his ships didnot pass the straits, and that in his reign the discoveries ofTimosthenes had not been followed up or improved for the purpose oftrading by sea with the coast of Africa. The navigation of the wholeof the Red Sea, at least on the Arabian side, from Leuake Kome toSabaea, was undoubtedly known and frequently used at this period; butthis was its utmost limit.

In the reign of Ptolemy Philometor, when Agatharcides lived, thecommercial enterprizes of the Egyptians had 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 there is evidence that on theopposite coast they did not go so low, as in the reign of the lattersovereign. Agatharcides makes no mention of Berenice; according tohis account, Myos Hormos had again become the emporium, and the onlytrade from that part seems to have been for elephants to PtolemaisTheron. It may, indeed, be urged that Berenice was not, properlyspeaking, a harbour, but only an open bay, to which the ships did notcome from Myos Hormos, till their cargoes were completely ready. Butthat Myos Hormos was the great point of communication with Coptus isevident from the account which Agatharcides gives of the caravan roadbetween these two places. Even so late as the time of Strabo, thisroad was much more frequented than the road between Coptus andBerenice: of the latter he merely observes, that Philadelphus openedit with his army, established ports, and sunk Wells; whereas heparticularly describes the former road, as being seven or eight days'journey, formerly performed on camels in the night, by observation ofthe stars, and carrying water with them. Latterly, he adds, deepwells had been sunk, and cisterns formed for holding water. Everydetail of the road to Berenice is Roman, and relates to periodsconsiderably posterior to the conquest of Egypt by the Romans--aproof that the plan of Philadelphus, of substituting Berenice forMyos Hormos, had not been regularly adopted by his successors, nortill the Romans had firmly and permanently fixed themselves inEgypt.

In the extract we have already given from Agatharcides respectingArabia, he expressly mentions that the Gerrheans and Sabeans are thecentre of all the commerce that passes between Asia and Europe, andthat these are the nations which have enriched the Ptolemais: thisstatement, taken in conjunction with the fact that his description ofthe coast of the Red Sea reaches no farther than Sabaea on the oneside, and Ptolemais Theron on the other, seems decisive of the truthof the opinion, that in the time of Philometor the Egyptians did nottrade directly to India. It may be proper to add, that in theextracts from Agatharcides, given by Photius, it is expresslymentioned that ships from India were met with by the Egyptian shipsin the ports of Sabaea. The particulars of this trade between Indiaand Egypt, by means of the Arabians, will be afterwards detailed, andits great antiquity traced and proved; at present we have alluded toit merely to bear us out in our position, that Indian ships, ladenwith Indian commodities, frequenting the ports of Sabaea, and thoseports being described by Agatharcides as the limits of his knowledgeof this coast of the Red Sea, we are fully justified in concluding,that, in the reign of Philometor, there was not only no direct tradeto India, but no inducement to such trade; and that 146 years afterthe death of Alexander, the Greek sovereigns of Egypt had done littleto complete what that monarch had projected, and in part accomplishedby the navigation of Nearchus--the communication by sea betweenAlexandria and India.

Under the successors of Philometor, the trade in the Red Sealanguished rather than increased, and the full benefits of it werenot reaped till some time after the Roman conquest. Even in the timeof Strabo, the bulk of the trade still passed by Coptus to MyosHormos. We are aware of a passage in this author, which, at first,sight seems to contradict the position we have laid down, and toprove, that at least in his time, there was a direct and notunfrequent navigation between the Red Sea and India. He expresslystates, that in the course of six or seven years, 120 ships hadsailed from Myos Hormos to India: but on this it may be observed, inthe first place, that he begins his description of India, withrequesting his readers to peruse what he relates concerning it withindulgence, as it was a country very remote, and few persons hadvisited it; and even with regard to Arabia Felix, he says, that theknowledge of the Romans commenced with the expedition of his friendÆlius Gallus into that country;--facts not very consistent withhis statement that 120 ships had sailed in six or seven years toIndia: secondly, he expressly mentions, that formerly scarcely twentyships dared to navigate the Red Sea, so far as to shew themselvesbeyond the straits; but we can hardly suppose that skill, enterprize,and knowledge, had increased so rapidly as to extend within a veryfew years navigation, not merely beyond the straits, but even toIndia; we say a few years, for certainly, at the time when the Romansconquered Egypt, the straits were not usually passed: lastly, thename India was used so vaguely by the ancients, even by Strabooccasionally, that it is not improbable he meant by it, merely thecoast of Arabia, beyond the straits. It is well asked by Dr. Vincent,in reference to this account of Strabo, might not that geographer,from knowing the ships brought home Indian commodities, have supposedthat they sailed to India, when in reality they went no farther thanHadramant, in Arabia, or Mosullon, on the coast of Africa, where theyfound the produce of India?

It is not, however, meant to be denied that a few vessels, in thetime of Ptolemies, reached some part of India from the Red Sea, bycoasting 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 theIndies. But these irregular and trifling voyages are deserving oflittle consideration, and do not militate against the position wehave laid down and endeavoured to prove, that in the time of thePtolemies the commerce of Egypt was confined within the limits of theRed Sea, partly from the want of skill and enterprize, and from thedangers that were supposed to exist beyond the straits, butprincipally because the commodities of India could be procured in theports of Sabæa.

Many instances have already been given of the patronage which thePtolemies bestowed on commerce, of the facilities and advantages theyafforded, and of the benefits which the science of geography derivedfrom the library and observatory of Alexandria: every instrumentwhich could facilitate the study of astronomy was purchased by thePtolemies and placed in that observatory, for they were fully awareof the dependency of a full and accurate knowledge of geography, as ascience, on a full and accurate knowledge of astronomy. With respectto commerce, the advancement of which, may fairly be supposed to havehad some weight in their patronage of these sciences, they encouragedit as much as possible to centre in Alexandria, and with citizens ofEgypt, by making it a standing law of the country, that no goodsshould pass through the capital, either to India or Europe, withoutthe intervention of an Alexandrian factor, and that even when foreignmerchants resided there, they should employ the same agency. Theroads and canals they formed, and the care they took to keep the RedSea free from pirates, are further proofs of their regard forcommerce.

And justly was it held by the Ptolemies in high estimation, forfrom it they derived their immense wealth. We are informed by Strabo,that the revenue of Alexandria, in the worst of times, was 12,500talents, equivalent to nearly two millions and a half sterling; andif this was the revenue under the last and most indolent of thePtolemies, what must it have been under Ptolemy Philadelphus, orPtolemy Euergetes? But the account given by Appian of the treasure ofthe Ptolemies is still more extraordinary: the sum he mentions is740,000 talents, or £191,166,666, according to Dr. Arbuthnot'scomputation; we should be disposed to doubt the accuracy of thisstatement, did we not know that Appian was a native of Alexandria,and did he not moreover inform us, that he had extracted his accountfrom the public records of that city. When we consider that thisimmense sum was accumulated by only two of the Ptolemies, PtolemySoter and Ptolemy Philadelphus, and that the latter maintained twogreat 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 had300 elephants, 2000 armed chariots, and an armoury at Alexandria,stocked with 300,000 complete suits of armour, and all othernecessary weapons and implements of war,--we shall form some idea ofthe extent and fruitfulness of Egyptian commerce, from which thewhole, or nearly the whole, of this immense wealth must have beenderived.

Having thus brought our historical sketch of the progress ofdiscovery and commercial enterprize among the Egyptians down to theperiod of the conquest of Egypt by the Romans, we shall, in the nextplace, revert to the Romans themselves, in whom, at the date of theirconquest of this country, the geographical knowledge and the commerceof the whole world may justly be said to have centered. As, however,we have hitherto only adverted to the Romans, in our account of thediscoveries and commerce of the Carthaginians, it will be proper tonotice them in a much more detailed and particular manner. We shall,therefore, trace, their geographical knowledge, their discoveries andtheir commerce, from the foundation of Rome, to the period of theirconquest of Egypt; and in the course of this investigation, we shallgive a sketch of the commerce of those countries which successivelyfell under their dominion--omitting such as we have already noticed:by this plan, we shall be enabled to trace the commerce of all theknown world at that time, down to the period when Rome absorbed thewhole.

The account which Polybius gives, that before the firstCarthaginian war the Romans were entirely ignorant of, andinattentive to sea affairs--if by this statement he means to assertthat they were unacquainted with maritime commerce, as well asmaritime warfare, is expressly contradicted by the treaties betweenRome and Carthage, which we have already given in our account of thecommerce of Carthage. The first of those treaties was made 250 yearsbefore the first Punic war; and the second, about fifty years beforeit. Besides, it is not probable that the Romans should have beenentirely ignorant of, and inattentive to maritime commerce for solong a period; since several nations of Italy, with which they wereat first connected, and which they afterwards conquered, were veryconversant in this commerce, and derived great consideration, power,and wealth from it.

The Romans had conquered Etruria, and made themselves masters ofthe Tuscan powers both by sea and land, before the commencement ofthe first Punic war; and though at this period, the Tuscans were notso celebrated for their commerce as they had been, yet the shippingand commerce they did possess, must have fallen into the power of theRomans; and we can scarcely suppose that these, together with thefacilities which the Tuscans enjoyed for commerce, by means of theirports, and their skill and commercial habits and connections, wouldbe entirely neglected by their conquerors. Besides, there are severalold Roman coins, by some supposed to have been as old as the time ofthe kings, and certainly prior to the first Punic war, on thereverses of which different parts of ships are visible. Now, as theRoman historians are diffuse in the accounts they give of the wars ofthe Romans, but take no notice of their commercial transactions, wemay safely conclude, from their not mentioning any maritime wars, orexpeditions of a date so early as these coins, that the ships at thatperiod preserved by the Romans, and deemed of such consequence as tobe struck on their coins, were employed for the purposes ofcommerce.

The Tuscans and the Grecian colonies in the south of Italy,certainly had made great progress in commerce at an early period; andas,--if their example did not stimulate the Romans to enterprises ofthe same kind,--the Romans, at least when they conquered them, becamepossessed of the commerce which they then enjoyed, it will be properto take a brief view of it.

If we may credit the ancient historians, the Etrurians orTyrrhenians, even before the reign of Minos, had been for a long timemasters of the greatest part of the Mediterranean Sea, and had giventheir name to the Tyrrhenian Sea, upon which they were situate.Piracy, as well as commerce, was followed by them; and they became atlast so expert, successful, and dangerous, for their piracies, thatthey were attacked, and their maritime power greatly abridged, by theCarthaginians and the Sicilians. Their most famous port was Luna,which was situated on the Macra, a river which, flowing from theApennines, divided Liguria from Etruria, and fell into the TyrrhenianSea. There seems good reason to believe that Luna was a place ofgreat trade before the Trojan war; it was extremely capacious, and inevery respect worthy of the commercial enterprise and wealth of theTuscans. Populonium, a city which was situate on a high promontory ofthe same name, that ran a considerable way into the sea, alsopossessed a very commodious harbour, capable of receiving a greatnumber of ships. It had an arsenal well supplied with all kinds ofnaval stores, and a quay for shipping or landing merchandize. One ofthe principal articles of export consisted in copper vessels, and inarms, machines, utensils, &c. of iron: these metals were at firstsupplied to the inhabitants from the island of Æthalia (nowElba); but the copper-mines there failing, iron alone, from the sameisland, was imported for the purpose of their various manufactures;the trade in these flourished in very remote times, and continued inthe days of Aristotle and Strabo.

But the most direct and unequivocal testimony to the power of theTuscans, and that that power was principally, if not entirely,derived from their maritime skill and commerce, is to be found inLivy. This historian informs us, "that before the Roman empire, theTuscan dominions extended very far both by sea and land, even to theupper and lower sea, by which Italy is surrounded, in form of anisland. Their very names are an argument for the vast power of thispeople; for the Italian natives call the one the Tuscan Sea, and theother the Adriatic, from Adria, a Tuscan colony. The Greeks call themthe Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Seas. This people, in twelve cities,inhabited the country extending to both seas; and by sending outcolonies equal in number to the mother cities, first on this side ofthe Apennines towards the lower sea, and afterwards as many on theother side, possessed all the country beyond the Po, even to theAlps, except the corner belonging to the Venetians, who dwelt round abay of the sea." Homer, Heraclides, Aristides, and Diodorus Siculus,all concur in their representations of the maritime power andcommercial opulence of the Tuscans at a very early period. DiodorusSiculus expressly says, that they were masters of the sea; andAristides, that the Indians were the most powerful nation in theeast, and the Tuscans in the west.

Of the Grecian colonies in the south of Italy, that of Tarentumwas the most celebrated for its commerce. Polybius expressly informsus, that Tarentum, their principal city, was very prosperous andrich, long before Rome made any figure, and that its prosperity andriches were entirely the fruit of the extensive and lucrative tradethey carried on, particularly with Greece. The city of Tarentum stoodon a peninsula, and the citadel, which was very strong, was built onthe narrowest and extremest part of it; on the east was a small bay,on the west the main sea; the harbour is represented by ancienthistorians as extremely large, beautiful and commodious. Its vicinityto Greece, Sicily, and Africa, afforded it great opportunities andfacilities for commerce. The inhabitants are represented by someauthors as having been the inventors of a particular kind of ship,which retained in some degree the form of a raft or float. Theirgovernment, which at first was aristocratical, was afterwards changedto a democracy; and it is to this popular form of government thattheir prosperity and wealth are ascribed. The number of people in thewhole state amounted to 300,000; Tarentum had twelve other citiesunder its dominion. Besides a considerable fleet in the MediterraneanSea, they had constantly on foot a very large army, principally ofmercenaries. Eighteen years before the first Punic war, the Romanshad entered into a maritime treaty with the Tarentines; according tothis treaty, neither party were to navigate beyond the Cape ofLacinia. Soon afterwards, however, the Roman fleet accidentallyappearing near Tarentum, the inhabitants took the alarm, sunk four ofthe ships, killed or took prisoners the commander and some otherofficers, sold the seamen for slaves, and behaved with greatinsolence to the ambassador whom the Romans sent to remonstrate anddemand satisfaction. They were soon, however, obliged to submit tothe superior power of the Romans. In the second Punic war, it wasfinally subdued, and a Roman colony planted there.

The Spinetes, Liburnians, and Locrians, were also celebrated fortheir skill in naval affairs, and for their commerce, before Romemanifested the slightest wish to distinguish herself in this manner.Indeed, the situation of Italy naturally turned the attention of itsinhabitants (especially of those who were early civilized, as theTuscans, or those who had emigrated from a civilized country, as thenations in the south of Italy,) to naval affairs and maritimecommerce. Washed by three seas, the Adriatic on the north-east, theTyrrhenian on the west, and the Ionian on the south, Italy enjoyedadvantages possessed by few nations of antiquity. Of the first ofthese seas, the Spinetes became masters, of the second the Tuscans,and of the third the Tarentines. The Spinetes, were originallyPelasgi, who had emigrated and settled by chance rather than design,on the south banks of the Po. Spina, their capital, was situated onthe north side of the southernmost mouth of that river. We do notpossess any particular account of their commerce, but that itrendered them powerful and rich we are assured; and their dominionover the Adriatic is a decisive proof of the former, while theirmagnificent offerings to Delphos may as justly be deemed a proof ofthe latter. Spina was strong both by nature and art, on the sea side,but the reverse on the land side; so that at last it was abandoned byits inhabitants not being able to withstand the attacks of theirneighbours, who were either jealous of their prosperity, or attractedto the assault by the love of plunder. In the reign of Augustus itwas reduced to a small village; and the branch of the Po, on which itwas situated, had changed its course so much, that it was thenupwards of fifteen miles distant from the sea, on the shore of whichit had been built. The gradual alteration in the course of the river,it is probable, contributed with the other cause already mentioned toreduce it to comparative insignificance.

Opposite to the Spinetes across the Adriatic, on the coast ofDalmatia, the Liburnians dwelt. In some respects their coast waspreferable to that of Italy for maritime affairs, as it is studdedwith islands, which afforded shelter to ships, and likewise possessedmany excellent harbours; but the Liburnians, as well as most of theinhabitants of Illyria, were more eager after piracy than commerce;and, as we shall afterwards see, carried their piracies to such adaring and destructive extent, that the Romans were compelled toattack them. Their devotedness to piracy explains what to Mons. Huetappears unaccountable. He observes, that it is remarkable thatneither the Dalmatians, who were powerful at sea by means of theirport 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 andexpeditious manner, by natives ignorant of the use of money; butmoney seems to be not at all requisite to the purposes of piracy. TheLiburnian ships, or more properly speaking, those ships which weredenominated Liburnian, from having been invented and first employedby this people, were of two kinds; one large, fit for war and longvoyages, but at the same time built light and for quick sailing.After the victory of Actium, which Augustus gained in a great measureby means of these ships, few were built by the Romans of any otherconstruction. The other Liburnian vessels were small, for fishing andshort voyages; some of these were made with osiers and covered withhides. But strength and lightness, and quick sailing, were thequalities by which the Liburnian ships were chiefly distinguished andcharacterised.

At what precise period the Romans directed their attention tomaritime affairs we are not accurately informed: that the opinion ofPolybius on this subject is not well founded, is evident from severalcirc*mstances. He says, that before the first Punic war the Romanshad no thought of the sea; that Sicily was the first country, out ofItaly, in which they ever landed; and that, when they went to thatisland to assist the Mamertines, the vessels which they employed inthat expedition were hired, or borrowed from the Tarentines, theLocrians, &c. He is correct in his statement that Sicily was thefirst country in which the Romans had any footing; but that he isinaccurate with respect to the period when the Romans first appliedthemselves to maritime affairs, will appear from the followingfacts.

In the first place, the Romans (as we have already shown in ouraccount of the Carthaginian commerce,) had several treaties with theCarthaginians, which may properly be called commercial treaties,before the first Punic war. The earliest treaty, according toPolybius himself, was dated about 250 years before the war; and inthis treaty the voyages undertaken by the Romans on account of tradeto Africa, Sardinia, and that part of Sicily at that time possessedby the Carthaginians, are expressly mentioned and regulated. Thesecond treaty, about 100 years before the first Punic war, is not sospecific respecting commerce. The third treaty, occasioned by theinvasion of Italy by Pyrrhus, points out a decline in the naval powerof the Romans; for it stipulates, that the Carthaginians shouldfurnish them with ships, if required, either for trade or war.Secondly, seventy-four years before the first Punic war, the Romanshaving subdued the Antiates, and thus become masters of their fleet,among which were six armed with beaks, the tribune was ornamentedwith these beaks, the ships to which they belonged were burnt, andthe others were brought to Rome and laid upon the place allotted tothe building and preservation of ships. Lastly, the circ*mstanceswhich gave rise to the war between the Romans and Tarentines, towhich we have already adverted, plainly prove that Polybius is wrongin his assertion. Valerius, who commanded the Roman fleet, which wasattacked by the Tarentines, according to Livy, was one of theduumviri navales, officers who had been already appointednearly thirty years (that is, nearly fifty years before the firstPunic war), on the motion of Decius Mus, expressly for the purpose ofequipping, repairing, and maintaining the fleets.

From these circ*mstances, it appears that the Romans possessedships both for war and commerce, previous to the commencement oftheir wars with the Carthaginians, though it is extremely probablethat their commerce was very limited, and for the most part carriedon in vessels belonging to the other maritime nations of Italy, andthat their ships of war were very small and rude in theirconstruction and equipment.

It is foreign to the object of this work to enter into a detail ofthe wars between the Romans and the Carthaginians: but as the greatefforts of the Romans to become powerful at sea were made duringthese wars; as these efforts, being successful, laid the foundationof the future commerce of Rome; and as by the destruction ofCarthage, in some measure caused by the naval victories gained by theRomans, the most commercial nation of antiquity was utterly ruined,and their commerce transferred to Rome, it will be proper briefly tonotice the naval contests between these rival powers during the threewars in which they were engaged.

The first Punic war was occasioned by a desire on the part of theCarthaginians to enlarge and secure their acquisitions in Sicily, andto preserve their dominion of the sea, and by a determination on thepart of the Romans to check the progress of the Carthaginians in thatisland, so immediately adjoining the continent of Italy. Anopportunity soon occurred, which seemed to promise to each theaccomplishment of their respective objects: the Mamertines, beinghard pursued by Hiero king of Syracuse, and shut up in Messina, theonly city which remained to them, were divided in opinion; some werefor accepting the protection offered them by Hannibal, who at thattime commanded the Carthaginian army in Sicily; others were forcalling in the aid of the Romans. Both these powers gladly acceptedthe proffered opportunity of extending their conquests, and checkingtheir rival.

The consul Appius Claudius, was ordered by the senate to proceedto Sicily: previously to his departure, he despatched Caius Claudius,a legionary tribune, with a few vessels to Rhegium, principally, itwould seem, to reconnoitre the naval force of the Carthaginians. Theconsul himself soon followed with a small fleet, hired principallyfrom the Tarentines, Locrians, and Neapolitans. This fleet beingattacked by the Carthaginian fleet, which was not only much morenumerous, but better equipped and manned, and a violent storm risingduring the engagement, which dashed many of the Roman vessels inpieces among the rocks, was completely worsted. The Carthaginians,however, restored most of the vessels they captured, onlyexpostulating with the Romans on the infraction of the treaty at thattime subsisting between the two republics. This loss was in somemeasure counterbalanced by Claudius capturing, on his voyage back toRhegium, a Carthaginian quinquireme, the first which fell into thepossession of the Romans, and which served them for a model.According to other historians, however, a Carthaginian 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 theirvessels.

Claudius was not in the least discouraged by his defeat, observingthat he could not expect to learn the art of navigation withoutpaying dear for it; but having repaired his fleet, he sailed againfor 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 ofSyracuse, and the capture of Agrigentium, they resolved to use alltheir efforts for the entire subjugation of Sicily. As, however, theCarthaginians were extremely powerful by sea, they could not hope toaccomplish this object, unless they were able to cope with them onthat element. They resolved, therefore, no longer to trust in anydegree to hired vessels, but to build and equip a formidable fleet oftheir own. Powerfully actuated by this resolution, they began thearduous undertaking with that ardour and spirit of perseverance,which so eminently distinguished them; they deemed it absolutelynecessary to have 120 ships. Trees were immediately cut down in theforests, and the timber brought to the sea shore: and the wholefleet, according to Polybius, was not only built, but perfectlyequipped and ready for sea, in two months from the time the treeswere felled. Of the 120 vessels of which it was composed, 100 hadfive benches of rowers, and 20 of them had three benches.

There was, however, another difficulty to be overcome. It wasabsolutely necessary that the men, who were to navigate and fightthese ships, should possess some knowledge of their art; but it wasin vain to expect that with the Carthaginians, so powerful andwatchful at sea, the Roman ships would be permitted to cruise safelylong enough to make them practised sailors and fighters. To obviatethis difficulty, they had recourse, according to Polybius, to asingular but tolerably effectual mode. "While some men were employedin building the galleys, others, assembling those who were to servein the fleet, instructed them in the use of the oar after thefollowing manner: they contrived benches on the shore in the samefashion and order as they were to be in the galleys, and placingtheir seamen, with their oars, in like manner on the benches, anofficer, by signs with his hand, instructed them how to dip theiroars 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 sometime in practising on the water, what they had learnt ashore."

The necessity of possessing a fleet adequate to cope with that ofthe Carthaginians became more and more apparent; for though theRomans had obtained possession of all the inland cities in Sicily,the Carthaginians compensated for this by having the ascendancy bysea, and in the cities on the coast. The Roman fleet was commanded byCornelius Scipio, who put to sea with seventeen ships, in order tosecure at Messina reception and security for the whole fleet; but hisenterprise was unfortunate; for, being deceived by false information,he entered the port of Lipara, where he was blockaded by the enemy,and obliged to surrender. This partial loss, however, was sooncounterbalanced by a naval victory; for the remainder of the Romanfleet, amounting to 103 sail, being encountered by a Carthaginianfleet under Hannibal, who despising the Romans, had advanced to thecontest with only fifty galleys, succeeded in capturing or destroyingthe whole of them.

In the mean time, the senate had appointed Duilius commander ofthe fleet; and his first object was to survey it accurately, and, ifpossible, to improve the construction or equipment of the vessels, ifthey appeared defective, either for the purpose of sailing orfighting. It seemed to him, on examining them, that they could not beeasily and quickly worked during an engagement, being much heavierand more unwieldy than those of the Carthaginians. As this defectcould not be removed, he tried whether it could not be compensated;and an engineer in the fleet succeeded in this important object, byinventing that machine which was afterwards called corvus.

The immediate purpose which this machine was to serve is clearlyexplained by all the ancient authors who mention it: its use was tostop the enemy's ships as soon as the Roman vessels came up withthem, and thus to give them an opportunity of boarding them; but theconstruction and mode of operation of these machines it is not easyto ascertain from the descriptions of ancient authors. Polybius givesthe following description of them: "They erected on the prow of theirvessels a round piece of timber, about one foot and a half indiameter, and about twelve feet long, on the top of which a block orpully was fastened. Round this piece of timber a stage or platformwas constructed, four feet broad, and about eighteen feet long, whichwas strongly fastened with iron. The entrance was lengthways, and itcould be moved about the piece of timber, first described, as on aspindle, and could be hoisted within six feet of the top. Round thisthere was a parapet, knee high, which was defended with upright barsof iron, sharpened at the end. Towards the top there was a ring,through which a rope was fastened, by means of which they could raiseand lower the engine at pleasure. With this machine they attacked theenemy's vessels, sometimes on their bow, and sometimes on theirbroadside. When they had grappled the enemy with these iron spikes,if the ships happened to swing broadside to broadside, then theRomans boarded them from all parts; but when they were obliged tograpple them on the bow, they entered two and two, by the help ofthis engine, the foremost defending the forepart, and those whofollowed the flanks, keeping the boss of their bucklers level withthe top of the parapet."

From this description of the corvus, it is evident that it had twodistinct uses to serve: in the first place, to lay hold of andentangle the enemy's ships; and, secondly, after it had accomplishedthis object, it served as a means of entering the enemy's vessels,and also as a protection while the boarding was taking place. Withrespect to the question, whether the harpagones or manusferrææ; were the same with the corvi, it appearsto us that the former were of much older invention, as they certainlywere much more simple in their construction; and that, probably, theengineer who invented the corvi, borrowed his idea of them from theharpagones, and in fact incorporated the two machines in one engine.The harpagones were undoubtedly grappling irons, but of such lightconstruction that they could be thrown by manual force; but they wereof no other service; whereas the corvi were worked by machinery, andserved, as we have shown, not only to grapple, but to assist andprotect the boarders. We have been thus particular in our account ofthe corvus, because it may fairly be regarded as having essentiallycontributed to the establishment of the Roman naval power over thatof the Carthaginians.

After Duilius had made a trial of the efficacy of this machine, hesailed in quest of the enemy. The Carthaginians, despising the Romansas totally inexperienced in naval affairs, did not even take thetrouble or precaution to draw up their ships in line of battle, buttrusting entirely to their own superior skill, and to the greaterlightness of their ships, they bore down on the Romans in disorder.They, however, were induced, for a short time, to slacken theiradvance at the sight of the corvi; but not giving the Romans creditfor any invention which could counterbalance their want of skill,experience, and self-confidence, they again pushed forward andattacked the Romans. They soon suffered, however, the consequences oftheir rashness: the Romans, by means of their corvi, grappled theirships so closely and steadily, that the fight resembled much more aland than a sea battle; and thus feeling themselves, as it were, ontheir own element, while their enemies seemed to themselves no longerto be fighting in ships, the confidence of the former rose, whilethat of the latter fell, from the same cause, and nearly in the sameproportion. The result was, that the Romans gained a completevictory. The loss of the Carthaginians is variously related by theRoman writers: this is extraordinary, since they must have had accessto the best possible authority; the inscription of the ColumnaRostrata of Duilius, which is still preserved at Rome. According tothis inscription, Duilius fitted out a fleet in sixty days, defeatedthe Carthaginians, commanded by Hannibal, at sea, took from themthirty ships, with all their rigging, and the septireme which carriedthe admiral himself; sunk thirty, and took several prisoners ofdistinction. When Hannibal saw the Romans about to enter hisseptireme, he leaped into a small boat and escaped.

A circ*mstance occurred during this engagement which clearlymanifested the ardour and perseverance, by means of which the Romanshad already become expert, not only in the management of their ships,but also in the use of their corvi. It has already been noticed thatthe Carthaginians bore down on them in disorder, each shipendeavouring to reach them as soon as possible, without waiting forthe rest: among the foremost was Hannibal. After the defeat of thispart of the fleet, the rest, amounting to 120, having come up,endeavoured to avoid the fate of their companions by rowing asquickly as possible round the Roman ships, so as not to allow them tomake use of the corvi. But the Romans proved themselves to be evenmore expert seamen than their enemies; for, though their vessels weremuch heavier, they worked them with so much ease, celerity, andskill, that they presented the machines to the enemy on whatever sidethey approached them.

The vanquished Hannibal was disgraced by his country; whereas thevictorious Roman was honoured and rewarded by the senate, who werefully sensible of all the advantages derived by a naval victory overthe Carthaginians. The high and distinguished honour of beingattended, when he returned from supper, with music and torches, whichwas granted for once only to those who triumphed, was continued toDuilius during life. To perpetuate the memory of this victory, medalswere struck, and the pillar, to which we have already alluded, waserected in the forum. This pillar, called Columna Rostrata, from thebeaks of the ships which were fastened to it, was discovered in theyear 1560, and placed in the capital.

In the year after this splendid victory the Romans resolved toattempt the reduction of Corsica and Sardinia; for this purpose L.Cornelius Scipio sailed with a squadron under his command. He easilysucceeded in reducing Corsica; but it appears, from an inscription ona stone which was dug up in the year 1615, in Rome, that heencountered a violent storm off the coast of that island, in whichhis fleet was exposed to imminent danger. The words of theinscription are, "He took the city of Aleria and conquered Corsica,and built a temple to the tempests, with very good reason." Thisstorm is not mentioned in any of the ancient authors. Scipio wasobliged to be more cautious in his attempts on Sardinia, butafterwards the Romans succeeded in gaining possession of thisisland.

The Romans having thus acquired Corsica and Sardinia, and all themaritime towns of Sicily, determined to invade, or at least to alarm,the African dominions of Carthage. Accordingly Sulpicius, whocommanded their fleet, circulated a report that he intended to sailfor the coasts of Africa: this induced the Carthaginians to put tosea; but after the hostile fleets had approached each other, and wereabout to engage, a storm arose and separated them, and obliged themboth to take shelter in the ports of Sardinia. As soon as it abated,Sulpicius put to sea again, surprised the Carthaginians, and capturedor destroyed most of their ships.

Five years after the victory of Duilius, the Romans were able toput to sea a fleet of 330 covered gallies. Ten of these were sent toreconnoitre the enemy, but approaching too near, they were attackedand destroyed. This unfortunate event did not discourage the consulAttilius Regulus, who commanded: on the contrary, he resolved to wipeoff this disgrace by signalizing his consulship in a remarkablemanner. He was ordered by the senate to cross the Mediterranean, andinvade Carthage. The Roman fleet, which consisted of 330 galleys, onboard of each of which were 120 soldiers and 300 rowers, wasstationed at Messina: from this port they took their departure,stretching along the coast of Sicily, till they doubled CapePachynum, after which they sailed directly to Ecnomos. TheCarthaginian fleet consisted of 360 sail, and the seamen were morenumerous, as well as more skilful and experienced, than those of theRomans: it rendezvoused at Heraclea, not far from Ecnomos. Betweenthese two places the hostile fleets met, and one of the mostobstinate and decisive battles ensued that are recorded in ancienthistory. As Polybius has given a very particular account of themanner in which the respective fleets were drawn up, and of all theincidents of the battle, we shall transcribe it from him, because theissue of it may justly be regarded as having proved the Romansuperiority at sea, and because the details of this accuratehistorian will afford us a clear insight into the naval engagementsof the ancients.

As there were 330 ships, and each ship had on board 300 rowers,and 120 soldiers, the total number of men in the fleet amounted140,000. The whole fleet was formed into four divisions: the firstwas called the first legion; the second, the second; and the third,the third legion. The fourth division had a different name; they werecalled triarians: the triarii who were on board this division, beingold soldiers of approved valour, who, in land battles, formed thethird line of the legion, and hence obtained their appellation. Thefirst division was drawn up on the right, the second on the left, andthe third in the rear of the other two, in such a manner that thesethree divisions formed a triangle, the point of which was the twogallies, in which were the consuls, in front of their respectivesquadrons, parallel to the third legion, which formed the base of thetriangle, and in the rear of the whole fleet; the triarian divisionwas drawn up, but extended in such a manner as to out-flank theextremes of the base. Between the triarian division and the otherpart of the squadron, the transports were drawn up, in order thatthey might be protected from the enemy, and their escape acceleratedand covered in case of a defeat; on board of the transports were thehorses, and baggage of the army.

According to Polybius, the seamen and troops on board theCarthaginian fleet amounted to 150,000 men. Their admiral waited tosee the disposition of the Roman fleet before he formed his own inorder of battle; he divided it into four squadrons, drawn up in oneline; one of these was drawn up very near the shore, the othersstretched far out to sea, apparently for the purpose of out-flankingthe Romans. The light vessels were on the right, under the command ofHanno; the squadron 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 theCarthaginians, that their line, being so much extended, could easilybe broken; the Romans perceiving this, bore down on the middle withtheir first and second divisions. The Carthaginians did not wait theattack, but retired immediately with the intention of drawing theRomans after them, and thus by separating, weakening their fleet. TheRomans, thinking the victory was their own, pushed after the flyingenemy, thus weakening their third division, and at the same timeexposing themselves to an attack while they were scattered. TheCarthaginians, perceiving that their manoeuvre had so far succeeded,tacked about, and engaged with their pursuers. But the Romans, bymeans of their corvi, which they were now very skilful in using,grappled with the enemy, and as soon as they had thus rendered theengagement similar to a land battle, they overcame them.

While these things were going on between Hamilcar with the leftwing of the Carthaginian fleet, and the first and second divisions ofthe Romans, Hanno, with his light vessels, which formed the rightwing, attacked the triarians, and the ships which were drawn up nearthe shore, attacked the third legion and the transports. These twoattacks were conducted with so much spirit and courage, that many ofthe triarians, transports, and third legion were driven on shore, andtheir defeat would probably have been decisive, had not the Romanfirst and second divisions, which had defeated and chased to aconsiderable distance the Carthaginians opposed to them, returnedmost opportunely from the chace, and supported them. TheCarthaginians were no longer able to withstand their enemies, butsustained a signal defeat; thirty of their vessels having been sunk,and sixty-three taken. The immediate result of this victory was, thatthe Romans landed in Africa without opposition.

The next victory obtained by the Romans over the Carthaginians wasachieved soon after the defeat and captivity of Regulus, and wasjustly regarded by them as an ample compensation for that disaster.It was a wise and politic maxim of the Roman republic never to appearcast down by defeat, but, on the contrary, to act in such a case withmore than their usual confidence and ardour. Acting on this maximthey equipped a fleet and sent it towards Africa, immediately afterthey learnt the defeat of Regulus. The Carthaginians, who wereendeavouring to take all possible advantage of their victory, byexpelling the Romans from Africa, as soon as the news arrived of thesailing of this fleet, abandoned the seige of Utica, before whichthey had sat down,--refitted their old ships, built several new ones,and put to sea. The hostile fleets met near Cape Herme, the mostnorthern point of Africa, a little to the north-east of Carthage.They were again unsuccessful on what they had formerly justlyregarded as their own element. One hundred and four of their shipswere captured, and 15,000 men, soldiers, and rowers, were killed inthe action.

This victory, however, proved of little benefit to the Romans intheir grand enterprise of establishing a firm and permanent footing,in Africa; for, in consequence of their inability to obtain a regularsupply of provisions for their army, they were obliged soonafterwards to evacuate Clupea and Utica, the principal places theyheld there, and to re-embark their troops for Italy.

In order to make up for this hard necessity, they resolved to landin Sicily on their return, and, if possible, reduce some cities whichthe Carthaginians still retained in that island. Such was the plan ofthe consuls, but it was vehemently opposed by the pilots of thefleet, who represented to them, that as the season was far advanced,the most prudent measure would be to sail directly for Italy, and notgo round the northern coast of Sicily, as the consuls wished. Thelatter, however, persisted in their resolution; the consequences wereextremely fatal; a most violent storm arose, during which the greaterpart of the fleet was destroyed or rendered completely useless,either foundering, or being driven on shore. All the sea coast fromCamarina to Pachynum, was covered with dead bodies of men and horses,as well as with the wrecks of the ships. The exact number of shipsthat were lost is differently represented by different authors, butaccording to the most accurate account, out of 370 which composed thefleet, only eighty escaped. Besides the destruction of these vessels,a numerous army was lost, with all the riches of Africa, which hadbeen amassed and deposited in Clupea, by Regulus, and which was inthe act of being conveyed to Rome.

The Carthaginians, animated by the news of this event, resolved toattempt the subjugation of Sicily, Africa being now liberated fromthe enemy. But the Romans, by incredible efforts, fitted out a newfleet in the short space of three months, consisting of 120 ships;which, with the old vessels which had escaped, made up a fleet of 250sail. With these, they passed over to Sicily, where they weresuccessful in reducing the Carthaginian capital in that island.

The next year they sent to sea a fleet of 260 ships to attempt thereduction of Lilibæum, but this place being found too strong,the consuls directed their course to the eastern coast of Africa, onwhich they carried on a predatory warfare. Having filled their shipswith the spoils, they were returning to Italy, when they narrowlyescaped shipwreck. On the coast of Africa, there were two sand-banks,called the Greater and Lesser Syrtes, which were very much dreaded bythe ancients, on account of their frequently changing places;sometimes being easily visible, and at other times considerably belowthe water. On the Lesser Syrtes the Roman fleet grounded; fortunatelyit was low water, and moderate weather at the time, so that on thereturn of flood tide, the vessels floated off, with little or nodamage, but the consuls were dreadfully alarmed.

This, however, was only a prelude to real disaster: the fleetarrived safe at Panormus, where they remained a short time. On theirdeparture for Italy, the wind and weather were favourable till theyreached Cape Palinurus; here a dreadful storm arose, in which 160galleys, and a considerable number of transports, were lost. Thissecond storm seems to have so dispirited the Roman senate, that theyresolved to confine their efforts to land, and accordingly a decreewas issued, that, as it seemed the will of the gods that the Romansshould not succeed against their enemy by sea, no more than fiftyvessels should in future be equipped; and that these should beemployed exclusively in protecting the coasts of Italy, and intransporting troops to Sicily.

This decree, however, was not long acted upon; for theCarthaginians, perceiving that the Romans no longer dared to meetthem at sea, made such formidable preparations for invading 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 thealternative of either losing that valuable island, or of againencountering their enemy at sea, resolved on the latter measure.Accordingly a new fleet was built, consisting of 240 galleys, andsixty smaller vessels, and Lilibæum was besieged by sea andland. This city was deemed impregnable, and as it was the only placeof retreat for the Carthaginian armies in Sicily, it was defendedwith the utmost obstinacy.

During this siege, two bold and successful enterprises wereundertaken for the purpose of supplying the garrison with provisions.The Romans had shut up the port so closely, that the governor couldhave no communication with Carthage: nevertheless, Hannibal, the sonof Hamilcar, resolved to enter it with a supply of provisions. Withthis intention, he anchored with a few vessels under an island nearthe 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 passedsafely through the midst of the Roman fleet, and landed 10,000 menand a considerable quantity of provisions. Having succeeded thus far,and being convinced that the Romans would be on the alert to preventhis sudden escape, he resolved to intimidate them, if possible, bythe open boldness of the attempt; and in this also he succeeded.

Shortly afterwards the harbour was again so closely blockaded,that the senate of Carthage were quite uninformed of the state andresources of the garrison. In this emergency, a Rhodian, of the nameof Hannibal, undertook to enter the harbour, and to come back toCarthage with the requisite and desired intelligence. The Roman fleetlay at anchor, stretched across the mouth of the harbour. Hannibal,following the example of his namesake, with a very light galley ofhis own, concealed himself near one of the islands which lie oppositeto Lilibæum. Very early in the morning, before it was light,with a favourable wind blowing rather strong, he succeeded in gettingthrough the Roman fleet, and entered the port. The consul, mortifiedat this second enterprise, ordered ten of his lightest vessels to lieas close as possible to each other, across the mouth of the harbour;and that they might not be taken by surprise and unprepared, hefurther directed that the men should constantly have their oars intheir hands, stretched out, so as to be ready to plunge them into thewater at a moment's warning. The skill and experience of the Rhodian,however, and the extreme lightness and celerity of his vessel,rendered all these precautions unavailing; for, not content withsecuring his escape, he mocked the Romans, by often lying to tillthey came near him, and then rowing round them. The Carthaginiansenate were now able to have frequent communication with the garrisonby means of this Rhodian: his success, and the recompence whichrewarded it, induced several Carthaginians to make the same attempt.They were all successful except one, who, not knowing the force anddirection of the currents, was carried by them ashore, and fell intothe power of the Romans. The Rhodian still continued to pass betweenthe besieged and Carthage; but his good fortune was near an end. TheRomans had fitted out the Carthaginian galley which they hadcaptured, and "waited with impatience for a fresh insult from theRhodian: it was not long before he entered the port in the nighttime, according to custom, and was preparing to sail out in broadday, not knowing that the Romans were now masters of a galley whichwas as good a sailer as his own. He weighed anchor with greatconfidence, and sailed out of the port in sight of the enemy's fleet,but was greatly surprized to see the Romans pursue him close, and atlength come up with him, notwithstanding the lightness of his vessel.He had now no way left but to engage them, which he did with anundaunted bravery; but the Romans, who were all chosen men, soon putan end to the dispute. The Rhodian vessel was boarded and taken withall her crew. The Romans being now in possession of two lightgalleys, shut up the port so effectually, that no Carthaginian everafter attempted to enter it."

The following year the Romans were obliged to convert the siegeinto a blockade, in consequence of the Carthaginians having succeededin destroying all their works. One of the consuls was P. ClaudiusPulcher, an obstinate and ambitious man, who, contrary to the adviceof those who were better skilled in maritime affairs, and betteracquainted with the Carthaginians than he was, determined to surprizeDrepanon, where the Carthaginian admiral was posted. Claudius hadunder his command a fine and formidable fleet of 120 galleys; withthese he sailed from before Lilibæum in the night time, havingtaken on board a great number of the best troops employed in theblockade of that place. At break of day, Asdrubal, the Carthaginianadmiral, was surprized to perceive the hostile fleet approachingDrepanon: he formed his plan immediately, preferring an immediateengagement to the certainty of being shut up in the harbour.Accordingly, with ninety ships, he sailed out, and drew them upbehind some rocks which lay near the harbour. As the Romans had notperceived him come out, they continued to sail on without formingthemselves into line of battle, when as they were about to enter theharbour, the Carthaginians attacked them, with such celerity andvigour, that, being taken quite unprepared, they were thrown intoconfusion. Claudius might still have saved his fleet by immediateflight, but this he absolutely refused to do, notwithstanding thestrong and urgent remonstrances of his officers. By great exertionsthe Roman fleet was formed into line of battle, on a lee shore, andclose to rocks and shoals. It was on this occasion, that the Romans'veneration for auguries was so dreadfully shocked, by Claudiusexclaiming, when the sacred chickens refused to feed, "If they willnot feed, let them drink," at the same time ordering them to bethrown into the sea. The bad omen, and the sacrilegious insult, addedto the situation in which they were placed, and their want ofconfidence in Claudius, seemed to have paralysed the efforts of theRomans: they fought feebly: the enemy boarded their ships withoutdifficulty or resistance; so that ninety vessels were either taken ordriven ashore, 8,000 of their seamen and soldiers were killed, and20,000 taken prisoners. As soon as Claudius perceived the probableresult of the battle, he fled precipitately with thirty vessels. TheCarthaginians did not lose a single ship or man on this occasion.This was the most signal and disastrous defeat which the Romans hadsuffered at sea since the commencement of the war. According toPolybius, Claudius was tried, condemned, and very severelypunished.

The other consul, Lucius Pullus, was not more successful, thoughhis want of success did not, as in the case of Claudius, arise fromignorance and obstinacy. He was ordered to sail from Syracuse with afleet of 120 galleys, and 800 transports, the latter laden withprovisions and stores for the army before Lilibaeum. As the army wasmuch pressed for necessaries, and the consul himself was not ready toput to sea directly, he sent the quaestors before him with a smallsquadron. The Carthaginians, who were very watchful, and had the bestintelligence of all the Romans were doing, having learnt that theconsul was at sea with a large fleet, sent 100 galleys to cruize offHeraclea. As soon as the squadron under the quaestors came in sight,the Carthaginian admiral, though he mistook it for the consularfleet, yet resolved to engage it: but the quaestors, having receivedorders not to hazard a battle if they could possibly avoid, tookrefuge behind some rocks, where they were attacked by the enemy. TheRomans defended themselves so well with balistae 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 hisfleet.

In the mean time, the light vessels, employed on the lookout,informed him that the whole consular fleet were directing theircourse for Lilibaeum: his obvious plan was to engage this fleetbefore it could join that of the quæstors; he therefore steeredhis course to meet them. But the consul was equally averse with thequaestors to hazard the supply of the army by a battle, and he,therefore, also took shelter near some rocks. The Carthaginianadmiral was afraid to attack him in this position, but resolved towatch him: while thus employed his pilots observed certainindications of an approaching storm, which induced him to takeshelter on the other side of Cape Pachynum. He had scarcely doubledthe cape, when the storm arose with such violence that the wholeRoman fleet was destroyed. According to Polybius, not one vessel, noteven a plank, was saved out of a fleet which consisted of 120 galleysand 800 transports.

Two such losses occurring during the same consulate, induced theRomans again to resolve to desist from all naval enterprizes andpreparations, so that for some time no public fleet was equipped.This resolution, however, yielded to the conviction that they couldnot hope even to retain their possessions in Sicily, or even tosecure their commerce on the coasts of Italy, if they did notendeavour to cope with the Carthaginians by sea. But as the senatethought it would appear derogatory to their dignity and consistencyto equip a public fleet, after they had a second time resolvedsolemnly and officially not to do so, they passed a decree, by whichall the Roman citizens who were able and so disposed, were permittedto build, equip, and arm vessels at their own expence; with theseships they were directed to land on the coast of Africa, for thepurpose of pillage, the fruit of which was to be their own privategain. The senate even went further to evade, by a pitiful subterfugetheir own decree, for they lent the few ships which still remained tothe republic, to private citizens, on condition that they should keepthem in repair, and make them good if they were lost. By thesemeasures a very considerable fleet was equipped, which committedgreat depredations on the coast of Africa. Emboldened by theirpredatory warfare, they resolved to attempt a more arduousenterprize. One of the most celebrated of the Carthaginian harbourswas that of Hippo; besides the port there was a citadel, and largearsenals for naval stores, &c. As the inhabitants were muchengaged in commerce, there were in the town always a considerablequantity of merchandize. This port the privateer squadron determinedto enter. The inhabitants, aware of their design, stretched a verystrong chain across the harbour mouth; but it did not avail; for theRoman ships broke through it, took possession of the town and ships,burnt most of them, and returned safe with an immense booty. Thissuccess was quickly followed by another, for as they were re-enteringPanormus, they fell in with a Carthaginian fleet loaded withprovisions for Hamilcar, who commanded in Sicily, and capturedseveral of the transports. These advantages began to inspire theRomans with renewed confidence and hopes that their naval disasterswere at an end, and that the gods had at length permitted them tobecome masters of the sea, when the privateer fleet, after havinggained a considerable victory over a Carthaginian squadron, near thecoast of Africa, was almost totally destroyed in a storm.

For a few years afterwards, the Romans seem to have desistedentirely from maritime enterprizes; but in the year of the city 516,they changed their plan, as it was indeed evident that unless theywere masters at sea, they must be content to lose the island ofSicily. In order, however, that the Roman armies might not suffer bytheir losses at sea, it was decreed that the new fleet should bemanned with hired troops. There was still another difficulty toovercome; the protracted war with Carthage, and the heavy andrepeated losses which they had suffered during it, had nearlyexhausted the Roman treasury; from it therefore could not possibly bedrawn the sums requisite for the proper and effective equipment ofsuch a fleet as would be adequate to meet that of the enemy. Thisdifficulty was removed by the patriotism of all ranks and classes ofthe citizens. The senators set the example; the most wealthy of whombuilt, each at his own cost, a quinquereme: those who were not sowealthy joined together, three or four of them fitting out a singlegalley. By these means a fleet of 200 large vessels was made readyfor any expedition, the state having bound themselves to repay theindividuals whenever her finances were adequate to such an expence.This fleet was not only very numerous and well equipped, but most ofthe vessels which composed it were built on an entirely new model,which combined an extraordinary degree of celerity with strength. Themodel was taken from that light Rhodian galley, which we have alreadymentioned, as having been employed by its owner, Hannibal, inconveying intelligence between Carthage and Lilibæum, and whichwas afterwards captured by the Romans. The command of this fleet wasgiven to the consul Lutatius: and the great object to be accomplishedwas the reduction of Lilibæum, which still held out. The firststep of the consul was to occupy all the sea-ports near this place:the town of Drepanon, however, resisting his efforts, he resolvedrather to decide its fate, and that of Sicily in general, by a seabattle, than to undertake a regular siege.

The Carthaginians soon gave him an opportunity of acting in thismanner, for they sent to sea a fleet of 400 vessels, under thecommand of Hanno. In the building and equipment of this fleet, thesenate of Carthage had nearly exhausted all their means; but thoughtheir fleet was numerically much greater than that of Rome, in someessential respects it was inferior to it. Most of the seamen andtroops on board it were inexperienced and undisciplined; and theships themselves were not to be compared, with regard to the union oflightness and strength, with the Roman vessels, as they were nowbuilt. Besides, the Romans trusted entirely to themselves-- theCarthaginians, 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 withfeelings of contempt.

The hostile fleets met off Hiera, one of the Aeolian islands. TheCarthaginian admiral's first object was to reach Eryx, a city whichhad lately been taken by Hamilcar, there to unload his vessels, andafter having taken on board Hamilcar and the best of his troops, tosail again in quest of the Roman fleet. But the consul prevented thisdesign from being carried into execution, by coming up with theCarthaginians, as we have just stated, off Hiera, while they weresteering for Eryx. As the wind was favourable for the Romans, theywere extremely anxious to commence the engagement immediately; butbefore they had formed into order of battle, it changed, blew hard,and a heavy sea arose. The determination of the consul to engage wasfor a short time shaken by this circ*mstance, but he reflected thatthough the sea was rough, the enemy's ships were heavily laden, andtherefore would suffer more from it than his ships would; while if,on the other hand, he delayed the engagement till the Carthaginiansreached Eryx, they would then have lighter vessels, as well as agreater number of experienced seamen and soldiers on board of them.These considerations determined him to fight immediately, andaccordingly he gave orders for the line of battle to be formed. Thebattle was of very short duration, and terminated decidedly in favourof the Romans. The loss of the Carthaginians is variously stated,but, according to Polybius, who is the best authority for every thingrelating to the Punic wars, the Romans sunk fifty of their vessels,and captured seventy, with all their crews. The remainder wouldprobably have been either captured or destroyed, had not the windagain changed, and enabled them to save themselves by flight.

The consequences of this defeat, in the capitulation of Hamilcar,which, in a manner, determined the fate of Sicily, were sodisheartening to the Carthaginians, that they were obliged to submitto a disadvantageous and dishonorable peace. Among other terms, itwas stipulated that they should evacuate all the places they held inSicily, and entirely quit that island; that they should also abandonall the small islands that lie between Italy and Sicily; and thatthey should not approach with their ships of war, either the coastsof Italy or any of the territories belonging to the Romans or theirallies.

Soon after the conclusion of the first Punic war, a circ*mstanceoccurred which nearly renewed the hostilities. The Carthaginians wereengaged in a bloody and arduous contest with their Mercenaries, andthe Roman merchants supplied the latter with military stores andprovisions. While engaged in this unlawful enterprize, several ofthem were captured by the Carthaginians, and their crews detained asprisoners of war. The senate of Carthage, however, were not then in acondition to offend the Romans; they therefore restored both theships and their crews. During this war between the Carthaginians andthe Mercenaries, the latter having obtained possession of Sardinia,(which though formerly conquered by the Romans, had been restored tothe Carthaginians,) offered to put the Romans in possession of it. Atfirst the senate refused to occupy it; but they soon changed theirmind, and accepted the offer, and moreover obliged the Carthaginiansto pay the expence of the armament by which it was occupied, and thefurther sum of 1200 talents.

Sicily, which immediately after the conclusion of the Punic war,was made a Roman province, and Sardinia, were the first territorieswhich the Romans possessed out of Italy. In conformity with our plan,we shall enquire into the advantages they brought to the commerce ofthe Romans, before we proceed to the naval occurrences of the secondPunic war.

Sicily was anciently called Sicania, Trinâcria, andTriquetra; its three promontories are particularly celebrated in theclassic authors; viz. Lilibæum on the side of Africa; Pachynumon the side of Greece, and Pelorum towards Italy. Its vicinity to thecontinent of Italy, and the resemblance of their opposite shores,gave rise to an opinion among the ancients that it was originallyjoined to Italy. Pliny particularly mentions their separation, as acirc*mstance beyond all doubt. The dangers which were supposed tobeset mariners in their passage through the narrow strait whichdivides it from Italy, on one side of which was Sylla, and on theother Charybdis, sufficiently point out the ignorance andinexperience of the ancients in the construction and management oftheir ships.

The principal town on the eastern coast of Sicily, oppositeGreece, was Messana, now called Messina: it was the first which theRomans possessed in the island: it was one of the most wealthy andpowerful cities in ancient Sicily. Taurominium stood near MountTaurus, on the river Taurominius; the coast in its vicinity wasanciently called Coproea, because the sea was supposed to throw upthere the wrecks of such vessels as were swallowed up by Charybdis.The hills near this city were famous for the excellent grapes theyproduced. On a gulph in the Ionian Sea, called Catana, stood a cityof the same name; it was one of the richest and most powerful citiesin the island.

But by far the most celebrated city in this island for itsadvantageous situation, the magnificence of its buildings, itscommerce, and the wealth of its inhabitants, was Syracuse. Accordingto Thucydides, in his time it might justly be compared to Athens,even when that city was at the height of its glory; and Cicerodescribes it as the greatest and most wealthy of all the citiespossessed by the Greeks. Its walls were eighteen miles incircumference, and within them were in fact four cities united intoone. It seems also to have possessed three harbours: the greatharbour was nearly five thousand yards in circumference, and theentrance to it five hundred yards across; it was formed on one sideby a point of the island Ortygia, and on the other by another smallisland, on each of which were forts. The second harbour was dividedfrom the greater by an island of inconsiderable extent; both thesewere surrounded with warehouses, arsenals, and other buildings ofgreat magnificence. The river Anapis emptied itself into the greatharbour; at the mouth of this river was the castle of Olympia. Thethird harbour stood a little above the division of the city calledAcradina. The island of Ortygia, which formed one of the divisions,was joined to the others by a bridge.

The other maritime towns of consequence were Agrigentum,Lilibaeum, and Drepanum; though the first stood at a short distancefrom the sea, yet being situated between and near two rivers, itconveniently imported all sorts of provisions and merchandize.Lilibaeum was famous for its port, which was deemed a safe retreatfor ships, either in case of a storm, or to escape from an enemy.During the wars between the Romans and Carthaginians, the formerrepeatedly attempted to render it inaccessible and useless bythrowing large stones into it, but they were always washed away bythe violence of the sea, and the rapidity of the current. Drepanum,which had an excellent harbour, was much resorted to by foreignships, and possessed a very considerable commerce.

The Greeks were the first who colonized Sicily; and they foundedSyracuse and other towns. About the same period the Phoenicianssettled on the coast for the purposes of commerce; but they seem tohave retired soon after the Greek colonies began to flourish andextend themselves. The Carthaginians, who generally pushed theircommerce into all the countries with which their parent state hadtraded, seem to have visited Italy as merchants or conquerors at avery early period; but when their first visit took place in eithercharacter is not known. The treaty between them and the Romans, (towhich we have had occasion to refer more than once,) which was formedin the year after the expulsion of the Tarquins, expressly stipulatedthat the Romans, who should touch at Sardinia, or that part of Sicilywhich belonged to the Carthaginians, should be received there in thesame manner as the Carthaginians themselves. They must, however, soonafterwards have been driven out of the island; for at the time of theinvasion of Greece by Xerxes, (which happened about thirty yearsafter the expulsion of the Tarquins,) Gelon, the king of Syracuse,expressly states that they no longer possessed any territory there,in a speech which he made to the ambassadors of Athens and Sparta,the Cathaginians having united with Xerxes, and he having offered toally himself with the Greeks. The circ*mstances and even the verynature of the victory which Gelon gained over the Carthaginians,which ended in their expulsion from Sicily, cannot accurately beascertained: but from a comparison of the principal authorities onthis point, it would, appear that it was a naval victory; or at leastthat the Carthaginian fleet was defeated as well as their army. Theirloss by sea was enormous, amounting to nearly the whole of theirships of war and transports, the former consisting of 2000 and thelatter of 3000.

Such is a short sketch of the island of Sicily, so far as itscommercial facilities and its history are concerned previously to itsconquest by the Romans. It was peculiarly valuable to them on accountof its extreme fertility in corn; and by this circ*mstance it seemsto have been distinguished in very early times; for there can be nodoubt that by its being represented by the poets as the favouriteresidence of the goddess Ceres, the fertility of the island in corn,as well as its knowledge of agriculture, were intended to berepresented. When Gelon offered to unite with the Greeks in their warwith Xerxes, one of his proposals was that he would furnish the wholeGreek army with corn, during all the time of hostilities, if theywould appoint him commander of their forces. In the latter period ofthe Roman republic, it became their principal dependence for aregular supply of corn.

Sardinia seems to have been as little explored by and known to theancients, as it is to the moderns. The treaty between theCarthaginians and Romans, the year after the expulsion of theTarquins, proves that the former nation possessed it at that time.Calaris, the present Cagliari, was the principal town in it. From theepithet applied to it by Horace, in one of his odes, Opima, itmust have been much more fertile in former times than it is atpresent; and Varro expressly calls it one of the granaries of Rome.Its air, then, as at present, was in most parts very unwholsome; andit is a remarkable circ*mstance that the character of the Sardi, who,after the complete reduction of the island by Tiberius SemproniusGracchus, were brought to Rome in great numbers, and sold as slaves,and who were proverbial for their worthlessness, is still to betraced in the present inhabitants; for they are represented asextremely barbarous, and so treacherous, and inhospitable, that theyhave been called the Malays of the Mediterranean. The island ofCorsica, which, indeed, generally followed the fate of Sardinia, wasanother of the fruits of the first Punic war which the Romans reaped,in some degree favourable to their commerce. It possessed a large andconvenient harbour, called Syracusium. The Carthaginians must havereduced it at an early period, since, according to Herodotus, theCyrnians (the ancient name for the inhabitants), were one of thenations that composed the vast army, with which they invaded Sicilyin the time of Gelon.

During the interval between the first and second Punic wars, theRoman commerce seems to have been gradually, but slowly extendingitself, particularly in the Adriatic: we do not possess, however, anydetails on the subject, except a decisive proof of the attention andprotection which the republic bestowed upon it, in repressing andpunishing the piracies of the Illyrians and Istrians. These people,who were very expert and undaunted seamen, enriched themselves andtheir country by seizing and plundering the merchant vessels whichfrequented the Adriatic and adjacent Mediterranean sea; and theirpiracies 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 enterprising spirit: theRoman merchants, who traded, in the Adriatic, had frequently beenplundered and cruelly treated by her subjects; upon this, the Romansenate sent two ambassadors to her, to insist that she should put astop to these measures. The Romans had also other grounds ofcomplaint against her and her subjects; for the latter extended theirpiracies 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 theAdriatic, which was under the protection of the republic. Theinhabitants of this island seem to have been rather extensivelyengaged in commerce, and were celebrated for building a kind of lightships, thence called Issaei lembi.

Teuta received and treated the Roman ambassadors with great scornand haughtiness; she promised, indeed, that she would no longerauthorise the piracies of her subjects; but, with regard torestraining them, she would not do it, as they enjoyed a perfect andfull right to benefit themselves as much as possible, and in everyway they could, by their skill and superiority in maritime affairs.On the ambassadors' replying in rather threatening language, sheordered one of them to be put to death.

For a short time Teuta was alarmed at the probable consequences ofher conduct, and endeavoured to avert them by submission; but, theRomans being otherwise engaged, and she having experienced somesuccesses over the Acheans, her haughtiness and confidence revived,and she sent a fleet to assist in the reduction of Issa. Upon this,the Romans resolved to act with immediate vigour; and they had littledifficulty in compelling Teuta to sue for peace. It was granted toher, on condition that not more than three ships of war should at anyone time sail beyond Lyssus, on the frontier of Macedonia, and thatthe islands of Corcyra, Issa, and Pharos, together with Dyrrhachiumshould be given up to the Romans.

It was not, however, to be supposed that the Illyrians andIstrians, who had been so long accustomed to piracy, and who in factderived nearly all their wealth from this source, would totallyabstain from it. A few years after this treaty of peace, they resumedtheir depredations, which they carried on with so much audacity anddisregard to the power of Rome, that they even seized the ships thatwere laden with corn for Rome. As this commerce was one of thegreatest consequence to the Romans, in which the Roman government, aswell as individuals, principally embarked, and on the regularity andsafety of which the subsistence and tranquillity of the city itselfdepended, the senate resolved to punish them more effectually; andthis resolution was strengthened by the Illyrians having broken theterms of the peace by sending no fewer than 50 vessels of war beyondthe prescribed limits, as far as the Cyclades. The consequence of thenew war which the Romans waged against them, was the reduction ofIstria and of Illyricum Proper.

The destruction of Saguntum by the Carthaginians was the cause ofthe second Punic war. At what period the Carthaginians firstestablished themselves in Spain, is not known. Their principal objectin colonizing and retaining it, undoubtedly may be found in therichness of its mines, and the fertility of its soil. According toDiodorus Siculus, they were principally enabled to equip and supporttheir numerous, and frequently renewed fleets, by the silver whichthey drew from these mines. And Strabo expressly informs us, thatwhen the Carthaginians first colonized Spain, silver was in suchabundance, and so easily obtained, that their most common utensils,and even the mangers for their horses, were made of it. One mine ofextreme richness is particularly described by Pliny: according tohim, it yielded 300 pounds of silver in a day. There are othercirc*mstances which point out the extreme value of Spain to whoeverpossessed it, and lead us to the motives which induced the Romans touse all their efforts to wrest it from the Carthaginians. It cannotbe doubted that the Carthaginians drew from it all the wealth, invarious shapes, which it could possibly supply; and yet we know thatin the short space of nine years, 111,542 pounds weight of silver,4095 of gold, besides coin, were brought out of it by the Romanpraetors, who governed it. Scipio, when he returned to Rome, broughtfrom Spain 14,342 pounds weight of silver, besides coin, arms, andcorn, &c. to an immense amount. And Lentulus returned from thiscountry with 44,000 pounds of silver, and 2550 of gold, besides thecoin, &c., which was divided among his soldiers. Manlius broughtwith him 1200 pounds of silver, and about 30 of gold. CorneliusLentulus, who was praetor of Hither Spain for two years, brought withhim 1515 pounds of gold, and 2000 of silver, besides a large amountof coin, while the praetor of Farther Spain returned with 50,000pounds of silver. And these immense sums, as we have already stated,were brought away in the space of nine years.

Cornelius Scipio was sent into Spain at the commencement of thesecond Punic war. Of the events of this war, however, we shallconfine ourselves exclusively to such as were maritime, and whichtrace the steps of the Roman superiority at sea, and, consequently,of the advancement and extension of their commerce. The exertions ofthe rival nations to contest the empire of the sea were very great:the Romans equipped 220 quinqueremes, and twenty other light vessels,beside 160 galleys, and twenty light vessels, which were employed totransport troops to Africa. Their allies, the Syracusans, also, wereactive and alert in the equipment of a fleet to assist their allies,the Romans; and Hiero, their king, had the good fortune to give anauspicious commencement to the war, by capturing some Carthaginianships, part of a fleet, whose object was to plunder the coasts ofItaly, but which had been dispersed by a storm. The Carthaginianswere equally unfortunate in their second maritime enterprise againstLilibaeum, for the Syracusans and Romans, having learnt theirintention, anchored before the mouth of the harbour. TheCarthaginians, finding that they could not, as they expected,surprise the place, drew up their fleet in line of battle, a littleway out at sea: the allies immediately got under weigh; a battleensued, in which the Carthaginians were defeated, with the loss ofseven ships. These successes, however, were dreadfullycounterbalanced by the advance of Hannibal into Italy, and thedecisive victories which he obtained in the very heart of the Romanterritories. Under these circ*mstances, maritime affairs werenaturally disregarded.

Of the actual state of the Roman commerce about this time we knowvery little, but that it was lucrative, may fairly be inferred fromthe following circ*mstance:--A little before the commencement of thesecond Punic war, Caius Flaminnus was extremely desirous to obtainthe support and good will of the populace; with this object in view,he joined the tribunes of the people in passing a law, which iscalled the Flaminian, or Claudian law. By it, the senators, who hadbeen accustomed to acquire considerable wealth by fitting out shipsand trading, were expressly forbidden to possess or hire any vesselabove the burden of 300 amphorae or eight tons, and not more than onevessel even of that small tonnage. This vessel was allowed them, andwas deemed sufficient to bring the produce of their farms to Rome. Bythe same law, the scribes, and the clerks, and attendants of thequæstors, were prohibited from trading; and thus the liberty ofcommerce was exclusively confined to the plebeians.

Whilst Hannibal threatened the Romans in the vicinity of Romeitself, they had neither leisure, inclination, or means, to cope withthe Carthaginians by sea; at length, however, Marcellus, havingchecked the enemy in Italy, maritime affairs were again attended to.Scipio, who had been successful in Spain, resolved to attempt thereduction of New Carthage: this place was situated, like OldCarthage, on a peninsula betwixt a port and a lake: its harbour wasextremely commodious, and large enough to receive and shelter anyfleet. As it was the capital of the Carthaginian dominions in Spain,here were deposited all their naval stores, machines used in war,besides immense treasures. It was on this account extremely wellfortified, and to attempt to take it by a regular siege seemed toScipio impracticable: he, therefore, formed a plan to take it bysurprise, and this plan he communicated to C. Lælius, thecommander of the fleet, who was his intimate friend. The Roman fleetwas to block up the port by sea, while Scipio was to blockade it byland. The ignorance of the Romans with regard to one of the mostcommon and natural phenomena of the sea, is strongly marked in thecourse of this enterprise. Scipio knew that when the tide ebbed, theport of New Carthage would become dry and accessible by land; but hissoldiers, and even his officers, were ignorant of the nature of thetides, and they firmly believed that Neptune had wrought a miracle intheir favour, when, according to Scipio's prediction, the tideretired, and the army was thus enabled to capture the town, the wallsof which on that side were extremely low, the Carthaginians havingdirected all their attention and efforts to the opposite side. Thecapture of New Carthage depressed, in a great degree, the spirits, aswell as weakened the strength of the Carthaginians in Spain: eighteengalleys were captured in the port, besides 113 vessels laden withnaval stares; 40,000 bushels of wheat, 260,000 bushels of barley, alarge number of warlike machines of all descriptions, 260 cups ofgold, 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 556, Scipio had succeeded in reducing allSpain. It does not appear, however, that the Romans were thus enabledgreatly to extend their commerce; indeed, at this period, we have noevidence that any other town in Spain, except Gades, possessed anyconsiderable trade. This island and city were situated in a gulph ofthe same name, between the straits of Gibraltar and the river Boetis;and, from the remotest period of which we possess any records, wasresorted to by foreigners for the purposes of commerce. Gradually,however, the inhabitants of Spain, under the Roman government,enriched themselves and their conquerors by their industry: largequantities of corn, wine, and oil were exported, besides wax, honey,pitch, vermilion, and wool. The oil and wool were deemed equal, ifnot superior, to those of any other part of the world: the excellentquality of the wool is a strong fact, against an opinion entertainedby many, that the fineness of the Spanish was originally derived fromthe exportation of some English sheep to Spain, since it appears tohave been celebrated even in the time of the Romans: how importantand lucrative an object it was considered, may be collected from theattention that was paid to the breed of sheep; a ram, according toStrabo, having been sold for a talent, or nearly 200 l. Horaceincidentally gives evidence of the commercial wealth of Spain in histime, when he considers the master of a Spanish trading vessel and aperson of great wealth as synonimous terms.

As Hannibal still continued in Italy, the senate of Rome resolvedto send Scipio into Italy, with a discretionary power to invadeAfrica from that island. He lost no time in equipping a fleet forthese purposes, and his efforts were so well seconded by the zeal andactivity of the provinces and cities, many of which taxed themselvesto supply iron, timber, cloth for sails, corn, &c. that, in fortydays after the timber was felled, Scipio had a fleet of thirty newgalleys.

Soon after he landed in Sicily, he resolved to invade Africa: forthis purpose his fleet was collected in the port of Lilibæum.Never was embarkation made with more order and solemnity: theconcourse of people who came from all parts to see him set sail, andwish him a prosperous voyage, was prodigious. Just before he weighedanchor, he appeared on the poop of his galley, and, after an heraldhad proclaimed silence, addressed a solemn prayer to the gods. It isforeign to our purpose to give any account of the campaign in Africa,which, it is well known, terminated in the utter defeat of theCarthaginians, who were obliged to sue for peace. This was grantedthem on very severe terms: all the cities and provinces which theypossessed in Africa previously to the war, they were indeed permittedto retain, but they were stripped of Spain, and of all the islands inthe Mediterranean; all their ships of war, except ten galleys, wereto be delivered up to the Romans; and, for the future, they were notto maintain above that number at one time: even the size of theirfishing boats and of their trading vessels was regulated. In thecourse of fifty years ten thousand talents were to be paid to theRomans. During a short truce which preceded the peace, theCarthaginians had seized and plundered a Roman squadron, which hadbeen dispersed by a storm, and driven near Carthage; as asatisfaction for this, they were obliged to pay the Romans 25,000pounds weight of silver. The successful termination of the secondPunic war gave to the Romans complete dominion of the sea, on whichthey maintained generally 100 galleys. Commerce flourished,particularly that most important branch, the trade in corn, withwhich Rome, at this period, is said to have been so plentifullyfurnished, that the merchants paid their seamen with it.

The power of the Romans at sea was now so well established, thatno foreign power could hope to attack, or resist them, unless theywere expert navigators, as well as furnished with a numerous fleet.Under this impression, Philip king of Macedon, who had long beenjealous and afraid of them, applied himself sedulously to maritimeaffairs. As it was about this period that the Romans began to turntheir thoughts to the conquest of Greece, it may be proper to take aretrospective view of the maritime affairs and commerce of thatcountry. An inspection of the map of Greece will point out theadvantages which it possessed for navigation and commerce. Lyingnearly in the middle of the Mediterranean, with the sea washing threeof its sides; possessed of almost innumerable inlets and bays, it wasadmirably adapted to ancient commerce. Its want of large andnavigable rivers, which will always limit its commerce in moderntimes, presented no obstacle to the small vessels in which theancients carried on their trade; as they never navigated them duringthe winter, and from their smallness and lightness, they could easilydrag them on shore.

Athens, the most celebrated state in Greece for philosophy,literature, and arms, was also the most celebrated for commerce. Thewhole of the southern angle of Attica consisted of a district calledParali, or the division adjacent to the sea. In the other districtsof Attica, the soldiers of the republic were found: this furnishedthe sailors; fishing and navigation were the chief employments of itsinhabitants. About 46 miles distant from the Piraeus, stood Sunium,the most considerable town in this district: it possessed a doubleharbour in the Mediterranean.

The principal commerce of Attica, however, was carried on atAthens: this city had three harbours: the most ancient was that ofPhalerum, distant from the city, according to some authors, 35stadia; according to others only 20 stadia. It was nearer Athens thanthe other two, but smaller, and less commodious. Munichea was thename of the second harbour: it was formed in a promontory not fardistant from the Pirasus, a little to the east of Athens, andnaturally a place of great strength; it was afterwards, at theinstance of Thrasybulus, rendered still stronger by art. But by farthe most celebrated harbour of Athens was the Piraeus. The republicof Athens, in order to concentrate its military and mercantile fleetsin this harbour, abandoned that of Phalerum, and bent all theirefforts to render the Piraeus as strong and commodious as possible.This occurred in the time of Themistocles; by whose advice both thetown and the harbour were inclosed with a wall, about seven miles anda half long, and sixty feet high. Themistocles' intention was to havemade it eighty cubits high, but in this he was opposed. Before thisconnecting wall was built, the Piraeus was about three miles distantfrom the city. As the strength of the wall was of the utmostimportance, it was built of immense square stones, which werefastened together with iron or leaden cramps. It was so broad thattwo waggons could have been driven along it. The Pireus containedthree docks; the first called Cantharus, the second Aphrodisium, andthe third Zea. There were likewise five porticos, and two forums. ThePiraeus was so celebrated for its commerce, that it became aproverbial saying in Greece, "Famine does not come from thePiræus." The extent and convenience of the Piræus may bejudged of from this circ*mstance, that under the demagogue Lycurgus,the whole naval force of the nation, amounting to 400 triremes, weresafely and easily laid up in its three harbours.

Before the time of Themistocles, Athens does not appear to havedevoted her attention or resources to maritime affairs: but thiscelebrated general not only rendered the Piræus stronger andmore commodious, but also procured a decree, which enabled him to addtwenty ships to the fleet annually. The sums arising from the sale ofthe privileges of working the mines, or the eventual profits of themines, 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 whopossessed land, manufactories, or money in trade or with theirbankers; these classes of the citizens were also obliged to keep up,and increase, if occasion required it, the naval force of therepublic. When it was necessary to fit out an armament, as manytalents as there were galleys to be built and equipped, were raisedin each of the ten tribes of Athens. The money thus collected wasgiven to the captains of the galleys, to be expended in themaintenance of the crew. The republic furnished the rigging andsailors: two captains were appointed to each galley, who served sixmonths each.

Although the vessels employed by the Athenians both for war andcommerce were small compared with those of modern days, and theirmerchant ships even much smaller than those of the Phoenicians, if wemay judge by the description given by Xenophon of a Phoenicianmerchant vessel in the Piræus, yet the expence attending theirequipment was very great. We learn from Demosthenes, that the lightvessels could not be kept in commission, even if the utmost attentionwas paid to economy, and no extraordinary damage befel them, for asmaller sum than about 8000 l. annually; of course, suchvessels as from their size, strength, and manning, were capable ofstanding the brunt of an engagement, must have cost more than doublethat sum.

In the time of Demosthenes, the trade of Athens seems to have beencarried on with considerable spirit and activity; the greater part ofthe money of the Athenians having been employed in it. From one ofhis orations we learn, that in the contract executed when money waslent for this purpose, the period when the vessel was to sail, thenature and value of the goods with which she was loaded, the port towhich she was to carry them, the manner in which they were to be soldthere, and the goods with which she was to return to Athens, were allspecifically and formally noticed. In other particulars the contractsvaried: the money, lent was either not to be repaid till the returnof the vessel, or it was to be repaid as soon as the outward goodswere sold at the place to which she was bound, either to the agent ofthe lender, or to himself, he going there for that express purpose.The interest of money so lent varied: sometimes it rose as high as 30per cent: it seems to have depended principally on the risks of thevoyage.

In another oration of Demosthenes we discover glimpses of what bymany has been deemed maritime insurance, or rather of the fraud atpresent called barratry, which is practised to defraud the insurer:but, as Park in his learned Treatise on Marine Insurance hassatisfactorily proved, the ancients were certainly ignorant ofmaritime insurance; though there can be no doubt frauds similar tothose 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 ofsuch a cargo, they took on board sand and stones, and when out atsea, sunk the vessel. As the money was lent on the security either ofthe cargo or ship, or both, of course the creditors were defrauded:but it does not appear how they could, without detection, substitutesand or stones for the cargo.

The Athenians passed a number of laws respecting commerce, mostlyof a prohibitory nature. Money could not be advanced or lent on anyvessel, 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 onMount Parnes, the wax of Mount Hymettus--which two articles,incorporated together, or perhaps singly, were used for daubing over,or caulking their ships. The exportation of corn, of which Atticaproduced very little, was also forbidden; and what was brought fromabroad was not permitted to be sold any where except in Athens. Bythe laws of Solon, they were allowed to exchange oil for foreigncommodities. There were besides a great number of laws respectingcaptains of ships, merchants, duties, interest of money, anddifferent kinds of contracts. One law was specially favourable tomerchants and all engaged in trade; by it a heavy fine, or, in somecases, imprisonment, was inflicted on whoever accused a merchant ortrader of any crime he could not substantiate. In order still fartherto protect commerce, and to prevent it from suffering by litigation,all causes which respected it could be heard only during the periodwhen vessels were in port. This period extended generally to sixmonths--from April to September inclusive--no ships being at seaduring 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 merchandizeimported, and also on several articles which were exported fromAthens. These duties were generally farmed. In an oration ofAndocides, we learn that he had farmed the duty on foreign goodsimported for a term of three years, at twelve talents annually. Inconsequence of these duties, smuggling was not uncommon. Theinhabitants of the district called Corydale were celebrated forillicit traffic: there was a small bay in this district, a little tothe north of Piræus, called. Thieves' Harbour, in which anextensive and lucrative and contraband trade was carried on; ships ofdifferent nations were engaged in it. Demosthenes informs us, thatthough this place was within the boundaries of Attica, yet theAthenians had not the legal power to put a stop to traffic by whichthey were greatly injured, as the inhabitants of Corydale, as well asthe inhabitants of every other state, however small, were sovereignswithin their own territory.

In an oration of Isocrates an operation is described which bearssome resemblance to that performed by modern bills of exchange. Astranger who brought grain to Athens, and who, we may suppose, wishedto purchase goods to a greater amount than the sale of his grainwould produce, drew on a person living in some town on the Euxine, towhich the Athenians were in the habit of trading. The Athenianmerchant took this draft; but not till a banker in Athens had becomeresponsible for its due payment.

The Athenian merchants were obliged, from the nature of trade inthose ancient times, to be constantly travelling from one spot toanother; either to visit celebrated fairs, or places where they hopedto carry on an advantageous speculation. We shall afterwards noticemore particularly the Macedonian merchant mentioned by Ptolemy theGeographer, who sent his clerks to the very borders of China; andfrom other authorities we learn that the Greek merchants wereaccurately informed respecting the interior parts of Germany, and thecourse of most of the principal rivers in that country. The trade inaromatics, paints, cosmetics, &c., was chiefly possessed by theAthenians, who had large and numerous markets in Athens for the saleof these articles. Even in the time of Hippocrates, some of thespices of India were common in the Peloponnesus and Attica; and thereis every reason to believe that most of these articles wereintroduced into Greece in consequence of the journeys of theirmerchants to some places of depôt, to which they were broughtfrom the East.

We have already mentioned that the importation of corn into acountry so unfertile as Attica, was a subject of the greatest moment,and to which the care and laws of the republic were most particularlydirected. There were magistrates, whose sole business and duty it wasto lay in corn for the use of the city; and other magistrates whor*gulated its price, and fixed also the assize of bread. In thePiræus there were officers, the chief part of whose duty it wasto take care that two parts at least of all the corn brought into theport should be carried to the city. Lysias, in his oration againstthe corn merchants, gives a curious account of the means employed, bythem to raise its price, very similar to the rumours by which thesame effect is often produced at present: an embargo, or prohibitionof exporting it, by foreigners, an approaching war, or the capture orloss of the vessels laden with it, seem to have been the mostprevalent rumours. Sicily, Egypt, and the Crimea were the countrieswhich principally supplied Attica with this necessary article. As thevoyage from Sicily was the shortest, as well as exposed to the leastdanger, the arrival of vessels with corn from this island alwaysreduced the price; but there does not appear to have been nearly suchquantities brought either from it or Egypt, as from the Crimea. TheAthenians, therefore, encouraged by every possible means theircommerce with the Cimmerian Bosphorus. One of the kings of thatcountry, Leucon II., who reigned about the time of Demosthenes,favoured them very much. As the harbours were unsafe andinconvenient, he formed a new one, called Theodosia, or, in thelanguage of the country, Ardauda: he likewise exempted their vesselsfrom paying the duty on corn, to which all other vessels were subjecton exporting it--this duty amounted to a thirtieth part,--and allowedtheir merchants a free trade to all parts of his kingdom. In return,the Athenians made him and his children citizens of Athens, andgranted to such of his subjects as traded in Attica the sameprivileges and exemptions which their citizens enjoyed in Bosphorus.It was one of the charges against Demosthenes, by his rival, theorator Dinarchus, that the sons and successors of Leucon sent yearlyto him a thousand bushels of wheat. Besides the new port ofTheodosia, the Athenians traded also to Panticapæum for corn:the quantity they exported is stated by Demosthenes to have amountedto 400,000 mediniri, or bushels, yearly, as appeared from the custombooks; and this was by far the greatest quantity of corn theyreceived from foreign countries. Lucian, indeed, informs us that aship, which, from his description, must have been about the size ofour third-rates, contained as much corn as maintained all Attica fora twelvemonth; but, in the time of this author, Athens was not nearlyso populous as it had been: and besides, as is justly remarked byHume, it is not safe to trust to such loose rhetoricalillustrations.

From a passage in Thucydides we may learn that the Atheniansderived part of their supply of corn from Euboea; this passage isalso curious as exhibiting a surprising instance of the imperfectionof ancient navigation. Among the inconveniences experienced by theAthenians, from the fortifying of Dacelia by the Lacedemonians, thishistorian particularly mentions, as one of the most considerable,that they could not bring over their corn from Euboea by land,passing by Oropus, but were under the necessity of embarking it, andsailing round Cape Sunium; and yet the water carriage could not bemore than double the land carriage.

The articles imported by the Athenians from the Euxine Sea,besides corn, were timber for building, slaves, salt, honey, wax,wool, leather, and goat-skins; from Byzantium and other ports ofThrace and Macedonia, salt fish and timber; from Phrygia and Miletus,carpets, coverlets for beds, and the fine wool, of which their clothswere made; from the islands of Egean Sea, wine and different fruits;and from Thrace, Thessaly, Phrygia, &c., a great number ofslaves.

The traffic in slaves was, next to that in corn, of the greatestconsequence to the Athenians, for the citizens were not in sufficientnumbers, and, if they had been, were not by any means disposed, tocultivate the land, work the mines, and carry on the various tradesand manufactures. The number of slaves in Attica, during the mostflourishing period of the republic, was estimated at 400,000: ofthese the greater part had been imported; the rest were natives ofGreece, whom the fate of arms had thrown into the hands of aconqueror irritated by too obstinate a resistance. The slaves mostesteemed, and which brought the highest price, were imported fromSyria and Thrace, the male slaves of the former country, and thefemales of the latter: the slaves from Macedonia were the leastvalued. The price of a slave seems to have been extremely low, asXenophon mentions that some were sold at Athens for half an Atticmina, or rather more than thirty shillings: those, however, who hadacquired a trade, or were otherwise particularly useful, were valuedat five minæ, or about fifteen pounds.

Our idea of the commerce of Athens, and of Greece in general,would be very imperfect and inadequate if we neglected to noticetheir fairs. It has been ingeniously supposed, that at the celebratedgames of Greece, such as those of Olympia, &c., trade was nosubordinate object; and this idea is certainly confirmed by variouspassages in ancient authors. Cicero expressly informs us, that evenso early as the age of Pythagoras, a great number of people attendedthe religious games for the express purpose of trading. At Delphi,Nemæa, Delos, or the Isthmus of Corinth, a fair was held almostevery year. The amphyctionic fairs were held twice a year. In thetime of Chrysostom, these lairs were infamously distinguished for atraffic in slaves, destined for public incontinence. The amphyctionicspring fair was held at Delphi, and at Thermopylæ in theautumn; in fact, at the same times that the deputies from the statesof Greece formed the amphyctionic council;--another proof thatwherever large assemblies of people took place in Greece, forreligious or political purposes, advantage was taken of them to carryon traffic. At the fairs of Thermopylæ medicinal herbs androots, especially hellebore, were sold in large quantities. Oneprincipal reason why the religious games or political assemblies ofthe states were fixed upon to hold fairs was, that during them allhostilities were suspended; and every person might go with hismerchandize in safety to them, even through an enemy's country. Thepriests, so far from regarding these fairs as a profanation of thereligions ceremonies, encouraged them; and the priests of Jupiter, inparticular, advanced large sums on interest to such merchants as hadgood credit, but had not sufficient money with them.

The island of Delos calls for our particular attention, as thegrand mart of the Athenians, as well as of the rest of Greece, and ofthe other countries in the Mediterranean, which at this period wereengaged in commerce. The peace of this island always remainedundisturbed, from an opinion that it was under the special protectionof Apollo and Diana; and when the fleets of enemies met there, out ofrespect to the sacredness of the place, they forbore all manner ofhostilities. There were also other circ*mstances which contributed torender it a place of great importance to commerce: its commodioussituation for the navigation from Europe into Asia; its festivals,which brought immense crowds to it (and as we have just observed,wherever a multitude of Greeks were collected, by superstitious ritesor amusem*nts, commerce was mingled with their duties and pursuits);and the bias which its original, or at least its very earlyinhabitants, had to commerce: all these combined to render it a placeof great importance to commerce. Its trade consisted chiefly inslaves: according to Strabo, in the time of Perseus, king ofMacedonia, above 10,000 slaves came in and went out daily. The corn,wine, and other commodities of the neighbouring islands; the scarletlinen tunics, manufactured in the island of Amorgos; the rich purplestuffs of Cos; the highly esteemed alum of Melos, and the valuablecopper, which the mines, of Delos itself (that had been long worked,)and the elegant vases, manufactured from this copper,--were theprincipal commodities exported from Delos. In return and exchange,foreign merchants brought the produce and manufactures of theirrespective countries; so that the island became, as it were, thestorehouse of the treasures of nations; and the scene, during thismixture of religious festivals and commercial enterprise, waspeculiarly gay and animated. The inhabitants were, by an express law,which is noticed by Athenæus, obliged to furnish water to allthe strangers who resorted thither; to which, it would appear, theyadded, either gratuitously, or for a small remuneration, cakes andother trifling eatables.

The Athenians were so anxious to protect and extend the commercecarried on in Delos, that they gave encouragement to such strangersto settle there as were conversant in commerce, as well as strictlyguarded its neutrality and privileges. On the destruction of Tyre,and afterwards of Carthage, events which gave a new direction to thecommerce of the Mediterranean, a great number of merchants from thesecities fled to Delos, where they were taken under the protection ofthe Athenians; and it appears by an inscription found in the 17thcentury, that the Tyrians formed a company of merchants andnavigators there. The Romans traded to it, even before their war withPhilip, king of Macedon. After the restoration of Corinth, theAthenians used all their efforts to keep up the commerce of Delos;but the wars of Mithridates put an end to it; and in a very shortperiod afterwards, it seems to have been entirely abandoned by themerchants of all nations, and, as a commercial place, to have falleninto utter neglect and decay.

Corinth, next to Athens, demands our notice, as one of the mostcommercial cities of Greece. The Corinthian dominions were extremelysmall, their extent from east to west being about half a degree, andfrom north to south about half that space: according to thegeographer Scylax, a vessel might sail from one extremity to theother in a day. It had no rivers of any note, and few rich plains,being in general uneven, and but moderately fertile. The situation ofCorinth itself, however, amply compensated for all thesedisadvantages: it was built on the middle of the isthmus of the samename, at the distance of about 60 stadia on either side from the sea;on one side was the Saronic Gulf, on the other the sea of Crissa. Onthe former was the port of Lechæum, which was joined to thecity by a double wall, 12 stadia in length; on the latter sea, wasthe port of Cinchræa, distant from Corinth 70 stadia. Therewas, besides, the port and castle of Cromyon, about 120 stadiadistant from the capital. Hence, it will appear that Corinthcommanded the trade of all the eastern part of the Mediterranean bythe port of Cinchræa; and of the Ionian sea, by that ofLechæum. But the Corinthians possessed other advantages; fortheir citadel was almost impregnable, commanded from its situationboth these seas, and stood exactly in the way of communication byland between one part of Greece and the other. The other states,however, would not permit the Corinthians to interdict them thepassage of the Isthmus; but they could not prevent them from takingadvantage of their situation, by carrying on an extensive andlucrative commerce. The Isthmian games, which were celebrated atCorinth, also contributed very much to its splendour and opulence,and drew additional crowds to it, who, as usual, mingled commercewith religion. According to Thucydides, Corinth had been a city ofgreat traffic, even when the Greeks confined their trade to land: atthis period, the Corinthians imposed a transit duty on allcommodities, which entered or left the Peloponnessus by the Isthmus.But the extended knowledge and enterprise of the Greeks, and, aboveall, the destruction of the pirates which infested the narrow seas,led them to prefer sea carriage part of the way. The reason why theydid not transport their goods the whole passage by sea, may be foundin their ignorance and fears: their inexperienced mariners and frailships could not succeed in doubling Cape Malea in Laconia; off which,and between it and Crete, the sea was frequently very boisterous.Hence, the merchants were under the necessity of transporting, byland carriage, their goods to the seas which formed the Isthmus. Suchas came from Italy, Sicily, and the countries to the west, werelanded at Lechæum; while the merchandize from Asia Minor,Phoenicia, and the islands in the Egean Sea, were landed at the portof Cinchræa. The breadth of the Isthmus was so small that thegoods were easily and quickly conveyed from one harbour to the other;and afterwards the Corinthians succeeded in transporting the shipsthemselves.

At first it would appear that the Corinthians contented themselveswith the wealth derived from their city being the great mart ofcommerce, and from the duties which they imposed: but they soon beganto engage very extensively and with great spirit in trade themselves.Several kinds of manufactures were encouraged, which were highlyvalued by foreign nations, especially coverlets for beds, and brassand earthen-ware vessels. But their most valuable manufactureconsisted in a metal compounded of copper and a small quantity ofgold and silver, which was extremely brilliant, and scarcely liableto rust or decay. From this metal they made helmets, &c., littlefigures, cups, vessels, &c., which were highly esteemed, not onlyon account of the metal of which they were formed, but still more onaccount of the tasteful foliage and other ornaments with which theywere covered. Their earthen-ware was ornamented in the same beautifuland tasteful manner.

All these were exported by the Corinthians in great quantities,and formed very lucrative articles of trade. Paper and sailcloth fromEgypt; ivory from Lybia; leather from Cyrene; incense from Syria;dates from Phoenicia; carpets from Carthage; corn and cheese fromSicily; apples and pears from Euboea;--filled the warehouses ofCorinth.

As soon as Corinth resolved to participate in maritime commerce,she applied herself to this object with great industry and success:she built ships of a novel form, and first produced galleys withthree benches of oars; and history assures us that the Greeksobtained their first maritime experience during the naval war betweenthe Corinthians and the inhabitants of Corfu; and by theirinstruction the Samians put to sea those powerful fleets for whichthey were distinguished.

Besides Athens and Corinth, there were no states in ancientGreece, the consideration of whose maritime and commercial affairswill detain us long. Lacedæmonia was favourably situated inthese respects; but either her laws, or the disposition and pursuitsof her inhabitants, prevented her from taking advantage of hersituation. All the south part of Laconia was encompassed by the sea,and on the east and north-east was the Argelic Bay: on its coastswere a great number of capes, the most celebrated of which were thoseof Malea and Tanara; they were also furnished with a great number ofsea-port towns and commodious harbours. In consequence of the capesextending far into the sea, and the deepness of some of the bays, theancients took three days to navigate the length of the coast invessels wrought by oars, following, as they generally did, all thewindings of the land. The little river Pameros, which divided Beotiafrom Laconia, formed one extremity, and the port of Prais, on theGulf of Argelis, formed the other. The most difficult and dangerouspart of this navigation consisted in doubling Cape Malea.

The most convenient and frequented sea-ports in Laconia wereTrinassus and Acria, situated on each side the mouth of the Eurotas;and Gythium, not far from Trinassus, at the mouth of a small river onthe Laconic Gulf. The mouth of this river, which was navigable up toSparta, was defended by a citadel, the ruins of which were remainingin the time of Pausanias. As the Lacedæmonians regarded thistown as their principal port, in which their naval forces, as well asthe greater part of their merchant ships assembled, they employedconsiderable labour and expence in rendering it commodious and safe;for this purpose they dug a very spacious basin which, on one sidewas defended by motes, and on the other by numerous fortifications:the strength of these may be judged of from the circ*mstance, thateven after the armies of Sparta had been utterly defeated byEpaminondas, and Philip, the son of Demetrius, neither of theseconquerors could capture this sea-port. In it were deposited all therequisites for their naval force, and from it sailed their merchantships with cargoes to Crete, Africa, and Egypt; to all of whichcountries, according to Thucydides, the Lacedæmonians carriedon a lucrative and regular traffic. Another of their sea-ports wasEpidaurus, situated on the Gulf of Argos, in the eastern part ofLaconia. The country round it contained many vineyards, the wine ofwhich was exported in considerable quantities, and supplied otherparts of Greece. This district is still celebrated for its wine,called Malvasia, (or Malmsey,) a corruption from Maleates, theancient name of this part of Laconia.

We have already alluded to the supposed aversion of the Spartansto maritime affairs, which, according to some authors, arose fromLycurgus having prohibited them from building vessels, or employingsailors; but this idea is unfounded, and seems to have arisen fromthe fact, that their kings were prevented, by a positive law, fromcommanding the fleets. That the Spartans engaged in commerce, wehave, as has been just stated, the express testimony of Thucydides;and there is abundant evidence that they had always armed vesselsduring their wars; and even so early as the time of Croesus, theysent some troops to Satnos, and plundered that island: and in latertimes, they used such efforts to equip vessels, in order to gain themastery of the seas, that, according to Xenophon, they entirelyneglected their cavalry. They were stimulated to this line of conductby Alcibiades, who advised the kings, ephori, and the nation atlarge, to augment their marine, to compel the ships of all othernations to lower their flag to theirs, and to proclaim themselvesexclusive masters of the Grecian seas. Isocrates informs us, that,before Alcibiades came to Lacedaemon, the Spartans, though they had anavy, expended little on it; but afterwards they increased it almostdaily. The signal defeat they sustained at the battle of Cnidus,where Conon destroyed their whole fleet, not only blasted their hopesof becoming masters of the seas, but, according to Isocrates, led totheir defeat at the battle of Leuctra.

Off the coast of Laconia, and about forty stadia from Cape Malea,lies the island of Cythera; the strait between it and the mainlandwas deemed by the ancients extremely dangerous in stormy weather; andindeed its narrowness, and the rocks that lay off Cape Malea must, tosuch inexperianced navigators, have been very alarming. ThePhoenicians are supposed to have had a settlement in this island:afterwards it became an object of great consequence to theLacedaemonians, who fortified, at great expence, and with much labourand skill, its two harbours, Cythera and Scandea. The convenience ofthese harbours to the Lacedaemonians compensated for the sterility ofthe island, which was so great that when the Athenians conquered it,they could raise from it only four Attic talents annually. The chiefemployment and source of wealth to the inhabitants consisted incollecting a species of shell-fish, from which an inferior kind ofTyrian dye was extracted. There were several fisheries on themainland of Laconia for the same purpose.

Some of the other Greek islands require a short and generalnotice, on account of the attention they paid to maritime affairs.Corcyra was inhabited by skilful mariners, who, in the time ofHerodotus, possessed a greater number of ships than any other peoplein Greece, with the exception of the Athenians; and, according toThucydides, at one period they were masters of the Mediterranean Sea.On the invasion of Greece by Xerxes, they fitted out a fleet of sixtyships, with which they promised to assist their countrymen; but,instead of this, their ships anchored in a place where they could seethe result of the battle of Salamis, and when they ascertained thatthe Greeks were victorious, they pretended that they had beenprevented from affording the promised succours by contrary winds, sothat they could not double Cape Malea. Of the commerce of this islandwe have no particulars detailed by ancient writers.

Egina, in the Saronic Gulf, acquired great wealth from thecultivation of commerce: in the time of the Persian war, theyequipped a very powerful and well-manned fleet for the defence ofGreece; and at the battle of Salamis they were adjudged to havedeserved the prize of valour. According to Elian, they were the firstpeople who coined money.

The island of Euboea possessed excellent harbours, from which, asit was very fertile, the Athenians exported large quantities of corn.This island is divided from the mainland of Greece by the Euripus,which the ancients represented to be so extremely narrow, that agalley could scarcely pass through it: its frequent and irregulartides were, also the subject of their wonder, and the cause of them,of their fruitless researches and conjectures. It hits severalpromontories, the doubling of one of which, Cape Catharius, wasreckoned by the ancients very dangerous, on account of the many rocksand whirlpools on the const. Of all the cities of Euboea, Chalcis wasthe most famous: its inhabitants applied themselves, at a very earlyperiod, to navigation, and sent numerous colonies to Thrace, Macedon,Italy, &c. In the vicinity of another of its towns, Carystus,there were quarries of very fine marble, the exportation of whichseems to have been a lucrative trade: in the same part of the islandalso was found the asbestos. Euboea possessed several rich copper andiron mines; and as the inhabitants were very skilful in working thesemetals, the exportation of armour, and various vessels made fromthem, was also one important branch of their commerce.

Of the numerous colonies sent out by the Greeks, we shall noticeonly those which were established for the purposes of commerce, orwhich, though not established for this express purpose, becameafterwards celebrated for it. None of the Athenian colonies, whichthey established expressly for the purpose of trading with thecapital, was of such importance as Amphipolis. This place wassituated at the mouth of the river Strymon, on the borders ofMacedonia. The country in its vicinity was very fertile in wood, andfrom it, for a considerable length of time, the Athenians principallyderived timber for building their fleets: they also levied on itsinhabitants a heavy tribute in silver coin. As this city was wellsituated for commerce, and the Athenians, wherever they went, or weresettled, were eager in pursuit of gain, their colonists in Amphipolisextended their trade, on one side into Thrace, and on the other intoMacedonia. They were enabled, in a great measure, to monopolize thecommerce of both these countries, at least those parts of them whichwere contiguous, from the situation of their city on the Strymon; ofwhich river they held, as it were, the key, so that nothing coulddepart from it without their consent. The ancients represent thisriver as frequently exhibiting immense logs of wood floating down it,which had been felled either on Mount Rhodope, or in the forests ofMount Hemus. The Athenians retained this important and valuablecolony till the time of Philip, the father of Alexander, by whom itwas taken from them.

The island of Samos may justly be regarded as a Grecian colony;having been chiefly inhabited by the Iones, to whose confederacy itbelonged. Its situation between the mainland of Asia and the islandof Icaria, from both of which it is separated by very narrow straits,which were the usual course for the ancient vessels in their voyagefrom the Black Sea to Syria and Egypt, rendered it the resort ofpirates, as well as celebrated for its ships and commerce. The cityof Samos, as described by the ancients, seems to have been a place ofgreat consequence. Herodotus mentions three things for which it wasremarkable in his time; one of which was a mole or pier, 120 feetlong, which formed the harbour, and was carried two furlongs into thesea. The principal design of this mole was to protect ships from thesouth wind, to which they would otherwise have been much exposed.Hence it would appear, that even at this early period, they had madegreat advances in commerce, otherwise they would neither have had thedisposition or ability to build such a mole. But we have the expresstestimony of Thucydides, that even at a much earlier period,--nearly300 years before the Peloponnesian war,--the Samians gave greatencouragement to shipbuilding, and employed Aminodes, the Corinthian,who was esteemed the most skilful ship-builder of his time; andHerodotus speaks of them as trading to Egypt, Spain, &c., beforeany of the other Greeks, except Sostrates, of Egina, were acquaintedwith those countries. The same author informs us, that the Samianshad a settlement in Upper Egypt, and that one of their merchantships, on its passage thither, was driven by contrary winds, beyondthe Pillars of Hercules, to the island of Tartessus, which till thenwas unknown to the Greeks. This island abounded in gold; of the valueof which, the inhabitants were so utterly ignorant, that they readilyallowed the Samians to carry home with them sixty talents, or about13,500 l. According to Pliny, they first built vessels fit totransport cavalry. We are not informed of what articles their exportsand imports consisted, except that their earthen-ware was in greatrepute among the ancients, in their most splendid entertainments, andwas exported in great quantities for this purpose. The Samian earth,from which these vessels were made, was itself also exported, onaccount of its medicinal properties. It is well known that thevictory obtained by the Greeks over the Persians, at the sea-fight ofMycale, was chiefly owing to the Samians.

The commerce of the Black Sea was of so much importance and valueto the Greeks, that we cannot be surprised that they founded severalcolonies on its shores, and in the adjacent countries. Heraclea, inthis sea, is said to have been founded by the Beotians: theinhabitants availed themselves of their situation to engage veryextensively in maritime affairs and in commerce, so that in a shorttime they were not inferior in wealth or power to any of the Greekstates in Asia. When Xenophon was obliged to retreat after hisexpedition into Asia Minor, the Heracleans supplied him with ships,to transport his army into Greece. Their maritime strength and skill,or their commercial pursuits, involved them in almost every maritimewar, their friendship and support being sought after by all theAsiatic princes. When the war broke out between Ptolemy andAntigonus, they sent to the assistance of the former a numerousfleet, all of which were well equipped and manned. Some were of anextraordinary size, especially one, which had on each side 800 oars,besides 1200 fighting men.

Trapezus was a Greek city, in Pontus, situated on a peninsula, inthe Black Sea, where it begins to turn to the east: it had a largeand convenient port, and carried on a considerable trade. But themost celebrated of the Grecian colonies in this part of the world,was Byzantium: it was anciently founded by the Megareans, andsuccessively rebuilt by the Milesians and other nations of Greece.Its harbour, which was in fact an arm of the Bosphorus, obtained, ata very remote period, the appellation of the Golden Horn; most of therecesses, which were compared to the horn of a stag, are now filledup. The epithet "golden" was given to it as expressive of the riches,which (to use the language of Gibbon) every wind wafted from the mostdistant countries into its secure and capacious port. Never was therea happier or more majestic situation. The river Lycus, which wasformed by the junction of two small streams, pouring into theharbour, every tide, a regular supply of fresh water, cleansed thebottom; while the tides in those seas being very trifling, theconstant depth of the harbour allowed goods to be landed on the quaywithout the assistance of boats: and in some parts, the depth nearthe shore was so considerable, that the prows of the vessels touchedthe houses, while they were fully afloat. The distance from the mouthof the river to that of the harbour, or the length of this arm of theBosphorus is seven miles; the entrance, about 500 yards broad, wasdefended, when necessary, by a strong chain drawn across it. The cityof Byzantium was situated on a promontory, nearly of a triangularform; on the point of the promontory stood the citadel. The walls ofthe city itself were very strong, but not so lofty towards the sea astowards the land, being on the former side defended by the waves, andin some places by the rocks on which they were built, and whichprojected into the sea.

Thus favoured by nature, and strengthened by art, and situated ina territory abounding in grain and fruits, Byzantium was crowded withmerchants, and supported and enriched by an active and flourishingcommerce: its harbour, which was sheltered on every side fromtempests, besides being easy of access and capacious, attracted to itships from all the states of Greece, while its situation at the headof the strait enabled, and seemed to authorize it to stop and subjectto heavy duties, the foreign merchants who traded to the Euxine, orto reduce the nations who depended on the countries bordering on thissea for their supplies of corn to great difficulties, and in somecases, even to famine. On these accounts the Athenians andLacedaemonians were generally rivals for its alliance and friendship.Besides the necessary article of grain and abundance of rich andvaluable fruit, the Byzantines derived great wealth from theirfisheries: these were carried on with great spirit, enterprize, andsuccess. A surprising quantity of fish was caught in the harbouritself, in autumn, when they left the Euxine for the Archipelago; andin the spring, on their return to Pontus. A great many people wereemployed both in this fishery, and in the curing of the fish: greatsums were derived from this source, as well as from the sale of saltprovisions; for the quality of which, Byzantium was in greater renownthan even Panticapeum. The only disadvantage under which theByzantines laboured, to counterbalance the excellence of theirharbour, the fertility of their soil, the productiveness of theirfisheries, and the extent of their commerce, arose from the frequentexcursions of the Thracians, who inhabited the neighbouringvillages.

There were many other Grecian colonies on the Bosphorus and theadjacent seas. Panticapeum, built by the Milesians, according toStrabo, the capital of the European Bosphorus, with which, as hasbeen already mentioned, the Athenians carried on a considerabletrade. Theodosia, also mentioned before, was likewise formed andcolonized by the Milesians: its port could contain 100 ships. Tanais,on the Cimmerian Bosphorus; Olbia and Borysthenes, both situated nearthe mouth of the river from which the latter took its name; Panagoreaand Hermonassa on the Bosphorus, and several others. Besides thesecolonies in this part of the world, the Greeks founded others, forthe express purposes of commerce; as Syracuse, in Sicily; Marseilles,in Gaul, the mother of several colonies established on theneighbouring coasts, and, as we shall afterwards notice, a place ofvery considerable wealth, consequence, and strength, derived entirelyfrom commerce, as well as the seat of the arts and sciences; Cyrene,an opulent city in Africa, and Naucratis, situated on one of themouths of the Nile. They likewise formed settlements in Rhodes andCrete, in the islands of the Egean Sea, on the opposite coasts ofAsia, &c.; most of which were of importance to the mothercountry, from the facilities they offered to the extension of itscommerce.

The war between the Romans, and Philip king of Macedon, whichintervened between the second and third Punic war, first afforded theformer an opportunity and an excuse for interfering in the affairs ofGreece. Till the time of Philip, the father of Alexander, Macedoniadoes not appear to have had any connexion with the rest of thiscelebrated portion of the ancient world; the Greeks, indeed, regardedits inhabitants as savages; but from that period, Macedonia becamethe most important and influential state in Greece. Its boundariesvaried at different periods of its history: it seems originally tohave been bounded on the east by the Egean Sea; on the south byThessaly and Epirus; on the west by the Ionian Sea; and on the northby the river Strymon, at the mouth of which, as has been alreadymentioned, the Athenians founded one of their most flourishing anduseful colonies. The princes of Macedonia viewed with jealousy, butfor a long time were unable to prevent the states of Greece fromforming colonies in the immediate vicinity of their dominions: theirunion, however, with the king of Persia, when he first fixed hisambition on Greece, was rewarded by a great accession of territory,which enabled them to contest the possession of the sea-coasts withthe most powerful of the Greek republics. They then extended theirterritories to the Eastern Sea, but there were till the reign ofPhilip, the father of Alexander, several nations between them and theAdriatic, all of which were subdued by him; and thus this sea becametheir western boundary.

Some of the most celebrated cities of Macedonia were founded byforeign nations. Epidamnus, which was seated at the entrance of theIonian Gulf, was a colony of the Corcyrians: it was the occasion of afierce naval war between them and the Corinthians, generally calledthe Corinthian war. Apollonia, distant seven miles from the sea, onthe river Laus, was a Corinthian colony: it was renowned for itsexcellent laws. On another part of the coast of the Adriatic were thesea-ports of Elyma and Bullis. The district of Paraxis, which wasfull of gulfs and inlets formed by the Egean Sea, had several ports,but none of any repute. From this description of Macedonia and itsprincipal sea coasts and ports, it is evident that it possessed manyadvantages for commerce and naval affairs, which, however, were neverembraced till the period when the Romans first turned their thoughtsto Greece. Had its sovereigns been disposed to engage in commerce,the Adriatic, with its extensive and safe haven of Epidamnus, inwhich there were several ports, would have opened the trade to Italy;the Egean Sea, still more advantageous, would have secured the tradeof Greece and Asia, by means of its spacious bays, one of which, theSinus Thermæus, 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 kinds of metals, butparticularly of gold. In the district of Pieria, it is said, therewere found large quantities of this metal in the sand, sometimes inlumps of considerable size: but by far the most productive andvaluable mines of gold were in the mountain Pangæus, in adistrict which Philip, the father of Alexander, added to Macedonia.The people who inhabited the country near the river Strymon derivedgreat wealth from these mines, and it was the knowledge of this, asmuch as the facility of obtaining timber, which induced the Atheniansto found their colony near this river. The Thracians drove theAthenians from this part of Macedonia, and Philip expelled them: hepaid great attention to the working of the mines; and by employingpersons well skilled in this and in refining the ore, he renderedthem so extremely valuable, that, according to ancient authors, heobtained the empire of Greece principally by means of the immensesums he drew from them, amounting annually, according to Diodorus, to1000 talents of gold. When the Romans reduced Macedonia, theyexpressly forbade the inhabitants from working the mines of gold orsilver, or refining either of those metals; permitting them, however,to manufacture any other metal.

The princes of Macedonia previous to Philip, the father ofAlexander, notwithstanding the great advantage for maritime affairsand commerce afforded by the sea-coasts, bays, harbours, &c.,neither practised nor understood them: this arose in a great measurefrom their being continually engaged in wars, or having their portsoccupied or blocked up by the maritime states of Greece. Philip wasthe first who freed his country from these evils and inconveniences;but his thoughts were too intently and constantly fixed on otherobjects to allow him to turn his attention to maritime affairs orcommerce. Alexander, as we have already seen, bestowed much care onhis fleet, while engaged in the conquest of Asia; and when he died atBabylon, had formed the design of placing his fleets, in every portof his dominions, on a regular and extensive scale. But theadvantages of Macedonia for commerce were neglected in the midst ofhis vast plans elsewhere, and the Macedonians, at the period of hisdeath, were still inattentive to maritime affairs.

Philip, the antagonist of the Romans, of whose power and successhe was not only jealous but apprehensive, as soon as he resolved toengage in hostilities with them, applied himself to maritime affairs.His determination seems to have been fixed when he learnt that theRomans had been defeated at the Lake of Thrasymenus: he instantlyformed the plan of invading Illyrium, and then crossing over toItaly. But the latter step could not be taken, nor, indeed, could heexpect to cope with the Romans, till he had formed a fleet, andtrained his subjects to the management of it. At this period theMacedonians seem to have had some merchant ships; for we are informedthat a petty king of Illyria seized some of them in the port ofLeucas, and also all that his squadron met with on the coast ofGreece, as far as Malea. This insult and attack afforded Philip anexcellent reason for declaring war against Illyricum: he began byexercising the Macedonians in the art of navigation; he built shipsafter the Illyrian manner, and he was the first king of Macedoniathat put to sea 100 small vessels at one time.

He was urged still more strongly to go on with his plan ofinvading Italy, when he learnt the result of the battle ofCannæ; he immediately formed an alliance with Hannibal, andengaged to invade Italy with 200 sail of ships, and plunder itseastern coasts: in return for this service he was to retain all theislands in the Adriatic, lying near the coast of Macedonia, that hemight subdue.

His first naval enterprize was the siege of Oricum on the coast ofEpirus, and of Apollonia on the coast of Macedonia, both of which hecarried on at the same time, with 120 ships of two banks of oars. Hewas, however, successfully opposed by the Roman consul Laevinus, whoobliged him to burn great part of his fleet, and raise the siege ofDoth the places.

About twelve years afterwards, or about 200 years before Christ,Philip engaged in a maritime war with Attalus, king of Pergamus, andthe Rhodians, near the isle of Chio: the fleet of Philip consisted offifty-three decked vessels and 150 gallies; besides these he hadseveral ships called pristis, from the figure of a large fish whichwas affixed to, or engraved on their bows, either to distinguishthem, or as a mark of their swift sailing. The fleet of his opponentsconsisted of sixty-five covered ships, besides those of their allies,the people of Byzantium.

Notwithstanding, however, the exertions he made to acquire a navalforce equal to that of the Romans, and the experience which hissubjects gradually obtained in maritime affairs, he was not able tosustain their attacks, either by land or sea, but was compelled in avery few years to sue for peace. This he obtained, on the condition,that he should deliver up to the Romans all his covered gallies, andreserve to himself only a few smaller vessels: he was permitted,however, to retain one galley of sixteen banks of oars, a vesselrather for shew than use.

The success of the Romans, the extent of their conquests, and theambitious views, which seemed wider and wider in proportion to theirsuccesses, alarmed Antiochus, king of Syria, who, not intimidated bythe fate of Philip, resolved to declare war against them. They werenever averse to engage in hostilities. The fleet of Antiochusconsisted of 100 ships; that of the Romans was nearly equal innumber; the ships of Antiochus, however, were inferior to those ofhis opponents in respect to strength and size, though surpassing themin swiftness. The hostile fleets met and engaged on the coast ofIonia; that of Antiochus was defeated, and would have been utterlycaptured or destroyed, had it not been for the swiftness of thevessels. In order to repair his loss, Antiochus sent for additionalvessels from Sicily and Phoenicia; but these were taken on theirpassage by the Rhodians, who were at this time in alliance with theRomans. The Rhodians, however, in their turn were attacked anddefeated by the fleet of Antiochus, near Samos, whither they had goneto 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 opponent offthe coast of Ionia; the victory of the former was decisive, all theships of Antiochus being captured or destroyed. This disaster, inconnection with a signal defeat he sustained by land, compelled himto submit; and the Romans, always attentive to their maritimeinterests, which however they had not hitherto pushed nearly to theextent which they might have done, refused to grant him peace, excepton the conditions, that he should cede all that part of Asia whichlies between the sea and Mount Taurus; that he should give up all hisvessels except ten; and that these should not, on any account, sailbeyond the promontories of Cilicia. The Romans, extremely strict, andeven severe, in enforcing the conditions of peace, not only destroyedfifty covered galleys, but, the successor of Antiochus having builtadditional vessels to the ten he was by treaty allowed to keep, theycompelled him to burn them.

The temporary success of the Carthaginians against the Romansinduced Philip, king of Macedon, to engage in that war which provedhis ruin. The advice of Hannibal, when an exile at the court ofAntiochus, likewise led to the disastrous war of that monarch withthe same people; and by the advice of Hannibal also, Prusias, king ofBythinia, was engaged in hostilities with them. This king seems tohave paid considerable attention to naval and commercial affairs, forboth of which, indeed, his territories were admirably suited. Inconjunction with the Rhodians, he made war against the inhabitants ofByzantium, and obliged them to remit the tax which they had beenaccustomed to levy on all vessels that sailed to or from the EuxineSea, The maritime war between this sovereign and the Romans, who wereat this time in alliance with Eumenes, king of Pergamus, offersnothing deserving our notice, except a stratagem executed byHannibal. In order to compensate for the inferiority of Prusias'fleet, Hannibal ordered a great many serpents to be collected; thesewere put into pots, which, during the engagement, were thrown intothe enemy's ships. The alarm and consternation occasioned by thisnovel and unexpected mode of warfare, threw his opponents intodisorder, and compelled them to save themselves by flight.

The conquest of all the islands on the coast of Greece, fromEpirus to Cape Malea, by the Romans, was the result of a naval war,in which they engaged with the Etolians, a people who, at this time,were so powerful at sea, and so much addicted to piracy, as to havedrawn upon themselves the jealousy and the vengeance of the Romans.This extension of their dominions was followed by a successful warwith the Istrians, which made them masters of all the western partsof the Mediterranean Sea; and by an equally successful war withNabis, the tyrant of Sparta, who was compelled to deliver up hisfleet to them, as well as all the sea-ports of consequence on thecoast of Sparta.

The Rhodians hitherto had been generally in alliance with theRomans; but differences arose between them during the war between thelatter and Perseus, king of Macedon.

The island of Rhodes was remarkably well situated for maritimecommerce; and its inhabitants did not fail to reap all the advantagesin this respect which nature had so kindly bestowed on them. Itappears from Homer, that in his time there were three cities in theisland; but during the Peloponnesian war, the greater part of theinhabitants, having formed the resolution to settle in one place,built the city of Rhodes, after the designs of the same Athenianarchitect, who built the Piræus. This city was situated on theeast coast of the island, at the foot of a hill, in the form of anamphitheatre: it possessed a very convenient and safe harbour, at theentrance of which there were two rocks; and on these, which werefifty feet asunder, the famous Colossus was placed. The arsenals ofRhodes were filled with every thing requisite for the defence of thecity, or the equipment of a large fleet: its walls, which wereextremely high, were defended by towers: its houses were built ofstone: in short, the whole city presented a striking picture ofwealth, magnificence, and beauty, for which it was not less indebtedto art and commerce than to nature.

Before the era of the Olympiads, the Rhodians applied themselvesto maritime affairs: for many years they seem to have been masters ofthe Mediterranean Sea; and their code of maritime laws became thestandard with all the maritime nations of antiquity, by which allcontroversies regarding maritime affairs were regulated. There isgreat doubt among the learned, whether what still exist as thefragments of these laws are genuine: we know, however, that theRomans had a law which they called Lex Rhodia; according to some,this contained the regulations of the Rhodians concerning navalaffairs; according to others, however, only one clause of the law,de jactu, about throwing goods overboard in a storm, wasborrowed from the Rhodians.

Besides the commerce in which they themselves were engaged, theconstant arrival of ships from Egypt to Greece, and from Greece toEgypt, the island being situated exactly in the passage between thesecountries, contributed much to their wealth. As this encreased, theyformed settlements and colonies in many places; at Parthenope andSalapia, in Italy; Agrigentum and Geta, in Sicily; Rhodes, on thecoast of Spain, near the foot of the Pyrenees, &c. They wereparticularly celebrated for and attentive to the construction oftheir vessels; aiming principally at lightness and speed, thediscipline observed on board of them, and the skill and ability oftheir captains and pilots. All these things were under the directmanagement and controul of magistrates, appointed for the expresspurpose, who were excessively attentive and even rigid in theexecution of their duty. Whoever entered certain places in thearsenals without permission, was punished with death.

A few of the most remarkable events in the maritime history ofRhodes, prior to their dispute with the Romans, call for some generaland cursory notice. Till the foundation of the city of Rhodes, which,as we have already stated, took place during the Peleponnesian war,there is scarcely any thing to attract our attention: a short timebefore this, the republican form of government was established, andthe trade and navigation of the Rhodians seem to have acquired afresh impulse and spirit. But their enterprizes were soon checked byArtemisia, queen of Caria, gaining possession of their city: this sheeffected by a stratagem. The Rhodians invaded Caria with a design ofgaining possession of Halicarnassus: by the direction of the queen,the inhabitants made a signal that they surrendered; the Rhodianssuspecting no treachery, and delighted with their apparent success,left their fleet to take possession of the town; in the meantime, thequeen brought her fleet from an adjoining creek, by means of somecanal or other inland communication, to the port where the Rhodianvessels lay, and quietly took them. This disaster was the cause ofanother, still more calamitous to the Rhodians; for Artemisia sailedwith the Rhodian ships to Rhodes, and the inhabitants, under thebelief that their fleet was returning victorious, permitted the enemyto land and to seize the city. To what cause the Rhodions wereindebted for the restoration of their liberty and independence we arenot informed; but it was owing, either to the interference of theAthenians, or the death of Artemisia.

From the period of these events, which occurred about 350 yearsbefore Christ, till the reign of Alexander the Great, the Rhodiansenjoyed profound and uninterrupted tranquillity; their commerceextended, and their wealth encreased. To this conqueror they offeredno resistance, but of their own accord surrendered their cities andharbours; as soon, however, as they learnt that he was dead, theyresumed their independence. About this time the greater part of theircity was destroyed by a dreadful inundation, which would have sweptthe whole of it away, if the wall between it and the sea had not beenbroken down by the force of the waters, and thus given them freepassage. This misfortune seems only to have encouraged theinhabitants to attend still more closely and diligently to commerce,which they carried on with so much industry and skill, and in such aprofitable manner, that they soon rebuilt their city, and repairedall the losses they had sustained. Their alliance was courted by alltheir neighbours; but they resolved to adhere to a strict neutrality,and thus, while war raged among other nations, they were enabled toprofit by that very circ*mstance, and thus became one of the mostopulent states of all Asia. Their commerce, as well as that of allthe states on the Mediterranean, being much molested and injured bythe pirates, they undertook, of their own accord, and at their ownexpence, to root them out; and in this they completely succeeded.

But that commerce, on account of which they were so very anxiousto keep at peace, involved them in war. Their most lucrative tradewas with Egypt. When hostilities began between Ptolemy and Antigonus,the latter insisted that they should join him; this they refused todo; upon which his fleet blockaded Rhodes, to prevent their commercewith Egypt. The Rhodians were thus compelled to act against him intheir own defence, in order to free their harbour. The raising of theblockade, and the defeat of his fleet, incensed Antiochus; and to theremonstrances and entreaties of the Rhodians to be permitted toremain at peace, he replied, "that they must declare war againstPtolemy, admit his fleet into their harbour, and give hostages forthe performance of these articles." War now was inevitable, and greatpreparations for it were made on both sides: the attack on the citywas committed by Antigonus to his son Demetrius; for this purpose hecollected a fleet of 200 ships of war, 170 transports with 40,000 menon board, and 1000 vessels laden with provisions, stores, warlikeengines, etc. This immense armament was composed partly of piratesand mercenaries, who were induced to join Demetrius, by the hope ofpartaking in the plunder of Rhodes. It is foreign to our purpose toenter on the details of this memorable siege: the Rhodians trustedprincipally to their own valour and resources; from Ptolemy, however,they received most ample and seasonable supplies of provisions: atone time he sent them 300,000 measures of corn; a few days afterwardsCassandra sent them 100,000 bushels of barley, and Lysimachus 400,000bushels of corn, and as many of barley: these supplies, the valour ofthe inhabitants, and the ill success of some new and immense engines,on which Demetrius had mainly depended, at length induced him toraise the siege and make peace with the Rhodians.

The Rhodians endeavoured to make up for the time they had lost,and the money they had expended, during their war with Antiochus, byapplying themselves entirely to navigation and commerce; so that,according to Polybius, they became masters of the sea, and the mostopulent and flourishing state of those times. The next war in whichthey were engaged was occasioned entirely by their attention andregard to their commercial interests. We have already slightlynoticed this war; but in this place it will be proper to go more intodetail respecting it. The people of Byzantium determined to lay atoll on all ships that traded to the Euxine, in order to defray anannual tribute which they were obliged to pay to the Greeks. As oneof the most important and lucrative branches of the commerce ofRhodes was to the countries lying on this sea, they were muchaggrieved by this toll, and endeavoured to persuade the Byzantines totake it off, but in vain. Under these circ*mstances, they, inconjunction with Prusias, king of Bythinia, declared war against theByzantines; and while their ally took Hieron, which seems to havebeen a great mart of the Byzantines, and the resort of most of themerchants trading to these parts, the Rhodians, with a powerfulfleet, ravaged their coasts, and seized all their ships trading tothe Euxine. The war was at length terminated under the mediation ofthe king of the Thracian Gauls; the Byzantines agreeing to take offthe toll.

Their success in this war was counterbalanced by a dreadfulearthquake, which threw down the Colossus, destroyed the arsenal, anddamaged part of the walls and city. As the Rhodians, however, weremuch esteemed by most of their neighbours, who found their prosperityintimately connected with the prosperity of Rhodes, they soonrecovered from these calamities and losses. Hiero, king of Syracuse,gave them 100 talents, and exempted them from all duties and taxes.Ptolemy gave them also the like sum, besides one million measures ofwheat, and timber, etc. requisite for building fifty ships. Antiochusexempted all their vessels, which traded to his ports, from everykind of tax and duty. They received from other princes presents orprivileges of equal importance and value; so that, in a very shorttime, they recovered their former opulence and trade, and rebuilttheir walls, etc.

Their alliance with Attalus, king of Pergamus, involved them in awar with Philip king of Macedonia, and was the cause of their formingan alliance with the Romans. In this war the Rhodian fleet, inconjunction with the fleets of their allies, gained several victoriesover the fleet of Philip. The latter was at length obliged to sue tothe Romans for peace, and they, in fixing the terms, included theRhodians, to whom were ceded Stratonice, and the greater part ofCaria. In the meantime Antiochus and the Romans had commencedhostilities, and the Rhodians were again involved in them: almost attheir very commencement, their fleet was surprized by a stratagem ofAntiochus's admiral, and of thirty ships of war of which itconsisted, only seven escaped.

They soon, however, repaired their losses, and fitted out anotherfleet, with which they put to sea, for the purpose of preventing thejunction of Hannibal with Antiochus's ships: the former hadthirty-seven large ships; the Rhodian fleet was nearly equal innumbers, but inferior in size. The hostile fleets met off the coastof Pamphilia. The battle was obstinate: at first, by an oversight ofthe Rhodian admiral, some disorder occurred in part of his fleet; butthis was soon repaired, and a decisive victory obtained. Part ofHannibal's fleet was captured, and the rest blocked up in theharbours of Pamphilia. The defeat of Antiochus, both at sea and land,by the Romans, to which we have already adverted, obliged thismonarch to sue for peace, in which the Rhodians were included.

We have now arrived at that period of the history of Rhodes whenthe first difference arose between that city and the Romans: thelatter suspected that the Rhodians favoured Perseus king of Macedon,with whom they were at war, and were moreover displeased at theirpresuming to interfere with them in his favour. In order to watchtheir inclinations and motions, the senate sent three commissionersto Rhodes: these found a fleet of forty galleys, which there wasreason to believe had been intended to act against the Romans; butwhich, by the advice of the chief magistrate, were, on the arrival ofthe commissioners, ordered to sea, to act in union with them. Scarce,however, were the commissioners departed, when the Rhodians becamelukewarm in the cause of the Romans; and although they sent a few oftheir galleys to join the Roman admiral, they kept the greatestnumber in port, waiting the issue of the war between them and theking of Macedonia. As soon as they heard of the defeat of the formerin Thessaly, they entered into negotiations with Perseus, and at thesame time sent ambassadors to Rome, who complained, that inconsequence of the war between Perseus and the Romans, the navigationand commerce of Rhodes was greatly injured, their island deprived ofprovisions and other necessaries, and the customs and duties whichtheir maritime situation formerly afforded them kept back, from theirno longer being able to sail with safety along the coasts of Asia,where they used to levy the most important and productive ofthem.

After the defeat of Perseus, they ceased to remonstrate, andbecame submissive to the Romans. It is probable, however, that theRomans would have seized this opportunity of attacking them, had notCato spoken very strongly in their favour: in consequence of hisarguments and influence, and by the cession of Lycia and Caria, theywere again admitted to an alliance with the Romans.

The advantages they derived from this alliance were so great, thatthey resisted the promises and the threats of Mithridates, when heengaged in hostilities with the Romans. This monarch, therefore,resolved to employ his whole force by sea and land against them: theywere not however dismayed, but placed a firm reliance on their skillin maritime affairs. They divided their fleet into three squadrons:one drawn up in a line protected the entrance of the harbour; and theother two, at a greater distance from the shore, were stationed towatch the approach of the enemy. Mithridates also divided his fleet,which was more numerous than that of the Rhodians, into threesquadrons; one of these he himself commanded, on board of aquinquereme, and directed to attack the squadron which was protectingthe port. The Rhodians gradually retired before the enemy, till theycame close to the mouth of the harbour: Mithridates in vainendeavoured to break their line, and force an entrance; in all hisattempts he was defeated with considerable loss; and his land forces,which he had embarked in transports, being dispersed in a storm, hewas obliged to retire from before the city.

The Romans acknowledged the benefits they derived from the valourof the Rhodians on this occasion; and they again experienced it, inthe war which Pompey carried on against the Cilician pirates, thoughthat commander took all the merit to himself. In the civil warbetween him and Caesar, they assisted the former with a numerousfleet, under the command of one of their best seamen, whodistinguished himself above all Pompey's captains, and gained veryconsiderable advantages over Caesar's fleet. On the death of Pompeythey joined Csesar: this exposed them to the hostility of Cassius;they endeavoured to pacify him by promising to recal the ships theyhad sent to the assistance of Caesar, but he demanded the delivery oftheir whole fleet, and that he should be put in possession of theirharbour and city. To these terms they would not accede, but preparedfor war, by equipping a fleet of thirty-three ships, and placing itunder the command of one of their best officers. A battle ensuedwhich was fought on both sides with great skill and bravery; but theRhodians were obliged to yield to the superior number of the Romanfleet, and to return to the harbour, having lost two of their ships,and the rest being very much damaged. It is remarked by the ancienthistorians who relate this battle, that it was the first time theRhodians were fairly overcome in a sea-fight.

Cassius followed up his success by bringing against Rhodes a fleetof eighty ships of war, and 200 transports. Against this formidablearmament the Rhodians again put to sea, and a second battle ensued,which was more obstinately contested than the first: the Romanshowever were again victorious, and the city of Rhodes was blocked upby sea and land. Its fate was soon determined; for some of theinhabitants, dreading a famine, opened the gates to the Romans.Cassius, besides other severe terms, obliged the Rhodians to deliverup all their ships, and all their public treasures; the temples wereplundered, 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 becamea Roman province, it was sometimes oppressed, and sometimes favouredby the Romans; according, as Tacitus remarks, as they obliged themwith their assistance in foreign wars, or provoked them with theirseditions at home.

In order to complete the maritime history of Rhodes, we haverather advanced beyond the period to which we had brought down ournotices of the Roman navigation and commerce: these therefore weshall now resume at the war between Perseus king of Macedonia and theRomans. Perseus harassed the coasts of Italy, plundered and sunk alltheir ships, while they found it difficult to oppose him by sea, orprotect their coasts, for want of a fleet. This induced them toprepare for service fifty vessels; but though their allies augmentedthis number, the Romans do not seem to have performed any thing ofconsequence by sea. This is attributed principally to thecirc*mstance, that the fleet, on examination, was discovered to be inbad condition, neither equipped sufficiently in stores or provisions,and the seamen who were to have navigated it were either dead orabsent, while those who did appear were ill paid and worse clothed;these facts sufficiently demonstrate the little care which theRomans, even at this period, bestowed on maritime affairs. The defeatof Perseus at Pidna, and his subsequent capture by the Romans in theisland of Samothrace, rendered it unnecessary for them to supply thedeficiences of their fleet. The immense ship, which, as we havealready mentioned, Philip, Perseus's father, employed in his waragainst the Romans, was taken on this occasion; and Paulus Emilius,the consul, sailed up the Tiber in it: it had 16 banks of oars. Manyother ships of large size were also captured; these were brought toRome, and drawn into the Campus Martius.

One of the allies of the unfortunate Perseus was the king ofIllyria, who was powerful at sea, and ravaged the coasts of Italyopposite to his dominions. While the consul was sent against Perseus,the management of the naval war against the Illyrians was committedto the praetor: as he was well aware of the maritime force of hisopponent, he acted with great caution; his first success, incapturing some of their snips, induced him to land all his forces inIllyria, where, after an obstinate battle, he compelled the king tosurrender at discretion. Macedonia and Illyria were thus reduced tothe state of Roman provinces; but the Romans regarded these victoriesas of importance, more on account of the accession they made to theirterritories, than on account of the advantages which they mightthence derive to their commerce or their naval power: so little,indeed, did they regard them in the latter point of view, that theygave the 220 ships which were surrendered to them by the king ofIllyria, to the inhabitants of Cephalonia, of Apollonia, andDyrrhachium, who at the time were much celebrated for their trade andnavigation. Although their seacoasts had been repeatedly ravaged, weare informed by Polybius, that, from the time of Philip, king ofMacedonia, till long after the defeat of Perseus, they entirelyneglected the coasts of Illyria, from which, till this country wassubdued by them, their own coasts were generally invaded, and bymeans of the ports and produce of which, after it became a Romanprovince, they might greatly have augmented their navy andcommerce.

The Carthaginians had been gradually recovering from the losseswhich they had sustained during the second Punic war, and witnessedwith satisfaction their enemies involved in constant hostilities, inthe hope that the issue of these would prove fatal to them, or, atleast, so far weaken them, as to enable them to oppose Rome with moresuccess than they had hitherto done. While the war was carried onbetween the Romans and the Macedonians, they made great, but secret,preparations to regain their former power; but the Romans, who alwayskept a watchful and jealous eye on the operations of all theirrivals, were particularly nearsighted with regard to whatever wasdoing by the Carthaginians. They received information that atCarthage there was deposited a large quantity of timber, and of othernaval stores: on learning this, Cato, their inveterate enemy, who hadbeen sent into Africa, to mediate between them and Masinissa, withwhom they were at war, went to Carthage himself, where he examinedevery thing with a malicious eye. On his return to Rome, he reportedthat Carthage was again become excessively rich,--that her magazineswere filled with all kinds of warlike stores,--that her ports werecrowded with ships, and that by her war with Masinissa, she was onlypreparing to renew the war against Rome. His exhortations to hiscountrymen to anticipate the Carthaginians, by immediately commencinghostilities, had no effect at first; but being frequently repeated,and intelligence being received, that preparations were making atCarthage for an open declaration of war, and that the Carthaginianswere fitting out a fleet, contrary to the terms of their treaty withthe Romans; and this information being confirmed by the report ofdeputies sent to Carthage; war was declared against Carthage in theyear of Rome 605. The Carthaginians endeavoured to pacify the Romansby surrendering to them their cities, lands, rivers, &c., inshort, by a complete surrender of whatever they possessed, as well asof themselves. At first the Romans appeared disposed to abstain fromwar on these conditions; and the Carthaginians actually delivered upall their arms and warlike engines, and witnessed the burning oftheir fleet; but the Romans, having thus degraded them, and striptthem in a great measure of the means of defence, now insisted thatCarthage itself should be destroyed, and that the inhabitants shouldbuild a city at the distance of five leagues from, the sea. Indignantat these demands, they resolved to sustain a siege; and, in a veryshort time, they made immense preparations for defending their city.At first they gained some success over the Romans; for their fleethaving come very near the shore, to transport the troops, who weresuffering from the vicinity of the marshes, to a healthier spot, theCarthaginians fitted out a great number of fire ships, filled withtar, sulphur, bitumen, &c., and taking advantage of a favourablewind, they sent them among the Roman fleet, great part of which wasthus destroyed.

But these and other successes did not ultimately avail them:Scipio who had been chosen consul, arrived in Africa, and Carthagewas immediately strictly blocked up by sea and land. His exertionswere indeed astonishing; as the new port of Carthage was effectuallyshut up by the Roman fleet, so that no assistance or provisions couldenter by it; and as lines of circumvallation were formed on land, theconsul's great object was to block up the old port. The Romans weremasters of the western neck of land, which formed one side of itsentrance; from this to the other side they built a mole, ninety feetbroad at bottom, and eighty at top; when this was completed, the oldport was rendered quite inaccessible and useless.

The Carthaginians on their part, imagined and executed works assurprising as those of the Romans: deprived of both their ports, theydug, in a very short time, a new harbour, from which they cut apassage to the sea; and they built and equipped a fleet of fiftyships, which put to sea through this new harbour. The Romans wereastonished when they beheld a fleet, of the existence or possibilityof which they had no conception, advancing out of a harbour, theformation of which equally astonished them, and this fleet daring tohazard an engagement. The battle continued during the whole day, withlittle advantage on either side; but, notwithstanding all theirefforts, and some partial and temporary successes, Carthage was atlength compelled to submit to Scipio, and was at first plundered, andafterwards destroyed. The Romans burnt the new fleet which theCarthaginians had built: indeed, in general, instead of augmentingtheir own naval force, when they subdued any of their maritimeenemies, they either destroyed their ships or bestowed them on someof their allies; a certain proof, as Huet remarks, of the very littleregard they paid to sea affairs.

We are expressly informed, in the Life of Terence, generallyascribed to Suetonius, that before the destruction of Carthage, theRomans did not trade to Africa: but though his words are express,they must not be taken literally; for we have already proved, that inthe treaties between Rome and Carthage at a very early period, thevoyages undertaken by the Romans, on account of trade, to Sicily,Sardinia, and parts of Africa are expressly mentioned in diem, andthe people of Utica are particularized as the allies of the Romans,and a people with whom they traded. It is certain, however, that theauthor of the Life of Terence is correct, if he merely meant, thattill after the destruction of Carthage the Romans had no regularcommerce with Africa. From the date of this event, it became of greatimportance, though confined chiefly to slaves, most of whom werebrought from Africa, to the island of Delos: this, as has beenalready stated, was a great depôt for them, as well as otherkinds of merchandize. The capture of Carthage and of Corinth, whichtook place nearly at the same time, increased considerably the numberof slaves for sale.

Still, however, though the Romans now began to be sensible of thevalue of commence, they did little to protect it; for soon after thetermination of the third Punic war, the Mediterranean swarmed withpirates, who plundered the merchant ships of all nations. Thesepirates belonged principally to the Balearic islands, to Cilicia andto Crete. In one of the Balearic islands, called Minor by theancients, the present Minorca, there were two cities built near themouths of convenient harbours; the inhabitants of these carried on aconsiderable commerce, and at the same time engaged in piracy. Theywere uncommonly active and daring in this pursuit, attacking androbbing every ship they met with; they even had the courage, or therashness, to oppose the Roman fleet, under the command of the consulMetellus; but they were beaten, and for a time obliged to abstainfrom their piratical proceedings.

They were soon again, however, emboldened to resume them, by theassistance and example of the inhabitants of Crete and Cilicia. Thislatter country, situated in Asia Minor, and possessing a sea-coastwhich extended along the Mediterranean, from east to west, nearly 250miles, was fertile beyond most parts of Asia Minor; though on thecoast, it was reckoned unhealthy. The principal commercial town wasAlexandria, built by Alexander the Great, between Issus and thestraits that lead from Cilicia into Syria; its situation being veryfavourable for carrying on trade to all the western parts of theMediterranean, as well as to Egypt, the Euxine, &c. it soonbecame one of the most flourishing cities in the world. But theCilicians were not content with lawful and regular trade: in the timeof the Mithridatic war, and even before it, they began to plunder theneighbouring coasts; and being successful in these predatoryexpeditions, they extended them as far as the coasts of Greece andItaly, on which they landed, and carried off a great number of theinhabitants, whom they sold as slaves. The Romans at length deemed itabsolutely necessary to act with vigour against them. PubliusServilius, who was employed on this occasion, defeated them in asea-battle, and took most of their strong-holds. For a short timeafterwards, they abstained from their predatory excursions; but, aswe shall soon have occasion to notice, they resumed them wheneverthey had repaired their losses, and thought the Romans otherwiseemployed.

The island of Crete was regarded by the ancients as difficult ofaccess; most of its harbours were exposed to the wind; but as it waseasy for ships to sail out of them, when the wind was moderate andfavourable, they were convenient for commerce to almost any part ofthe then commercial world. The ancients, according to Strabo,reckoned that ships which sailed from the eastern part of Crete wouldarrive in Egypt in three or four days; and, according to DiodorusSiculus, in ten days they would arrive at the Pulus Mæotis. Theprincipal seaports were Bithynia, which had a very convenient haven;and Heracles, the seaport of the Gnossians. To these, merchants fromall parts of the world resorted. There were, besides, a great manycreeks and bays. This island would have been much more commercial andflourishing than it actually was, considering its favourablesituation, &c., had it not been divided into a great number ofindependent states, who were jealous of each other's prosperity, andalmost constantly at war amongst themselves. In very early times,when the whole island was subject to one sovereign, the Cretans werepowerful at sea; they had subjected even before the Trojan war, someof the islands in the Egean Sea, and formed colonies and commercialestablishments on the coasts of Asia Minor and Europe. At thebreaking out of the Trojan war, they sent eighty ships to theassistance of the Greeks. But as soon as the island was divided intoindependent republics, their navigation and commerce seem to havedeclined. Their piratical expeditions were conducted with so muchboldness and success, especially at the time when the Romans wereengaged in hostilities with Mithridates, that they determined to curbthem. Anthony, the father of Marc Anthony, was appointed to executetheir vengeance; but, too confident of success, he was beaten by theCretans in a sea-battle. This naturally encouraged them to carry ontheir piracies on a greater scale, and with more boldness; but theirtriumph was of short duration, for Metellus, the proconsul, havingdefeated their forces, united with those of the Cilician pirates,landed on the island, and subdued the whole of it.

In the meantime, Mithridates, who had been very instrumental inencouraging the pirates to commit depredations on the Roman vesselsand coasts, was vigorously preparing for war with the republic. Hisnaval force, formed partly of his own ships, and partly from those ofmost of the maritime states, all of whom were jealous and afraid ofthe Romans, and regarded Mithridates as their protector anddeliverer, insulted even the coasts of Italy. We have already noticedhis unsuccessful sea-fight with the Rhodians, almost the only peoplewho continued faithful to the Romans. The latter, at length, werefully sensible of the absolute necessity of forming such a fleet aswould enable them successfully to oppose Mithridates, who was master,not only of Asia, but of all Greece, and the adjacent islands, exceptRhodes. Sylla was employed against him; but as he had very few ships,he sent Lucullus to Syria, Egypt, Lybia, and Cyprus, to collect afleet. From Ptolemy, who was afraid of the power of Mithridates, and,perhaps, jealous of the Romans, he received no vessels; but from theother quarters he received considerable supplies of ships andexperienced mariners. It is probable, however, that by sea the Romanswould not have been able to cope with Mithridates, had not thatmonarch been beaten by land, and had not his admiral, Archelaus,delivered up the fleet under his command to Sylla. In the meantime,Mithridates was blocked up in Pitane, a city near Troy, from which hecould not have escaped, if Lucullus had brought his fleet against it;this, however, out of jealousy to the Roman general Fimbria, herefused to do, contenting himself with naval operations. In these hewas successful, gaining two victories over Mithridates's fleet, nearthe coast of Troy. These defeats, and the treachery of Archelaus,nearly annihilated the maritime force of Mithridates. But thismonarch was not easily dispirited; in a short time he collectedanother fleet, and invaded Bithynia. It was therefore necessary forthe Romans to send a fleet thither, which they did, under the commandof Cotta. This fleet, however, was far inferior to that of the king,which consisted of 400 ships of thirty oars, besides a great manysmaller vessels. On learning this, Lucullus, who had the chiefcommand, ordered Cotta to remain in the harbour of Chalcedon; butMithridates, relying on his strength, sailed into the very harbour,and burnt the Roman fleet. The loss of the Romans consisted of sixtyships, and 8000 of their mariners slain, besides 4500 takenprisoners. As this success of Mithridates encouraged the cities ofAsia to revolt, Lucullus resolved, if possible, to counterbalance itwith still more decisive success on his part by land; he accordinglybesieged him in his camp. Being reduced to great straits, Mithridateswas forced to escape by sea towards Byzantium; but on his voyage hewas overtaken by a violent storm, in which sixty of his ships weresunk; he himself must have perished, if he had not been rescued by apirate, who landed him safe in Pontus. Mithridates still had a smallfloat of fifty ships, on board of which were 10,000 land forces.These were at sea; but with what object does not appear: they weremet, however, near Lemnos, by a Roman squadron, and entirelydefeated; thirty-two of them being captured, and the rest sunk. Onreceiving information of this victory, the Roman senate orderedLucullus to be paid 3000 talents to repair and augment his fleet; buthe refused them, answering, "that with the succours he could get fromtheir allies, he should be able to gain the dominion of the sea, andconquer 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 which they took and sunk sixty ships:after this, he was not able to fit out another fleet. As theremainder of the war between him and the Romans was entirely confinedto land operations, we shall pass it by, and proceed to the othernaval enterprizes of the Romans about this period.

The war with Mithridates employed the attention and the resourcesof the Romans so completely, that the pirates again infested theMediterranean seas without control. Their numbers and force weregreatly augmented by the destruction of Carthage and Corinth; for theinhabitants of these cities, having neither a place of retreat, northe means of subsistence, naturally turned their thoughts to piracy,having been accustomed to sea affairs, and to commerce. In this theywere encouraged by Mithridates, and assisted by some persons ofconsiderable rank and wealth. The inability of the Romans to attendto them, and the success and encouragement they obtained, inducedthem to conduct their piracies on a regular, systematic, andextensive plan. Their ships were constantly at sea: all commerce wasinterrupted; with their 1000 galleys--for so numerous were they--theyexercised a complete sovereignty over all the coasts of theMediterranean. They formed themselves into a kind of commonwealth,selected magistrates and officers, who appointed each fleet itsrespective station and object, and built watch-towers, arsenals, andmagazines. They depended chiefly on Cilicia for the necessarysupplies for their fleets. Emboldened by their success, and by theoccupation afforded to the Romans by Mithridates, they ravaged thewhole line of the Italian coast; sacked the towns and temples, fromwhich they expected a considerable booty; plundered the country seatson the sea-shore; carried off the inhabitants for slaves; blocked upall the ports of the republic; ventured as far as the entrance of theTiber; sunk part of the Roman fleet at Ostia, and even threatenedRome itself, which they more than once deprived of its ordinary andnecessary subsistence. The scarcity of provisions was, indeed, notconfined to Rome; but no vessel venturing to sea in the Mediterraneanwithout being captured, it extended to those parts of Asia and Africawhich lie on that sea. Their inveteracy, however, was principallydirected against the Roman commerce, and the Romans themselves. Ifany of their captives declared himself to be a Roman, they threwthemselves in derision at his feet, begging his pardon, and imploringhis protection; but after they had insolently sported with theirprisoner, they often dressed him in a toga, and then, casting out aship's ladder, desired him to return home, and wished him a goodjourney. If he refused to leap into the sea, they threw himoverboard, saying, "that they would not by any means keep a free-bornRoman in captivity!"

In order to root out this dreadful evil, Gabinius, the tribune ofthe people, proposed a law, to form, what he called, the proconsulateof the seas. This law, though vigorously opposed at first, eventuallywas carried. The person to whom this new office was to be entrusted,was to have maritime power, without control or restriction, over allthe seas, from the Pillars of Hercules to the Thracian Bosphorus, andthe countries lying on these seas, for fifty miles inland: he was tobe empowered to raise as many seamen and troops as he deemednecessary, and to take, out of the public treasury, money sufficientto pay the expence of paying them, equipping the ships, and executingthe objects of the law. The proconsulate of the seas was to be vestedin the same person for three years.

As Gabinius was the known friend of Pompey, all Pompey's enemiesstrenuously opposed this law, as evidently intended to conferauthority on him; but the people not only passed it, but grantedPompey, who was chosen to fill the office, even more than Gabiniushad desired, for they allowed him to equip 500 ships, to raise120,000 foot, and to select out of the senate twenty senators to actas his lieutenants.

As soon as Pompey was vested with the authority conferred by thislaw, he put to sea; and, by his prudent and wise measures, not lessthan by his activity and vigour, within four months (instead of thethree years which were allowed him) he freed 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 120places on the coast, which they had fortified: in the whole of thisexpedition he did not lose a single ship. In order effectually toprevent the pirates from resuming their depredations, he sent them topeople some deserted cities of Cilicia.

It might have been supposed that as the Romans had suffered somuch from the pirates, and as Rome itself was dependent forsubsistence on foreign supplies of corn, which could not be regularlyobtained, while the pirates were masters of the seas, they would havedirected their attention more than they did to maritime affairs andcommerce, especially after the experience they had had of the publiccalamities which might thus be averted. This, however, was not thecase, even after the war against the pirates, which was sosuccessfully terminated by Pompey; for Pompey's son, who opposed thetriumvirate, by leaguing with the pirates, (of what nation we are notinformed,) repeatedly, during his warfare, reduced the city of Rometo great straits for want of corn.

As the operations by sea which he carried on, in conjunction withthe pirates, are the last recorded in history, by means of which Romewas reduced to such straits, and as this repeated proof of theabsolute necessity of rendering her independent of any maritime powerfor supplies of corn, seems to have been the chief inducement withAugustus to establish regular and powerful corn fleets, we shallnotice them in this place, though rather posterior to the period ofRoman history at which we have arrived.

The younger Pompey, it would appear, was sensible that hisfather's fame and fortune had been first established by his successat sea: this induced him to apply himself to maritime affairs, and,when he resolved to oppose the triumvirate, to trust principally tohis experience and force by sea, to oblige them to comply with histerms. Accordingly, he built several ships, some of which are said tohave been covered with leather: he associated himself with all thepirates he could meet with; and, when sufficiently powerful, he tookpossession of Sardinia, Sicily, and Corcyra, made himself master ofthe whole Mediterranean sea, and intercepted all the convoys whichwere carrying provisions and other necessaries to Rome. Theoccupation of Sicily enabled him to prevent any corn from beingshipped from that island, and to intercept all that came from theeastern ports of the Mediterranean. His possession of Sardinia andCorcyra enabled him to intercept all that came from the west, whilehe captured all that came from Africa by his squadrons, which wereconstantly cruising in that direction.

It may easily be imagined, that when Rome was deprived of hersupplies of corn from Sicily, Africa, and the Euxine, she could notlong subsist, without being threatened with famine: this was actuallythe case, the inhabitants were near starving, and it became necessaryfor the triumvirate to relieve them, either by conquering Pompey, orcoming to terms with him. But Rome alone did not suffer: the rest ofItaly was also deprived, in a great measure, of provisions, and itscoasts insulted and plundered. Octavianus, one of the triumvirate, atfirst resolved, with the advice of Anthony, to raise a naval force,and oppose Pompey; but when he attempted to lay a tax on theinhabitants of Rome and the rest of Italy, though it was to preventthem from starving, they resisted it with so much violence anddetermination, that he was obliged to abandon the measure.

As, however, the famine still continued, the triumvirate agreed tocome to an accommodation with Pompey: the principal terms were, thatthe latter should retain possession of Sicily, Sardinia,. &c.;and that he should moreover receive Peloponnesus; that he mightendeavour to obtain the consulate; that the dignity of PontifexMaximus should be granted him; that he should be paid 70,000 greatsesterces out of his father's confiscated estate; and that such ofhis companions as chose should be allowed to return. On his part, hepromised, that he would no longer interrupt the Roman trade andnavigation; that he would no longer build ships, nor make descents onthe coasts of Italy, nor receive the slaves who fled to him; and thathe would immediately send to Rome the corn he had detained, obligethe Sicilians to pay annually the tribute of corn due to Rome by thatisland, and clear the seas of all the pirates.

From these terms it may be seen how dependent Rome, even at thisperiod, was on foreign supplies of corn, and how weak she was at sea.Pompey and the triumvirate seem neither to have been sincere in thistreaty: the former, who still retained the title of governor of themaritime coasts, had derived too great advantage from his superiorityat sea, and his connection with the pirates, easily to relinquisheither; while, on the other hand, the triumvirate could not regardthemselves as masters of the republic, so long as Pompey had it inhis power to starve the city of Rome. They, therefore, soonquarrelled; upon which Pompey caused his old ships to be refitted,and new ones to be built; and, when he had got a sufficient force, heagain blocked up the ports of Italy, and reduced the inhabitants ofthe capital to the utmost distress for want of provisions.Octavianus, (Augustus Cæsar,) to whom the protection of Italywas assigned, had neither the courage nor the means to oppose Pompey,who, probably, would speedily have forced the triumvirate, to granthim conditions still more favourable than the former ones, had it notbeen for the defection of one of his admirals. As he was an officerof great valour and experience in maritime affairs, and carried overwith him the numerous fleet which he commanded, Augustus wasemboldened and rendered better able to cope with Pompey by sea. Thelatter, rather enraged than intimidated by this defection, sentanother of his admirals, who had always been jealous of the one whohad gone over to Augustus, with a numerous fleet, to ravage thecoasts of Italy. On his return, he fell in with a fleet of Augustus,on board of which was his rival. An obstinate battle ensued: at firstPompey's fleet was worsted; but in the issue it was victorious, andthe greater number of Augustus' ships were sunk, captured, or drivenon shore. As soon as Augustus learnt the issue of this battle, heresolved to sail from Tarentum, where he then was, pass the straitsof Messina, and reinforce the shattered remains of his squadron; but,while he was in the straits, his ships were attacked by Pompeyhimself, and most of them sunk or dashed to pieces: with greatdifficulty he escaped. He was now in a dreadful situation; withoutships or money; while the inhabitants of Rome were on the point ofrising against his authority, for want of corn. In this extremity heapplied to Anthony, who immediately came to his aid with 300 sail ofships. As Anthony needed land-forces, which, under the presentcirc*mstances, were of no use to Augustus, they agreed to aninterchange: Augustus gave Anthony two legions; and Anthony, on hispart, left with Augustus 100 armed galleys. In addition to these,Octavia obtained from her husband twenty small ships, as areinforcement to her brother.

Augustus, though now superior in naval force to Pompey, (for hisships were more numerous, as well as larger and stronger, though notso light and expeditious, nor so well manned,) was not willing toexpose himself any more to the hazards of a sea-fight: he thereforeappointed Agrippa commander-in-chief of his navy, with directions tocruise off Mylæ, a city on the northern coast of Sicily, wherePompey had assembled all his naval forces. As the possession of thisimportant island was absolutely necessary to the reduction ofPompey's power, and the relief and supply of the city of Rome,Augustus, Lepidus, and another general were to invade it in threedifferent places, while Agrippa was watching Pompey's fleet. Thewhole of Augustus's expeditions sailed from different ports of Italyat the same time; but they had scarcely put to sea, when a violentstorm arose, in which a great number of his ships perished. On thisoccasion Augustus behaved with great presence of mind and judgment:his first object and care was to send Mæcenas to Rome, toprevent the disturbances which the intelligence of this disastermight occasion there: Mæcenas succeeded in his missioncompletely. In the meantime Augustus went in person to the severalports, into which his ships had escaped from the storm, encouragedand rewarded the workmen, and soon got his fleet refitted and readyfor sea. In his second attempt to invade Sicily, which he put inexecution as soon as his fleet was repaired, he was more successfulthan in his first; and Agrippa considerably weakened Pompey's navalforces, by defeating one of his admirals, from whom he capturedthirty galleys. Pompey was still so formidable at sea, at least tothe fears of Augustus, that, when he appeared unexpectedly on thecoast of Sicily with his fleet, the latter was completelyintimidated: apprehending that Pompey would land and attack his camp,he deserted it and went on board his fleet. Pompey, however, whoalways preferred naval enterprizes, attacked the fleet, put it toflight at the first onset, captured most of the ships, and burnt andsunk 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 withLepidus, determined to attack Messina, in which place Pompey haddeposited all his stores, provisions, and treasure. The cityaccordingly was closely invested, both by sea and land. Pompey, inthis emergency, challenged Augustus to decide the war by a sea-fight,with 300 ships on each side. Augustus acceding to this proposal, bothfleets were drawn up in line of battle, between Mylæ andNaulocus; the land forces having agreed to suspend hostilities, andwait the event of the engagement. Agrippa, who commanded Augustus'sfleet, fought with great bravery, and was as bravely opposed byPompey; their respective officers and men emulated their example. Fora considerable time, the event was doubtful; but, at last, Pompey'sfleet was defeated: only seventeen of his vessels escaped, the restwere taken or burnt. This victory Agrippa obtained at an easy rate,not more than three of his snips being sunk or destroyed. Augustus,who, according to all accounts, behaved in a most cowardly mannerduring the battle, was so fully sensible of the obligations he wasunder to Agrippa, that he immediately honoured him with a bluestandard and a rostral crown, that is, a crown, the flower-work ofwhich represented the beaks of galleys, and afterwards, when hebecame emperor, he raised him, by rank and honours, above all hisother subjects. According to Livy, and some other authors, therostral crown had never been given in any preceding wars, nor was itafterwards bestowed; but Pliny is of a different opinion, he saysthat it was given to M. Varro, in the war against the pirates, byPompey.

After this signal and decisive defeat of his fleet, Pompey fledfrom Sicily to Asia, where he attempted to raise disturbances; but hewas defeated, taken prisoner, and put to death.

We must now look back to the naval and commercial history of Rome,immediately after the defeat of the pirates by Pompey the Great. Theimmediate consequence of his success against them was the revival oftrade among the people who inhabited the coasts of the Mediterranean;but the Romans, intent on their plans of conquest, or engaged incivil wars, had little share in it The very nature and extent,however, of their conquests, by making them masters of countrieswhich were either commercial, or which afforded articles of luxury,gradually led them to become more commercial. Hitherto, theirconquests and their alliances had been confined almost entirely tothe nations on the Mediterranean, or within a short distance of thatsea: but Julius Cæsar directed his ambition to another districtof the world; and Gaul was added to the Roman dominions.

Transalpine Gaul comprehended Flanders, Holland, Switzerland, andpart of Germany, as well as France, Its situation, having the oceanto the north and west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south, wasparticularly favourable to commerce; and though, when Caesarconquered it, its inhabitants in general were very ignorant anduncivilized, yet we have his express authority, that the knowledgethey possessed of foreign countries, and commodities from abroad,made them abound in all sorts of provisions. About 100 years beforethe Christian era, the Romans, under pretence of assisting the peopleof Marseilles, carried their arms into Gaul, and conquered thedistrict to the south of the Rhine.

This part of Gaul, long before the Romans invaded it, wascelebrated for its commerce, which was carried on very extensively atthe port of Marseilles. We have already mentioned, that this city wasfounded, or, at least, greatly increased by the Greeks. As thecolonists could not, from the narrow boundaries of their territory,and the barrenness of the soil, support themselves by their ownindustry on land, they applied themselves to the sea: at first, asfishermen; then, as pirates; and afterwards, as merchants. For fortyyears they are said to have been the most warlike, as well as themost commercial people who frequented the Mediterranean, and werecelebrated for the excellent construction and equipment, both oftheir merchant ships, and their ships of war. Their maritime laws andinstitutions were nearly as much celebrated and respected as those ofthe Rhodians. The wealth which the inhabitants of Marseilles hadacquired by commerce, and which was contained or displayed in theirfleets, arsenals, and magazines, and in their public buildings, drewupon them the envy of their more savage and poorer neighbours; and itis probable they would have fallen a prey to their more warlikehabits, had they not formed an alliance with the Romans, who sent anarmy to their assistance. The commander of this army, after defeatingtheir enemies, granted them all the harbours, and the wholesea-coast, between their city and the confines of Italy; and thus atonce secured their safety and extended their territory. A short timeafterwards, Marius conferred on them another benefit, not inferior inimportance and utility. While he was waiting for the Cimbri inTransalpine Gaul, he was under great difficulty to procure provisionsup the Rhone, in consequence of the mouth of the river beingobstructed with sand-banks. To remedy this inconvenience, heundertook a great and laborious work, which, from him, was calledFossa Marina: this was a large canal, beginning at his camp, nearArles, and carried on to the sea, which was fed with water from theRhone; through this canal, the largest transports could pass. Afterhis victory over the Cimbrians, Marius gave this canal to the peopleof Marseilles, in return for the support and supplies they hadafforded him in his war against them. As there was no passage intothe interior of this part of Gaul, except either through the Rhone orthis canal, the Marseillians, who were now masters of both, enrichedthemselves considerably, partly by the traffic they carried on, andpartly by the duties they levied on all goods which were sent up thecanal and the river. In the civil war between Pompey and Cæsar,they took part with the former, who, in return, gave them all theterritory on the western bank of the Rhone. Cæsar, exasperatedat their hostility towards him, and at their ingratitude (for he, onthe conquest of Gaul, had enlarged their territories, and augmentedtheir revenues), blocked up their port by sea and land, and soonobliged them to surrender. He stripped their arsenals of arms, andobliged them to deliver up all their ships, as well as deprived themof the colonies and towns that were under their dominion.

The Marseillians, in the pursuit of commerce, made several voyagesto distant, and, till then, unknown parts of the world: of these, thevoyage of Pytheas, the extent, direction, and discoveries of which wehave already investigated, was the most remarkable and celebrated.Euthymenes, another Marseillian navigator, is said to have advancedto the south, beyond the line; but little credit seems due to thevery imperfect accounts which we possess of his voyage. TheMarseillians also planted several colonies on the coasts of Gaul,Italy, and Spain, viz. Nicæa, Antipolis (Antibes,) Telo Martius(Toulon,) &c.

Arelas (Arles) was also a place of some trade, and celebrated forits manufactures, especially its embroidery, and its curious and richworks in gold and silver. It was at this place that Cæsarbuilt, in the short period of thirty days, the twelve galleys whichhe used in blocking up the port of Marseilles; and he manned themwith its inhabitants;--a proof, as Huet observes, that they were wellversed in maritime affairs at this time.

Narbo Marcius (Narbonne) was founded by Marius: it soon became,according to Strabo and Diodorus Siculus, a place of very greattrade. The British tin, besides other articles, was brought byland-carriage through the centre of Gaul, and exported, either fromit or Marseilles, to the different countries on the Mediterranean. Itderived great importance and wealth, from its being a convenientplace of rest and refreshment for the Roman troops, as they passedfrom the Pyrennees to the Alps, or from the Alps to the Pyrennees.Its harbour was crowded with ships from Africa, Spain, Italy,&c.; but, in the latter ages of the Roman Empire, it fell intodecay, principally in consequence of the course of the river beingchanged, so that it no longer ran through it. The Romans endeavouredto supply this misfortune, by cutting a canal to the sea, the tracesand remains of which are still visible.

Lugdunum (Lyons), at the confluence of the Rhone and Arar, wasfounded by Manucius Plancus, after the death of Julius Caesar. In thetime of Augustus, according to Strabo, it had increased so much, bymeans of its commerce, that it was not inferior to any city in Gaul,except Narbonne. Indeed, not long after the entire conquest of Gaulby the Romans, the advantages which that country might derive, withrespect to foreign commerce, and internal trade, by its rivers, seemto have been fully and clearly understood. The head of the Saonebeing near to that of the Moselle and the Seine, merchandize waseasily conveyed by land from one of these rivers to the other. TheRhone also received many goods by means of the rivers which joinedit, which were conveyed, not only to the Saone, but also to theLoire, in carriages. The Seine brought up goods almost as far as theMoselle, from which they were conveyed to the Rhine. In the fourthyear of Nero's reign, the commander of the Roman army in Gaul joinedthe Saone and the Moselle by a canal; and, though these canals weregenerally made by the Romans, for purposes connected with the army,yet they were soon applied to commerce. The merchandize of the Saonewas brought by land carriage to the Seine, and by it conveyed to theocean, and thence to Britain. There seems to have been regular andestablished companies of watermen on these rivers, whose business itwas to convey goods on them: an ancient inscription at Lyons mentionsTauricius of Vannes, as the general overseer of the Gallic trade, thepatron or head of the watermen on the Seine and Loire, and theregulator of weights, measures, and carriages; and other ancientinscriptions state, that the government of the watermen who navigatedthe Rhone and the Saone, was often bestowed on Roman knights.

Besides the ports on the Mediterranean, or on the rivers whichflow into that sea, the Gauls in Cæsar's time, or shortlyafterwards, seem to have had several, ports on the ocean. Cæsarreckons the present Nantz, though at some distance from the sea, asinhabited by people who were skilled in maritime affairs; and heexpressly informs us, that he built his ships at a port at the mouthof the Seine, when he was preparing to invade Britain. In his warsagainst the Vanni he brought ships from the present provinces ofSaintoinge and Poitou, which we may thence conclude were inhabited bypeople skilled in maritime affairs. In later times, there was a marshfilled with sea-water, not far from Bourdeaux, which made that city aconvenient port, and a place of considerable commerce. Strabomentions a town of some commerce, situated on the Loire, which herepresents as equal in size to Narbonne and Marseilles; but what townthat was has not been ascertained.

The most powerful and commercial, however, of all the tribes ofGaul, that inhabited the coasts near the ocean, in the time ofCæsar, were the Vanni. These people carried on an extensive andlucrative trade with Britain, which was interrupted by the success ofCæsar, (who obliged them, as well as the other tribes of Gaul,to give him hostages,) and which they apprehended was likely to bestill further injured by his threatened invasion of Britain; in orderto prevent this, as well as to liberate themselves, they revoltedagainst the Romans. As Cæsar was sensible that it would beimprudent and unsafe to attempt the invasion of Britain, so long asthe Vanni were unsubdued and powerful at sea, he directed histhoughts and his endeavours to build and equip such a fleet as wouldenable him successfully to cope with them on their own element. Inbuilding his ships, he followed the model of those of his enemies,which were large, flat-bottomed, and high in the head and stern: theywere strong-built, and had leathern sails, and anchors with ironchains. They had a numerous squadron of such vessels, which theyemployed chiefly in their trade with Britain: they seem also to havederived considerable revenue from the tribute which they levied onall who navigated the adjacent seas, and to have possessed many portson the coast. Besides their own fleet, the Britons, who were theirallies, sent ships to their assistance; so that their united forceamounted to 220 sail, well equipped, and manned by bold and expertseamen.

To oppose this formidable fleet, Caesar ordered ships to be builton the Loire, and the rivers running into it, exactly, as we havejust stated, after the model of the ships of the Vanni; for he wasinformed, or learnt by experience, that the vessels which were usedin the Mediterranean were not fit for navigating and fighting on theocean, but that such as were employed on the latter must be built,not only stronger, but flat-bottomed, and high at the head and stern,in order to withstand the fury of the waves and winds, which wasgreater in the ocean than in the Mediterranean, and at the same timeto sail up the rivers, or in very shallow water, and to take theground, without injury or danger. Not being able, however, to buildin time a sufficient number of ships in Gaul, after the model ofthose of the Vanni, he was under the necessity of bringing some fromthe south coast of Gaul, and other parts of the Mediterranean Sea; healso collected all the experienced pilots he could meet with, whowere acquainted with the coasts, and with the management of suchships, and exercised a sufficient number of men at the oar, tonavigate them.

These preparations were all indispensably requisite; for in thebattle which ensued, the Vanni and their allies fought their shipswith a skill and a valour of which the Romans had not had anyprevious example; and they would certainly have been beaten, if theyhad not, by means of sharp engines, cut the ropes and sails of thehostile fleet, and thus rendered their ships unmanageable: in thisstate they were easily and speedily captured. As the Vanni had onthis occasion mustered all their forces, their defeat put an end totheir resistance, and removed Caesar's principal obstacle to theinvasion of Britain.

The motives which induced Caesar to invade Britain can only beconjectured, if, indeed, any other motive operated on his mindbesides ambition, and the love of conquest and glory; stimulated bythe hope of subduing a country, which seemed the limit of the worldto the west, and which was in a great measure unknown. He was,probably, also incited by his desire to punish the Britons for havingassisted the Vanni; and Suetonius adds, that he was desirous ofenriching himself with British pearls, which were at that time inhigh repute.

Before he undertook this expedition, which, even to Caesar,appeared formidable, he resolved to learn all he could respectingBritain. For this purpose, he collected the merchants who tradedthither from all parts of Gaul; but they could afford him nosatisfactory information. They had visited only the opposite coast ofBritain; of the other parts of the country, of its extent, itsinhabitants, &c., they were utterly ignorant. Under thesecirc*mstances, therefore, he sent one of his officers in a galley,who, after being absent five days, during which however he had notventured to land, returned to Caesar, and acquainted him with thelittle he had observed.

Caesar resolved to invade Britain immediately: for this purpose,he ordered eighty transports to take on board two legions; and thecavalry to be embarked in eighteen more, at a port a few miles off.The enterprize was attended with considerable difficulty, from theopposition of the Britons, and the large ships of the Romans notbeing able to approach very near the land. It was however successful,and the Britons sued for and obtained peace.

This they were soon induced to break, in consequence of Caesar'sfleet being greatly injured by a storm; and the violence of the windraising the tide very high, the Roman sailors, unaccustomed to anytides except the very trifling ones of the Mediterranean, were stillmore alarmed and dispirited. The Britons, after attacking one of thelegions, ventured on a still bolder enterprize, for they endeavouredto force the Roman camp: in this attempt they were defeated, andagain obliged to sue for peace. This was granted, and Caesar returnedto Gaul. But the Britons not fulfilling the conditions of the peace,Caesar again invaded their country with 600 ships and twenty-eightgalleys; he landed without opposition, and defeated the Britons. Hisfleet again encountered a storm, in which forty ships were lost, andthe rest greatly damaged. In order to prevent a similar accident, hedrew all his ships ashore, and enclosed them within thefortifications of the camp. After this, he had no further navaloperations with the Britons.

It will now be proper to consider the state of Britain at theperiod of its invasion by the Romans, with respect to its navigationand commerce. It is the generally received opinion, that the Britons,at the time of the invasion of their island by Caesar, had no shipsexcept those which he and other ancient authors, particularly Solinusand Lucan, describe. These were made of light and pliant wood, theirribs seem to have been formed of hurdles, and they were lined as wellas covered (so far as they were at all decked) with leather. Theyhad, indeed, masts and sails; the latter and the ropes were also madeof leather; the sails could not be furled, but, when necessary, werebound to the mast. They were generally, however, worked with oars,the rowers singing to the stroke of their oars, sometimes accompaniedby musical instruments. These rude vessels seem not to have been theonly ones the Britons possessed, but were employed solely for thepurpose of sailing to the opposite coasts of Gaul and of Ireland.They were, indeed, better able to withstand the violence of the windsand waves than might be supposed from the materials of which theywere built. Pliny expressly states that they made voyages of six daysin them; and in the life of St Columba, (in whose time they werestill used, the sixth century,) we are informed of a vessel linedwith leather, which went with oars and sails, sailing for fourteendays in a violent storm in safety, and gaining her port. The passagetherefore in these boats across the Irish Channel, could not be sovery dangerous as it is represented by Solinus.

But notwithstanding the authority of Caesar, Pliny, Solinus, andLucan, who mention only these leathern vessels, and that the poetAvienus, who lived in the fourth century, expressly states, that evenin his time the Britons had no ships made of timber, but only boatscovered with leather or hides; there are circ*mstances which mustconvince us that they did possess larger, stronger, and more powerfulships. Caesar informs us, that the Britons often assisted the Gauls,both by land and sea; and we have seen that they sent assistance tothe Vanni, in their sea-fight against Caesar; but it is not to besupposed that their leathern boats, small and weak as they were,could have been of any material advantage in an engagement with theRoman ships. Besides, the Britons, who inhabited the coast oppositeto Gaul, carried on, as we have remarked, a considerable and regulartrade with the Vanni; it is, therefore, reasonable to presume, thatthey would learn from this tribe, the art of building ships liketheirs, which were so well fitted for these seas, as well as for war,that Caesar built vessels after their model, when he formed thedetermination of opposing them by sea.

The Britons, however, certainly did not themselves engage much inthe traffic with Gaul, and therefore could not require many vesselsof either description for this purpose. From the earliest period, ofwhich we have any record, till long after the invasion by Caesar, thecommodities of Britain seem to have been exported by foreign ships,and the commodities given in exchange brought by these.

In our account of the commerce of the Phoenicians, their trade toBritain for tin has been described. Pliny, in his chapter oninventions and discoveries, states that this metal was first broughtfrom the Cassiterides by Midacritus, but at what period, or of whatnation he was, he does not inform us. This trade was so lucrative,that a participation in it was eagerly sought by all the commercialnations of the Mediterranean, and even by the Romans, who, as we haveseen, were not at this period, much given to commerce. This isevident, by the well known fact, of one of their vessels endeavouringto follow the course of a Phoenician or Carthaginian vessel, in hervoyage to Britain. The Greeks of Marseilles, according to Polybius,first followed, successfully, the course of the Phoenicians, and,about 200 years before Christ, began to share with them in the tintrade. Whether, at this period, they procured it exclusively bydirect trade with Britain, is not known; but afterwards, as we havealready mentioned, Marseilles became one of the principal depots forthis metal, which was conveyed to it through Gaul, and exportedthence by sea.

If we may believe Strabo, the Romans had visited Britain before itwas invaded by Caesar, as he expressly mentions that Publius Crassusmade a voyage thither: if he means P. Crassus the younger, he was oneof Caesar's lieutenants in Gaul; and, as he was stationed in thedistrict of the Vanni, it is not improbable that he passed fromthence into Britain; or he may have been sent by Caesar, at the sametime that Volusenus was sent, and for the same purpose.

However this may be, there was no regular intercourse betweenBritain and Rome till some time after Caesar's invasion; in the timeof Tiberius, however, and probably earlier, the commerce of Britainwas considerable. Strabo, who died at the beginning of that emperor'sreign, informs us, that corn, cattle, gold, silver, tin, lead, hides,and dogs, were the commodities furnished by the Britons. The tin andlead, he adds, came from the Cassiterides. According to Camden, 800vessels, laden with corn, were freighted annually to the continent;but this assertion rests on very doubtful authority, and cannot becredited if it applies to Britain, even very long after the Romanconquest. Though Strabo expressly mentions gold and silver among theexports, yet Caesar takes notice of neither; and Cicero, in hisepistles, writing to his friend, respecting Britain, states, on theauthority of his brother, who was there, that there were neither ofthese metals in the island. The dogs of Britain formed a veryconsiderable and valuable article of export; they seem to have beenknown at Rome even before Caesar's expedition: the Romans employedthem in hunting, and the Gauls in hunting and in their wars: theywere of different species. Bears were also exported for theamphitheatres; but their exportation was not frequent till after theage of Augustus. Bridle ornaments, chains, amber, and glass ware, areenumerated by Strabo among the exports from Britain; but, accordingto other authors, they were imported into it. Baskets, toys made ofbone, and oysters, were certainly among the exports; and, accordingto Solinus, gagates, or jet, of which Britain supplied a great dealof the best kind. Chalk was also, according to Martial, an article ofexport: there seems to have been British merchants whose soleemployment was the exportation of this commodity, as appears by anancient inscription found in Zealand, and quoted by Whitaker, in hishistory of Manchester. This article was employed as a manure on themarshy land bordering on the Rhine. Pliny remarks that its effect onthe land continued eighty years. The principal articles imported intoBritain were copper and brass, and utensils made of these metals,earthen ware, salt, &c. The traffic was carried on partly bymeans of barter, and partly by pieces of brass and iron, unshaped,unstamped, and rated by weight. The duties paid in Gaul, on theimports and exports of Britain, formed, according to Strabo, the onlytribute exacted from the latter country by the Romans in histime.

Of that part of Europe which lies to the north of Gaul, theRomans, at the period of which we are treating, knew little ornothing, though some indirect traffic was carried on with Germany.The feathers of the German geese were preferred to all others atRome; and amber formed a most important article of traffic. This wasfound in great abundance on the Baltic shore of Germany: at first, itseems to have been carried the whole length of the continent, to theVeneti, who forwarded it to Rome. Afterwards, in consequence of thegreat demand for it there, and its high price, the Romans sent peopleexpressly to purchase it in the north of Germany: and their landjournies, in search of this article, first made them acquainted withthe naval powers of the Baltic. The Estii, a German tribe, whoinhabited the amber country, gathered and sold it to the Romantraders, and were astonished at the price they received for it. InNero's time it was in such high request, that that emperor resolvedto send Julianus, a knight, to procure it for him in largequantities: accordingly, a kind of embassy was formed, at the head ofwhich he was placed. He set out from Carnuntum, a fortress on thebanks of the Danube, and after travelling, according to Pliny, 600miles, arrived at the amber coast. There he bought, or received as apresent, for the emperor, 13,000 pounds weight, among which was onepiece that weighed thirteen pounds. The whole of this immensequantity served for the decoration of one day, on which Nero gave anentertainment of gladiators. In the time of Theodoric, king of theGoths, the Estii sent that monarch a large quantity of amber, as themost likely present by means of which they could obtain his alliance.They informed the ambassadors, whom he sent with a letteracknowledging this present, that they were ignorant whence the ambercame, but that it was thrown upon their coast by the sea, a factwhich exactly agrees with what occurs at present.

Whether the Estii, with whom the Romans carried on this traffic,were a maritime nation, we are not informed; but there was anothernation or tribe of Germans on the Baltic, of whose maritime charactersome notices are given. These were the Sitones, who, according toTacitus, had powerful fleets; their ships were built with two prows,so as to steer at both ends, and prevent the necessity of puttingabout; their oars were not fixed, like those of the Mediterraneanvessels, 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 thoseof the Sitones, which could be steered at both ends.

One of the most considerable revolutions in the maritime andcommercial affairs of Rome, was brought about by the battle ofActium. The fleet of Anthony was composed chiefly of ships belongingto the Egyptians, Tyrians, and other nations of the east, andamounted, according to some accounts, to 200 sail, whereas the fleetof Augustus consisted of 400 sail. Other authors estimate themdifferently; but all agree that the ships of Anthony were muchlarger, stronger, and loftier, than those of Caesar: they wereconsequently more unwieldy. We have the express testimony ofPlutarch, that it was principally this victory which convinced Caesarof the advantages and extraordinary use of the Liburnian ships; forthough they had been employed before this time in the Roman fleet,yet they had never been so serviceable in any previous battle.Augustas, therefore, as well as most of the succeeding emperors ofRome, scarcely built any other ships but those according to theLiburnian model.

One of the first objects of Augustus, after he had obtained theempire, was to secure the command of the sea: he made use of theships which he had captured from Anthony to keep the people of Gaulin subjection; and he cleared the Mediterranean of the pirates whichinfested it and obstructed commerce. He formed two fleets, one atRavenna, and the other at Misenum; the former to command the eastern,the latter the western division of the Mediterranean: each of thesehad its own proper commanders, and to each was attached a body ofseveral thousand mariners. Ravenna, situated on the Adriatic, aboutten or twelve miles from the most southern of the seven mouths of thePo, was not a place of much consequence till the age of Augustus:that emperor, observing its advantages, formed at the distance ofabout three miles from the old town and nearer the sea, a capaciousharbour, capable of containing 250 ships of war. The establishmentwas on a large and complete scale, consisting of arsenals, magazines,barracks, and houses for the ship-carpenters, &c.: the principalcanal, which was also formed by Augustus, and took its name from him,carried the waters of the river through the middle of Ravenna to theentrance of the harbour. The city was rendered still stronger by artthan nature had formed it. As early as the fifth or sixth centuriesof the Christian era the port was converted, by the retreat of thesea, into dry ground, and a grove of pines grew where the Roman fleethad anchored.

Besides the principal ports of Ravenna and Misenum, Augustusstationed a very considerable force at Frejus, on the coast ofProvence, forty ships in the Euxine, with 3000 soldiers; a fleet topreserve the communication between Gaul and Britain, another nearAlexandria, and a great number of smaller vessels on the Rhine andthe Danube. As soon as the Romans had constant and regular fleets,instead of the legionary soldiers, who used to fight at sea as wellas at land, a separate band of soldiers were raised for the seaservice, who were called Classiarii; but this service was reckonedless honourable than that of the legionary soldiers.

The period at which we are arrived seems a proper one to take ageneral view of the commerce of the Roman empire; though, in order torender this view more complete, it will be necessary in manyinstances to anticipate the transactions posterior to the reign ofAugustus. We shall, therefore, in the first place, give a statementof the extent of the Roman empire when it had reached its utmostlimits; secondly, an account of its roads and communications by land;and, lastly, an abstract of the principal imports into it, and thelaws and finances, so far as they respect its commerce.

1. The empire, at the death of Augustus, was bounded on the westby the Atlantic ocean, on the north by the Rhine and the Danube, onthe east by the Euphrates, and on the south by the deserts of Arabiaand Africa. The only addition which it received during the firstcentury was the province of Britain: with this addition it remainedtill the reign of Trajan. That emperor conquered Dacea, and added itto the empire: he also achieved several conquests in the east; butthese were resigned by his successor Adrian. At this period,therefore, the Roman empire may be considered as having attained itsutmost limits. It is impossible to ascertain the number of peoplethat were contained within these limits. In the time of Claudius theRoman citizens were numbered; they amounted to 6,945,000: if to thesebe added the usual proportion of women and children, the number willbe encreased to about 20,000,000. If, therefore, we calculate, as wemay fairly do, that there were twice as many provincials as therewere citizens with their wives and children, and that the slaves wereat least equal in number to the provincials, the total population ofthe Roman empire will amount to 120,000,000.

Our ideas of the vastness and wealth of the empire will be stillfarther encreased, if we regard the cities which it contained, thoughit is impossible to decide in most instances the extent andpopulation of many places which were honoured with the appellation ofcities. Ancient Italy is said to have contained 1197, Gaul 1200, ofwhich many, such as Marseilles, Narbonne, Lyons, &c. were largeand flourishing; Spain 300, Africa 300, and Asia Proper 500, of whichmany were very populous.

2. All these cities were connected with one another and with Romeitself by means of the public highways: these issuing from the forum,traversed Italy, pervaded the provinces, and were terminated only bythe frontiers of the empire. The great chain of communication formedby means of them from the extreme north-west limit of the empire,through Rome to the south-east limit, was in length nearly 4000miles. These roads were formed in the most substantial manner, andwith astonishing labour and expence; they were raised so as tocommand a prospect of the adjacent country; on each side was a row oflarge stones for foot passengers. The miles were reckoned from thegates of the city and marked on stones: at shorter distances therewere stones for travellers to rest on, or to assist those who wishedto mount their horses: there were cross roads from the principalroads. The care and management of all the roads were entrusted onlyto men of the highest rank. Augustus himself took charge of thosenear Rome, and appointed two men of prætorian rank to pave theroads: at the distance of five or six miles houses were built, eachof which was constantly provided with forty horses; but these couldonly be used in the public service, except by particular and expressauthority. By means of the relays thus furnished, the Romans couldtravel along their excellent roads 100 miles a day: they had nopublic posts. Augustus first introduced public couriers among theRomans; but they were employed only to forward the public despatches,or to convey public intelligence of great and urgent importance.

Such was the facililty of communication by land from all parts ofthe empire to Rome, and from each part to all the other parts: norwas the communication of the empire less free and open by sea than itwas by land. "The provinces surrounded and enclosed theMediterranean; and Italy, in the shape of an immense promontory,advanced into the midst of that great lake." From Ostia, situated atthe mouth of the Tiber, only sixteen miles from the capital, afavourable wind frequently carried vessels in seven days to thestraits of Gibraltar, and in nine or ten to Alexandria, in Egypt.

3. In enumerating the principal articles imported into Rome, forthe use of its immense and luxurious population, we shall,necessarily, recapitulate, in some degree, what has already beenstated in giving an account of the commerce of the differentcountries which were conquered by the Romans. But this objection, weconceive, will be abundantly counterbalanced by the connected andcomplete view which we shall thus be enabled to give of the commerceof the Roman empire.

Before, however, we enter on this subject, we shall brieflyconsider the ideas entertained by the Romans on the subject ofcommerce. We have already had occasion incidentally to remark thatthe Romans thought meanly of it, and that their grand object in alltheir conquests was the extension of their territory; and that theyeven neglected the commercial facilities and advantages, which theymight have secured by their conquests. This was most decidedly thecase during the time of the republic. The statue of Victory, whichwas erected in the port of Ostia, and the medals of the year of Rome630, marked on the reverse with two ships and a victory, prove thatat this period the Roman fleets that sailed from this port werechiefly designed for war. The prefects of the fleet were notemployed, nor did they consider it as their duty to attend tocommerce, or to the merchant ships, except so far as to protect themagainst the pirates. Of the low opinion entertained by the Romansrespecting commerce we have the direct testimony of Cicero: writingto his son on the subject of professions, he reprobates and condemnsall retail trade as mean and sordid, which can be carried onsuccessfully only by means of lying. Even the merchant, unless hedeals very extensively, he views with contempt; if, however, heimports from every quarter articles of great value and in greatabundance, and sells them in a fair and equitable manner, hisprofession is not much to be contemned; especially if, after havingmade a fortune, he retires from business, and spends the rest of hislife in agricultural pursuits: in this case, he deserves evenpositive 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 hisnatural history he expatiates in praise of agriculture and gardening,medicine, painting and statuary, passes over merchandize with thesimple observation that it was invented by the Phoenicians. In theperiplus of the Erythrean sea, and in the works of Ptolemy, &c.the names of many merchants and navigators occur; but they are allGreeks. Even after the conquest of Egypt, which gave a morecommercial character to the Roman manners, habits and mode ofthinking than they previously possessed, no Roman was permitted toengage in the trade of that country.

Although, however, mercantile pursuits were thus underrated anddespised by the warlike portion of the nation, as well as by thephilosophers, yet they were followed by those who regarded gain asthe principal object of life. The wealth of merchants becameproverbial: immense numbers of them followed the armies, and fixed inthe provinces subdued or allied,--the Italici generis homines,who were agents, traders, and monopolizers, such as Jugurtha took inZama, or the 100,000 Mithridates slaughtered in Asia Minor, or themerchants killed at Genabum (Orleans).

In the passage quoted from Cicero de Officiis, he expresslymentions the merchant who imports; but he does not once alludeto exportation. Indeed, the commerce of the Romans, in the mostluxurious period of the empire, was entirely confined to importation,and may, with few exceptions, be designated as consisting in theexpenditure 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 theyhad conquered.

By far the most extensive and important trade which the Romanscarried on at all periods of their history, was the conveyance ofcorn and other provisions to the capital. The contiguous territory atno time was sufficient to supply Rome with corn; and, long before therepublic was destroyed, even Italy was inadequate to this purpose. Asthe population encreased, and the former corn fields were convertedinto pleasure-grounds or pasture, the demand for corn wasproportionally encreased, and the supply from the neighbourhoodproportionally diminished. But there was another circ*mstance whichrendered a regular and full supply of corn an object of primeimportance: the influence of the patron depended on his largesses ofcorn to his clients; and the popularity, and even the reign of anemperor, was not secure, unless he could insure to the inhabitantsthis indispensable necessary of life. There were several lawsrespecting the distribution of corn: by one passed in the year ofRome 680, five bushels were to be given monthly to each of the poorercitizens, and money was to be advanced annually from the treasury,sufficient to purchase 800,000 bushels of wheat, of three differentqualities and prices. By the Sempronian law, this corn was to be soldto the poor inhabitants at a very low price; but by the Clodian lawit was to be distributed gratis: the granaries in which thiscorn was kept were called Horrea Sempronia. The number of citizenswho received corn by public distribution, in the time of Augustus,amounted to 200,000. Julius Caesar had reduced the number from320,000 to 150,000. It is doubtful whether five bushels were theallowance of each individual or of each family; but if Dr. Arbuthnotbe correct in estimating the modius at fourteen pounds, theallowance must have been for each family, amounting to one quarterseven bushels, and one peck per annum.

We have dwelt on these particulars for the purpose of pointing outthe extreme importance of a regular and full supply of corn to Rome;and this importance is still further proved by the specialappointment of magistrates to superintend this article. The prefect,or governor of the market, was an ancient establishment in the Romanrepublic; his duty was to procure corn: on extraordinary occasions,this magistrate was created for this express purpose, and the powersgranted him seem to have been increased in the latter periods of therepublic, and still more, after the republic was destroyed. Pompey,who held this office, possessed greater power and privileges than hisimmediate predecessor, and in a time of great scarcity. Augustus,himself, undertook the charge of providing the corn: it was at thesame time determined, that for the future, two men of the rank ofpraetors should be annually elected for this purpose; four wereafterwards appointed. It would seem, however, that even theirappointment became an ordinary and regular thing: the emperorsthemselves superintended the procuring of corn, for one of theirtitles was that of commissary-general of corn.

Besides this magistrate, whose business was confined to the buyingand importing of corn, there were two aediles, first appointed byJulius Caesar, whose duty it was to inspect the public stores of cornand other provisions.

Till the time of Julius Caesar, the foreign corn for the supply ofRome was imported into Puteoli, a town of Campania, between Baiae andNaples, about seventy miles from the capital. As this was veryinconvenient, Caesar formed the plan of making an artificial harbourat the mouth of the Tiber, at Ostia. This plan, however, was not atthis time carried into execution: Claudius, however, in consequenceof a dreadful famine which raged at Rome, A.D. 42, resolved toaccomplish it. He accordingly dug a spacious basin in the main land;the entrance to which was formed and protected by artificial moles,which advanced far into the sea; there was likewise a little islandbefore the mouth of the harbour, on which a light-house was built,after the model of the Pharos of Alexandria. By the formation of thisharbour, the largest vessel could securely ride at anchor, withinthree deep and capacious basins, which received the northern branchof the Tiber, about two miles from the ancient colony ofOstïa.

Into this port corn arrived for the supply of Rome from variouscountries; immense quantities of wheat were furnished by the islandof Sicily. Egypt was another of the granaries of the capital of theworld; according to Josephus, it supplied Rome with corn sufficientfor one-third of its whole consumption: and Augustus establishedregular corn voyages from Alexandria to the capital. Great quantitieswere also imported from Thrace, and from Africa Proper. The shipsemployed in the corn trade, especially between Egypt and Rome, werethe largest of any in the Mediterranean: this probably arose from theencouragement given to this trade by Tiberius, and afterwardsincreased by Claudius. The former emperor gave a bounty of aboutfourpence on every peck of corn imported: and Claudius, during thetime of the famine, made the bounty so great as, at all events, andin every instance, to secure the importers a certain rate of profit.He also used all his efforts to persuade the merchants to import iteven in winter, taking upon himself all the losses, &c. whichmight arise from risking their ships and cargoes, at a time of theyear when it was the invariable practice of the ancients to lay theformer up. Whenever an emperor had distinguished himself by a largeimportation of corn, especially, if by this means a famine wasavoided or removed, medals seem to have been struck commemorative ofthe circ*mstance; thus, on several medals there is a figure of aship, and the words Annona Aug. or Ceres Aug. Many ofthese were struck under Nero, and Antoninus Pius. During the time ofthe republic, also, similar medals were struck, with the figure of aprow of a ship, and an inscription shewing the object for which thefleets had been sent.

Having been thus particular in describing the importation of corn,we shall notice the imports of other articles in a more cursorymanner. The northern parts of Italy furnished salt pork, almostsufficient for the whole consumption of Rome, tapestry, and woollencloths, wool, and marble; to convey the latter, there were ships of apeculiar form and construction; steel, crystal, ice, and cheese.

From Liguria, Rome received wood for building, of a very largesize, 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 shipped at the ports of Pisa and Luna. Pitchand tar were sent from Brutium; oil and wine from the country of theSabines. Such were the principal imports from the different parts ofItaly.

From Corsica, timber for ship building; from Sardinia, a littlecorn and cattle; from Sicily, besides corn,--wine, honey, salt,saffron, cheese, cattle, pigeons, corals, and a species of emerald.Cloth, but whether linen or cotton is uncertain, was imported fromMalta; honey, from Attica. Lacedemon supplied green marble, and thedye of the purple shell-fish. From the Grecian islands, there wereimported Parian marble, the earthenware of Samos, the vermilion ofLemnos, and other articles, principally of luxury. Thrace suppliedsalted tunnies, the produce of the Euxine Sea, besides corn. Thefinest wool was imported from Colchis, and also hemp, flax, pitch,and fine linens: these goods, as well as articles brought overlandfrom India, were shipped from the port of Phasis. The best cheeseused at Rome, was imported from Bithynia. Phrygia supplied a stonelike alabaster, and the country near Laodicea, wool of excellentquality, some of which was of a deep black colour. The wine drank atRome, was principally the produce of Italy; the best foreign wine,was imported from Ionia. Woollen goods, dyed with Tyrian purple, wereimported from Miletus, in Caria. An inferior species of diamond,copper, resin, and sweet oil were imported from Cyprus. Cedar, gums,balsam, and alabaster, were supplied by Syria, Phoenicia, andPalestine. Glass was imported from Sidon, as well as embroidery andpurple dye, and several kinds of fish, from Tyre. The goods that werebrought from India, by the route of Palmyra, were shipped for Rome,from the ports of Syria. Egypt, besides corn, supplied flax, finelinen, ointments, marble, alabaster, salt, alum, gums, paper, cottongoods, some of which, as well as of their linens, seem to have beencoloured or printed, glass ware, &c. The honey lotus, the lotus,or nymphæa of Egypt, the stalk of which contained a sweetsubstance, which was considered as a luxury by the Egyptians, andused as bread, was sometimes carried to Rome; it was also used asprovision for mariners. Alexandria was the port from which all theproduce and manufactories of Egypt, as well as all the ports whichpassed through this country from India, were shipped. In consequenceof its becoming the seat of the Roman government in Egypt, of theprotection which it thus received, and of its commerce being greatlyextended by the increased wealth and luxury of Rome, its extent andpopulation were greatly augmented; according to Diodorus Siculus, inthe time of Augustus, from whose reign it became the greatestemporium of the world, it contained 300,000 free people.

That part of Africa which was formerly possessed by theCarthaginians, besides corn, sent to Rome, honey, drugs, marble, theeggs and feathers of the ostrich, ostriches, elephants, and lions;the last for the amphitheatre. From Mauritania, there were exportedto the capital, timber of a fine grain and excellent quality, theexact nature of which is not known; this was sold at an enormousrate, and used principally for making very large tables.

Spain supplied Rome with a very great number and variety ofarticles; from the southern parts of it were exported corn, wine,oil, honey, wax, pitch, scarlet dye, vermilion, salt, saltedprovisions, wool, &c. From the eastern part of the north of Spainwere exported salted provisions, cordage made of the spartum,silver, earthenware, linen, steel, &c. The Balearic islandsexported some wine. The trade of Spain to Rome employed a greatnumber of vessels, almost as many as those which were employed in thewhole of the African trade; this was especially the case in thereigns 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 wereshipped, were Cadiz, New Carthage, and a port at the mouth of theBoetis, where, for the security of the shipping, a light-house hadbeen built. Cadiz was deemed the rival of Alexandria in importance,shipping, and commerce; and so great was the resort of merchants,&c. to it, that many of them, not being able to build houses forwant of room on the land, lived entirely upon the water.

From Gaul, Rome received gold, silver, iron, &c. which weresent as part of the tribute; also linens, corn, cheese, and saltedpork. Immense flocks of geese travelled by land to Rome. The chiefports which sent goods to Rome were Marseilles, Arles, and Narbonne,on the Mediterranean; and on the Ocean, Bourdeau, and the port of theVeneti. It appears that there were a considerable number of Italianor Roman merchants resident in Gaul, whose principal trade it was tocarry the wine made in the south of this province, up the Rhine, andthere 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 ofIctis (Isle of Wight), or sent into Gaul: most of the other articlesreached Rome through Gaul. The principal article brought to Rome wasamber.

We now come to the consideration of the articles with which Asiasupplied Rome; these, as may be easily imagined, were principallyarticles of luxury. The murrhine cups, of the nature of which therehas been much unsatisfactory discussion, according to Pliny, camefrom Karmania in Parthia; from Parthia they came to Egypt, and thenceto Rome. It is probable, however, that they came, in the firstinstance, from India, as they are expressly mentioned by the authorof the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, as brought down from thecapital of Guzerat, to the port of Baragyza. These cups were firstseen at Rome, in the triumphal procession of Pompey, when he returnedfrom the shores of the Caspian Sea. They sold at enormous prices; andwere employed at the tables only of the great and wealthy, as cupsfor drinking; they were in general of a small size. One, which heldthree pints, sold for nearly 14,000 l.; and Nero gave nearly59,000 l. for another. So highly were they prized, that, in theconquest of Egypt, Augustus was content to select, for his own share,out of all the spoils of Alexandria, a single murrhine cup.[5]Precious stones and pearls were imported from Persia and Babylonia;the latter country also furnished the wealthy Romans withtriclinaria, which was furniture of some description, butwhether quilts, carpets, or curtains is not ascertained. Persiasupplied also incense of a very superior quality. The various andvaluable commodities with which Arabia supplied the profusion andluxury of Rome, reached that capital from the port of Alexandria inEgypt. We cannot enumerate the whole of them, but must confineourselves to a selection of the most important and valuable. Greatdemand, and a high rate of profits necessarily draw to any particulartrade a great number of merchants; it is not surprising, therefore,that the trade in the luxuries of the east was so eagerly followed atRome. Pliny informs us, that the Roman world was exhausted by a drainof 400,000 l. a year, for the purchase of luxuries, equallyexpensive and superfluous; and in another place, he estimates therate of profit made at Rome, by the importation and sale of orientalluxuries at 100 per cent.

[5] The most probable opinion is, that they were made offluat of lime, or Derbyshire spar.

Arabia furnished diamonds, but these were chiefly of a small size,and other gems and pearls. At Rome the diamond possessed the highestvalue; the pearl, the second; and the emerald, the third. Nero usedan emerald as an eye-glass for short sight. But though large and verysplendid diamonds brought a higher price at Rome than pearls, yet thelatter, in general, were in much greater repute; they were worn inalmost every part of the dress, by persons of almost every rank. Thefamous pearl ear-rings of Cleopatra were valued at 161,458 l.,and Julius Caesar presented the mother of Brutus with a pearl, forwhich he paid 48,457 l. Frankincense, myrrh, and other preciousdrugs, were also brought to Rome from Arabia, through the port ofAlexandria. There was a great demand at Rome for spices andaromatics, from the custom of the Romans to burn their dead, and alsofrom the consumption of frankincense, &c. in their temples. Atthe funeral of Sylla 210 bundles of spices were used. Nero burnt, atthe funeral of Poppaea, more cinnamon and cassia than the countriesfrom which they were imported produced in one year. In the reign ofAugustus, according to Horace, one whole street was occupied by thosewho dealt in frankincense, pepper, and other aromatics. Frankincensewas also imported into Rome from Gaza, on the coast of Palestine;according to Pliny, it was brought to this place by a caravan, thatwas sixty-two days on its journey: the length of the journey, frauds,impositions, duties; &c. brought every camel's load to upward of22 l.; and a pound of the best sort sold at Rome for tenshillings. Alexandria, however, was the great emporium for this, aswell as all the other produce of India and Arabia. Pliny is expressand particular on this point, and takes notice of the precautionsemployed by the merchants there, in order to guard againstadulteration and fraud. Cinnamon, another of the exports of Arabia toRome, though not a production of that country, was also in highrepute, and brought an extravagant price. Vespasian was the first whodedicated crowns of cinnamon, inclosed in gold filagree, in theCapitol and the Temple of Peace; and Livia dedicated the root in thePalatine Temple of Augustus. The plant itself was brought to theemperor Marcus Aurelius in a case seven feet long, and was exhibitedat Rome, as a very great rarity. This, however, we are expresslyinformed came from Barbarike in India. It seems to have been highlyvalued by other nations as well as by the Romans: Antiochus Epiphanescarried a few boxes of it in a triumphal procession: and SeleucusCallinicus presented two minae of it and two of cassia, as a gift tothe king of the Milesians. In the enumeration of the gifts made bythis monarch, we may, perhaps, trace the comparative rarity and valueof the different spices of aromatics among the ancients: offrankincense he presented ten talents, of myrrh one talent, of cassiatwo pounds, of cinnamon two pounds, and of costus one pound.Frankincense and myrrh were the productions of Arabia; the otherarticles of India; of course the former could be procured with muchless difficulty and expence than the latter. Spikenard, anotherIndian commodity, also reached Rome, through Arabia, by means of theport of Alexandria. Pliny mentions, that both the leaves and thespices were of great value, and that the odour was the most esteemedin the composition of all unguents. The price at Rome was 100 denariia pound. The markets at which the Arabian and other merchants boughtit were Patala on the Indus, Ozeni, and a mart on or near theGanges.

Sugar, also, but of a quality inferior to that of India, wasimported from Arabia, through Alexandria, into Rome. The Indiansugar, which is expressly mentioned by Pliny, as better and higherpriced, was brought to Rome, but by what route is not exactly known,probably by means of the merchants who traded to the east coast ofAfrica; where the Arabians either found it, or imported it fromIndia. In the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, and likewise in therescript of the Roman emperors, relative to the articles importedinto Egypt from the East, which was promulgated by Marcus Aureliusand his son Commodus, about the year A.D. 176, it is denominatedcane-honey, otherwise called sugar (sacchar). So early, therefore, asthe Periplus (about the year A.D. 73,) the name of sacchar was knownto the Romans, and applied by them to sugar. This word does not occurin any earlier author, unless Dioscorides lived before that period,which is uncertain. It may be remarked, that the nature, as well asthe proper appellation of sugar, must have been but imperfectly, andnot generally known, even at the time of the rescript, otherwise theexplanatory phrase, honey made from cane, would not have beenemployed.

The first information respecting sugar was brought to Europe byNearchus, the admiral of Alexander. In a passage quoted from hisjournal by Strabo, it is described as honey made from reeds, therebeing no bees in that part of India. In a fragment of Theophrastus,preserved by Photius, he mentions, among other kinds of honey, onethat is found in reeds. The first mention of any preparation, bywhich the juice of the reed was thickened, occurs in Eratosthenes, asquoted by Strabo, where he describes roots of large reeds found inIndia, 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 appearto have become more common and cheaper at Rome; for he classes itwith medicines that may be easily procured. It seems probable, thatthough the Arabians undoubtedly cultivated the sugar-cane, andsupplied Rome with sugar from it, yet they derived their knowledge ofit from India; for the Arabic name, shuker, which was adopted by theGreeks and Romans, is formed from the two middle syllables of theSanskrit word, ich-shu-casa.

But to return from this digression to the view of the imports intoRome: Ethiopia supplied the capital with cinnamon of an inferiorquality; marble, gems, ivory; the horns of the rhinoceros andtortoiseshell. The last article was in great demand, and brought ahigh price: it was used for ornament, for furniture; as beds, tables,doors, &c.; not only in Italy, but in Greece and Egypt: thefinest sort was sold for its weight of silver. It was imported notonly from Ethiopia but also from the east coast of Africa, andreached Rome even from Malabar and Malacca. The opsian stonementioned in the Periplus, and the opsidian stone described by Pliny,are stated in both these authors to have come from Ethiopia; butwhether they were the same, and their exact nature, are not known.The opsian is described as capable of receiving a high polish, and onthat account as having been used by the Emperor Domitian to face aportico. Pliny describes it as employed to line rooms in the samemanner as mirrors; he distinguishes it from a spurious kind, whichwas red, but not transparent. The dye extracted from the purple shellfish was imported into Rome from Getulia, a country on the south sideof Mauritania.

Rome was supplied with the commodities of India chiefly fromEgypt; but there were other routes by which also they reached thecapital: of these it will be proper to take some notice.

The most ancient communication between India and the countries onthe Mediterranean was by the Persian Gulf, through Mesopotamia, tothe coasts of Syria and Palestine. To facilitate the commerce whichwas carried on by this route, Solomon is supposed to have builtTadmor in the wilderness, or Palmyra: the situation of this place,which, though in the midst of barren sands, is plentifully suppliedwith water, and has immediately round it a fertile soil, waspeculiarly favorable; as it was only 85 miles from the Euphrates, andabout 117 from the nearest part of the Mediterranean. By this routethe most valuable commodities of India, most of which were of suchsmall bulk as to beat the expence of a long land carriage, wereconveyed. From the age of Nebuchadnezzar to the Macedonian conquest,Tiredon on the Euphrates was the city at which this commercial routebegan, and which the Babylonians made use of, as the channel of theiroriental trade. After the destruction of Tyre by that monarch, agreat part of the traffic which had passed by Arabia, or the Red Sea,through Idumea and Egypt, and that city, was diverted to the PersianGulf, and through his territories in Mesopotamia it passed by Palmyraand Damascus, through Syria to the west. After the reduction ofBabylon by Cyrus, the Persians, who paid no attention to commerce,suffered Babylon and Ninevah to sink into ruin; but Palmyra stillremained, and flourished as a commercial city. Under theSeleucidæ it seems to have reached its highest degree ofimportance, splendour, and wealth; principally by supplying theSyrians with Indian commodities. For upwards of two centuries afterthe conquest of Syria by the Romans it remained free, and itsfriendship and alliance were courted both by them and the Parthians.During this period we have the express testimony of Appian, that ittraded with both these nations, and that Rome and the other parts ofthe empire received the commodities of India from it. In the yearA.D. 273, it was reduced and destroyed by Aurelian, who found in itan immense treasure of gold, silver, silk, and precious stones. Fromthis period, it never revived, or became a place of the leastimportance or trade.

On the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus, the commercial communicationbetween India and Europe returned to Arabia in the south, and to theCaspian and the Euxine in the north: there seem to have been tworoutes by these seas, both of great antiquity. In describing one ofthem, the ancient writers are supposed to have confounded the riverOchus, which falls into the Caspian, with the Oxus, which falls intothe lake of Aral. On this supposition, the route may be traced in thefollowing manner: the produce and manufactuers of India werecollected at Patala, a town near the mouth of the Indus; they werecarried in vessels up this river as far as it was navigable, wherethey were landed, and conveyed by caravans to the Oxus: being againshipped, they descended this river to the point where it approachednearest to the Ochus, to which they were conveyed by caravans. By theOchus they were conveyed to the Caspian, and across it to the mouthof the river Cyrus, which was ascended to where it approached nearestthe Phasis: caravans were employed again, till the merchandize wereembarked at Serapana on the Phasis, and thus brought to the BlackSea. According to Pliny, Pompey took great pains to inform himself ofthis route; and he ascertained, that by going up the Cyrus the goodswould be brought within five day's journey of the Phasis. There seemsto have been some plan formed at different times, and thought of bythe Emperor Claudius, to join Asia to Europe and the Caspian Sea, bya canal from the Cimmerian Bosphorus to the Caspian Sea.

The route which we have thus particularly described was sometimesdeviated from by the merchants: they carried their goods up the Oxustill it fell into lake Aral; crossing this, they transported them incaravans to the Caspian, and ascending the Wolga to its nearestapproach to the Tanais, they crossed to the latter by land, anddescended it to the sea of Azoph.

Strabo describes another route: viz. across the Caucasus, from theCaspian to the Black Sea; this writer, however, must be under somemistake, for camels, which he expressly says were employed, would beof no use in crossing the mountains; it is probable, therefore, thatthis land communication was round by the mouth of the Caspian,--aroute which was frequented by the merchants of the middle ages.

As the Euxine Sea was the grand point to which all these routestended, the towns on it became the resort of an immense number ofmerchants, even at very early ages; and the kingdoms of Prusias,Attalus, and Mithridates were enriched by their commerce. Herodotusmentions, that the trade of the Euxine was conducted by interpretersof seven different languages. In the time of Mithridates, 300different nations, or tribes, met for commercial purposes atDioscurias in Colchis; and soon after the Romans conquered thecountries lying on the Euxine, there were 130 interpreters oflanguages employed in this and the other trading towns. The Romans,however, as soon as they became jealous, or afraid, of the power ofthe Parthians, would not suffer them, or any other of the northernnations, to traffic by the Euxine; but endeavoured, as far as theycould, to confine the commerce of the East to Alexandria: theconsequence was, that even so early as the age of Pliny, Dioscuriaswas deserted.

The only article of import into Rome that remains to be consideredis silk: the history of the knowledge and importation of this articleamong the ancients, and the route by which it was obtained, willcomprise all that it will be necessary to say on this subject.

The knowledge of silk was first brought into Europe through theconquests of Alexander the Great. Strabo quotes a passage fromNearchus, in which it is mentioned, but apparently confounded, withcotton. It is well known that Aristotle obtained a full and accurateaccount of all the discoveries in natural history which were madeduring the conquests of Alexander, and he gives a particulardescription of the silk worm; so particular, indeed, that it issurprising how the ancients could, for nearly 600 years after hisdeath, be ignorant of the nature and origin of silk. He describes thesilk worm as a horned worm, which he calls bombyx, which passesthrough several transformations, and produces bombytria. It does notappear, however, that he was acquainted either with the nativecountry of this [work->worm], or with such a people as the Seres;and this is the only reason for believing that he may allude entirelyto a kind of silk made at Cos, especially as he adds, that some womenin this island decomposed the bombytria, and re-wove and re-spun it.Pliny also mentions the bombyx, and describes it as a natiye ofAssyria; he adds, that the Assyrians made bombytria from it, and thatthe inhabitants of Cos learnt the manufacture from them. The mostpropable supposition is, that silk was spun and wove in Assyria andCos, but the raw material imported into these countries from theSeres; for the silk worm was deemed by the Greeks and Romans soexclusively and pre-eminently the attribute of the Sinae, that fromthis very circ*mstance, they were denominated seres, or silk worms,by the ancients.

The next authors who mention silk are Virgil, and Dionysius thegeographer; Virgil supposed the Seres to card their silk fromleaves,--Velleraque ut foliis depectunt tentuiaSeres.--Dionysius, who was sent by Augustus to draw up an accountof the Oriental regions, says, that rich and valuable garments weremanufactured by the Seres from threads, finer than those of thespider, which they combed from flowers.

It is not exactly known at what period silk garments were firstworn at Rome: Lipsius, in his notes on Tacitius, says, in the reignof Julius Csesar. In the beginning of the reign of Tiberius, a lawwas made, that no man should dishonor himself by wearing a silkengarment. We have already stated the opinion entertained by Plinyrespecting the native country of the silk worm; this author condemnsin forcible, though affected language, the thirst of gain, whichexplored the remotest parts of the earth for the purpose of exposingto the public eye naked draperies and transparent matrons. In histime, slight silks, flowered, seem to have been introduced intoreligious ceremonies, as he describes crowns, in honour of thedeities, of various colours, and highly perfumed, made of silk. Thenext author who mentions silk is Pausanias; he says, the thread fromwhich the Seres form their web is not from any kind of bark, but isobtained in a different way; they have in their country a spinninginsect, which the Greeks call seer. He supposes that the insect livedfive years, and fed on green haulm: by the last particular, it is notimprobable he meant the leaves of the mulberry tree. For 200 yearsafter the age of Pliny, the use of silk was confined to the femalesex, till the richer citizens, both of the capital and the provinces,followed the example of Heliogabalus, the first man, who, accordingto Lampridius, wore holosericum that is, a garment which wasall of silk. From this expression, however, it is evident, thatprevious to this period the male inhabitants of Rome had been in thehabit of wearing garments made of silk mixed with linen orwoollen.

Hitherto there is no intimation in ancient authors of the price ofsilk at Rome; in the time of Aurelian, however, that is towards theend of the third century, we learn the high price at which it wasrated, in an indirect manner. For when the wife of that Emperorbegged of him to permit her to have but one single garment of purplesilk; he refused it, saying, that one pound of silk sold at Rome for12 ounces, or its weight of gold. This agrees with what is laid downin the Rhodian maritime laws, as they appear in the eleventh book ofthe Digests, according to which unmixed silk goods paid a salvage, ifthey were saved without being damaged by the sea water, of ten percent., as being equal in value to gold.

In about 100 years after the reign of Aurelian, however, theimportation of silk into Rome must have increased very greatly; forAmmianus Marcellinus, who flourished A.D. 380, expressly states thatsilk, which had formerly been confined to the great and rich, was, inhis time, within the purchase of the common people. Constantinoplewas founded about forty years before he wrote; and it naturally foundits way there in greater abundance than it had done, when Rome wasthe capital of the empire.

From this time, till the middle of the sixth century, we have noparticular information respecting the silk trade of the Roman empire.At this period, during the reign of Justinian, silk had become anarticle of very general and indispensible use: but the Persians hadoccupied by land and sea the monopoly of this article, so that theinhabitants of Tyre and Berytus, who had all along manufactured itfor the Roman market, were no longer able to procure a sufficientsupply, even at an extravagant price. Besides, when the manufacturedgoods were brought within the Roman territories, they were subject toa duty of ten per cent. Justinian, under these circ*mstances, veryimpolitically ordered that silk should be sold at the rate of eightpieces of gold for the pound, or about 3 l. 4s. The consequencewas such as might have been expected: silk goods were no longerimported; and to add to the injustice and the evil, Theodora, theemperor's wife, seized all the silk, and fined the merchants veryheavily. It was therefore necessary, that Justinian should haverecourse to other measures to obtain silk goods; instead, however, ofrestoring the trade of Egypt, which at this period had fallen intoutter decay, and sending vessels directly from the Red Sea to theIndian markets, where the raw material might have been procured, hehad recourse to Arabia and Abyssinia. According to Suidas, he wishedthe former to import the silk in a raw state, intending tomanufacture it in his own dominions. But the king of Abyssiniadeclined the offer; as the vicinity of the Persians to the Indianmarkets for silk enabled them to purchase it at a cheaper rate thanthe Abyssinians could procure it. The same obstacle prevented theArabians from complying with the request of Justinian.

The wealthy and luxurious Romans, therefore, must have beendeprived of this elegant material for their dresses, had not theirwishes been gratified by an unexpected event. Two Persian monkstravelled to Serindi, where they had lived long enough to becomeacquainted with the various processes for spinning and manufacturingsilk. When they returned, they communicated their information toJustinian; and were induced, by his promises, to undertake thetransportation of the eggs of the silk-worm, from China toConstantinople. Accordingly, they went back to Serindi, and broughtaway a quantity of the eggs in a hollow cane, and conveyed themsafely to Constantinople. They superintended and directed thehatching of the eggs, by the heat of a dunghill: the worms were fedon mulberry leaves: a sufficient number of butterflies were saved tokeep up the stock; and to add to the benefits already conferred, thePersian monks taught the Romans the whole of the manufacture. FromConstantinople, the silk-worms were conveyed to Greece, Sicily, andItaly. In the succeeding reign, the Romans had improved so much inthe management of the silk-worms, and in the manufacture of silk,that the Serindi ambassadors, on their arrival in Constantinople,acknowledged that the Romans were not inferior to the natives ofChina, in either of these respects. It may be mentioned, in furtherproof of the opinion already given, that the silk manufactures of Coswere not supplied from silk-worms in that island, that we have theexpress authority of Theophanes and Zonaras, that, before silk-wormswere brought to Constantinople, in the reign of Justinian, no personin that city knew that silk was produced by a worm. This, certainly,would not have been the case, if there had been silk-worms so nearConstantinople as the island of Cos is. All the authors whom we havequoted, (with the exception of Aristotle, Pliny, and Pausanias,)including a period of six centuries, supposed that silk was made fromfleeces growing upon trees, from the bark of trees, or from flowers.These mistakes, may, indeed, have arisen from the Romans having heardof the silk being taken from the mulberry and other trees, on whichthe worms feed; but, however they originated, they plainly prove thatthe native country of the silk-worm was at a very great distance fromRome, and one of which they had very little knowledge.

Having thus brought the history of this most valuable import intoRome, down to the period, when, in consequence of the Romans havingacquired the silk-worm, there existed no longer any necessity toimport the raw materials; we shall next proceed to investigate theroutes by which it was brought from the Seres to the western parts ofAsia, and thence to Rome. It is well ascertained, that the silkmanufacture was established at Tyre and Berytus, from a very earlyperiod; and these places seem to have supplied Rome with silk stuffs.But, by what route did silk arrive thither, and to the othercountries, so as to be within the immediate reach of theRomans?--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 satisfactorymanner, by some of the ancient authors, particularly the author ofthe Periplus of the Erythrean Sea. In enumerating the exports fromNelkundah, he particularly mentions silk stuffs, and adds, that theywere 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 of Barake; at this port, thevessels of the ancients rode till their lading was brought down fromNelkundah. This place seems to have been the centrical mart betweenthe countries that lie to the east and west of Cape Comorin, or thehither and further peninsula of India; fleets sailed from it toKhruse, which there is every reason to believe was part of thepeninsula of Malacca; and we have the authority of Ptolemy, thatthere was a commercial communication between it and the northernprovinces of China. But at a later period than the age of thePeriplus, silk was brought by sea from China to Ceylon, and thenceconveyed to Africa and Europe. Cosmos, who lived in the sixthcentury, informs us, that the Tzenistæ or Chinese, brought toCeylon, silks, aloes, cloves, and sandal wood. That hisTzenistsæ, are the Chinese, there can be no doubt; for hementions them as inhabiting a country producing silk, beyond whichthere is no country, for the ocean encircles it oh the east. Fromthis it is evident that the Tzenistæ of this author, and theSeres of the ancients, are the same; and in specifying the importsinto Ceylon, he mentions silk thread, as coming from countriesfarther to the east, particularly from the Chinese. We thus see bywhat sea route silk was brought from China to those places with whichthe western nations had a communication; it was imported either intothe peninsula of Malacca by sea, and thence by sea to Nelkundah,whence it was brought by a third voyage to the Red Sea; or it wasbrought directly from China to Ceylon, from which place there was aregular sea communication also with the Red Sea.

The author of the Periplus informs us, that raw as well asmanufactured silk were conveyed by land through Bactria, to Baraguzaor Guzerat, and by the Ganges to Limurike; according to this firstroute, the silks of China must have come the whole length of Tartary,from the great wall, into Bactria; from Bactria, they passed themountains to the sources of the Indus, and by that river they werebrought down to Patala, or Barbarike, in Scindi, and thence toGuzerat: the line must have been nearly the same when silk wasbrought to the sources of the Ganges; at the mouth of this river, itwas embarked for Limurike in Canara. All the silk, therefore, thatwent by land to Bactria, passed down the Indus to Guzerat; all thatdeviated more to the east, and came by Thibet, passed down the Gangesto Bengal.

A third land route by which silk was brought to the Persianmerchants, and by them sold to the Romans, was from Samarcand andBochara, through the northern provinces of China, to the metropolisof the latter country: this, however, was a long, difficult, anddangerous route. From Samarcand to the first town of the Chinese, wasa journey of from 60 to 100 days; as soon as the caravans passed theJaxartes, they entered the desert, in which they were necessarilyexposed to great privations, as well as to great risk from thewandering tribes. The merchants of Samarcand and Bochara, on theirreturn from China, transported the raw or manufactured silk intoPersia; and the Persian merchants sold it to the Romans at the fairsof Armenia and Nisibis.

Another land route is particularly described by Ptolemy: accordingto his detail, this immense inland communication began from the bayof Issus, in Cilicia; it then crossed Mesopotamia, from the Euphratesto the Tigris, near Hieropolis: it then passed through part ofAssyria and Media, to Ecbatana and the Caspian Pass; after this,through Parthia to Hecatompylos: from this place to Hyrcania; then toAntioch, in Margiana; and hence into Bactria. From Bactria, amountainous country was to be crossed, and the country of theSacæ, to Tachkend, or the Stone Tower. Near this place was thestation of those merchants who traded directly with the Seres. Thedefile of Conghez was next passed, and the region of Cosia or Cashgarthrough the country of the Itaguri, to the capital of China. Sevenmonths were employed on this journey, and the distance in a rightline amounted to 2800 miles. That the whole of this journey wassometimes performed by individuals for the purchase of silk and otherChinese commodities, we have the express testimony of Ptolemy; for heinforms us, that Maes, a Macedonian merchant, sent his agent throughthe entire route which we have just described. It is not surprising,therefore, that silk should have borne such an exorbitant price atRome; but it is astonishing 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 fromChina into Europe, seem to have corresponded, in the latter part oftheir direction, with the land routes from India, already described.Indeed, it may naturally be supposed, that the Indian merchants, assoon as they learned the high prices of silk at Rome, would purchaseit, and send it along with the produce and manufactures of their owncountry, by the caravans to Palmyra, and by river navigation to theEuxine: and we have seen, that on the capture of Palmyra, byAurelian, silk was one of the articles of plunder.

We are now to take notice of the laws which were passed by theRomans for the improvement of navigation and commerce; and in thispart of our subject we shall follow the same plan and arrangementwhich we have adopted in treating of the commerce itself; that is, weshall give a connected view of these laws, or at least the mostimportant of them, from the period when the Romans began to interestthemselves in commerce, till the decline of the empire.

These laws may be divided into three heads: first, laws relatingto the protection and privileges allowed to mariners by the Romanemperors; 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 codeof laws entirely relates to the privileges of mariners. It appears,from this, that by a law made by the Emperor Constans, and confirmedby Julian, protection was granted to them from all personal injuries;and it was expressly ordered, that they should enjoy perfectsecurity, and be defended from all sort of violence and injustice.The emperor Justinian considered this law so indispensably necessaryto secure the object which it had in view, that he not only adoptedit into his famous code, but decreed that whoever should seize andapply the ships of mariners, against their wishes, to any otherpurpose than that for which they were designed, should be punishedwith death. In the same part of his code, he repeats and confirms alaw of the emperors Valentinian, Valens, and Gratian, inflictingdeath on any one who should insult seafaring men. In another law,adopted into the same code from the statutes of former emperors,judges and magistrates are forbidden, on pain of death, to give themany manner of trouble. They were also exempted from paying tribute,though the same law which exempts them, taxes merchants. No personwho had exercised any mean or dishonourable employment was allowed tobecome a mariner; and the emperors Constantine and Julian raised themto the dignity of knights, and, shortly afterwards, they weredeclared 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 required for theprotection of the state, were obliged to conform themselves tocertain rules and conditions, otherwise the laws already quoted didnot benefit them. They were obliged to possess certain lands; and,indeed, it would seem that the profession and privileges of a marinerdepended on his retaining these lands. When these lands were sold,the purchaser was obliged to perform towards the state all thoseservices which were required of a mariner, and in return he obtainedall the privileges, dignities, and exemptions granted to that classof men. This, however, was productive of great inconvenience to thestate; since, if the lands were purchased by persons ignorant ofmaritime affairs, they could not be so effective as personsaccustomed to the sea. From this consideration a law was passed, thatwhen such lands as were held on condition of sea-service passed intothe possession of those who were unaccustomed to the sea, they shouldrevert to their original owners. It was also ordered, that suchprivileged mariners should punctually perform all services requiredof them by the state; that they should not object to carry anyparticular merchandize; that they should not take into their vesselsabove a certain quantity of goods, in order that they might not, bybeing over laden, be rendered unfit for the service of the state; andthat they should not change their employment for any other, eventhough it were more honourable or lucrative. The whole shipping, andall the seamen, seem thus to have been entirely under the managementand controul of the state; there were, however, a few exceptions.Individuals, who possessed influence sufficient, or from othercauses, were permitted to possess ships of their own, but only on theexpress condition that the state might command them and the servicesof their crews, whenever it was necessary. The legal rate of interestwas fixed by Justinian at six per cent.; but for the convenience andencouragement of trade, eight was allowed on money lent to merchantsand manufacturers; and twelve on the risk of bottomry.

2. There are several laws in the Theodosian code which relate tothe different fleets of the empire: the Eastern fleet, the principalport of which was Seleucia, a city of Syria, on the Orontes, by whichwere conveyed to Rome and Constantinople, all the orientialmerchandize that came by the land route we have described to Syria,was particularly noticed, as well as some smaller fleets depending onit, as the fleet of the island of Carpathus. The privileges grantedto the African fleet are expressly given to the Eastern fleet.

In another part of the code of Justinian, the trade between theRomans and Persians is regulated: the places were the fairs andmarkets are to be kept are fixed and named; these were near theconfines of the two kingdoms; and these confines neither party wasallowed to pass.

From a law of the emperor Constans, inserted in the Theodosiancode, it appears that some of the ships which came from Spain to Romewere freighted for the service of the state; and these areparticularly regulated and privileged in this law.

There were several laws made also respecting the fleet which theemperors employed for the purpose of collecting the tribute andrevenue, and conveying it to Home and Constantinople. The law of theemperors Leo and Zeno, which is inserted in the Justinian code,mentions the fleet which was kept to guard the treasures: and byanother law, taken from the Theodosian code, we learn, that theguards of the treasures, who went in this fleet, were officers underthe superintendent of the imperial revenue.

3. We have already mentioned the dependence of Rome on foreignnations for corn, and the encouragement given, during the republicand in the early times of the empire, to the importation of thisnecessary article. In the Theodosian and Justinian code,encouragement to the importation of it seems still to have been aparamount object, especially from Egypt; for though from an edict ofJustinian it would appear that the cargoes from this country, ofwhatever they consisted, were guarded and encouraged by law, yet weknow that the principal freight of the ships which traded betweenAlexandria and Rome and Constantinople was corn, and that othermerchandize was taken on board the corn fleets only on particularoccasions, or, where it was necessary, to complete the cargoes. Amongthe other edicts of Justinian, regulating the trade of Egypt, thereis one which seems to have been passed in consequence of the abusesthat had crept into the trade of corn and other commodities, whichwere shipped from Alexandria for Constantinople. These abuses arosefrom the management of this trade being in the hands of a very fewpersons: the emperor therefore passed a law, dividing the managementinto different branches, each to be held by separate individuals.From the code of Justinian we also learn, that corn was embarked fromother ports of Egypt besides Alexandria, by private merchants; butthese were not permitted to export it without permission of theemperor, and even then not till after the imperial fleet was fairlyat sea. The importance of the corn trade of Egypt fully justifiedthese laws; for at this period Constantinople was annually suppliedwith 260,000 quarters of wheat from this country.

The resources of the Romans were principally derived from thetribute levied on the conquered countries; but in part also fromduties on merchandize: in the latter point of view, alone, they fallunder our notice. No custom duties seem to have been imposed till thetime of Augustus; but in his reign, and that of his immediatesuccessors, duties were imposed on every kind of merchandize whichwas imported into Rome; the rate varied from the eighth to thefortieth part of the value of the article. The most full and minutelist of articles of luxury on which custom duties were levied, is tobe found in the rescript of the emperors Marcus and Commodus,relating to the goods imported into Egypt from the East. In thepreamble to this rescript it is expressly declared, that no blameshall attach to the collectors of the customs, for not informing themerchant of the amount of the custom duties while the goods are intransit; but if the merchant wishes to enter them, the officer is notto lead him into error. The chief and most valuable articles onwhich, by this rescript, duties were to be levied, were cinnamon,myrrh, pepper, ginger, and aromatics; precious stones; Parthian andBabylonian leather; cottons; silks, raw and manufactured: ebony,ivory, and eunuchs.

Till the reign of Justinian, the straits of the Bosphorus andHellespont were open to the freedom of trade, nothing beingprohibited but the exportation of arms for the service of thebarbarians: but the avarice, or the profusion of that emperor,stationed at each of the gates of Constantinople a praetor, whoseduty 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 vesselsand merchandize that entered the harbour. This emperor also exactedin a most rigorous manner, a duty in kind: which, however, hadexisted long before his time: we allude to the annona, or supply ofcorn for use of the army and capital. This was a grievous andarbitrary exaction: rendered still more so "by the partial injusticeof weights and measures, and the expence and labour of distantcarriage." In a time of scarcity, Justinian ordered an extraordinaryrequisition of corn to be levied on Thrace, Bithynia, and Phrygia;for which the proprietors, (as Gibbon observes,) "after a wearisomejourney, and a perilous navigation received so inadequate acompensation, that they would have chosen the alternative ofdelivering both the corn and price at the doors of theirgranaries."

Having thus given a connected and general view of the Romancommerce, we shall next proceed to investigate the progress ofgeographical knowledge among them. In our chronological arrangementof this progress, incidental and detached notices respecting theircommerce will occur, which, though they could not well be introducedin the general view, yet will serve to render the picture of it morecomplete.

It is evident that the principal accessions to geographicalknowledge among the Romans, at least till their ambition wassatinted, or nearly so, by conquest, must have been derived fromtheir military expeditions. It is only towards the time of Augustusthat we find men, whose sole object in visiting foreign countries wasto become acquainted with their state, manners, &c.

Polybius is one of the earliest authors who give us a glimpse ofthe state of geographical knowledge among the Romans, about themiddle of the second century before Christ, the period when heflourished. lie was the great friend of Scipio, whom he accompaniedin his expedition against Carthage. From his enquiries while inAfrica, he informed himself of the geography of the northern parts ofthat quarter of the world; and he actually visited the coast as faras Mount Atlas, or Cape Nun, beyond which, however, he does not seemto have proceeded. He wrote a Periplus, or account of his voyage,which is not in existence, but is referred to and quoted by Pliny. Hepossessed also more accurate information of the western coasts ofEurope than was had before; derived, it would appear, from thevoyages of some Romans. Yet, with all this knowledge of what we maydeem distant parts, Polybius was ignorant of the real shape of Italy,which he describes as stretching from east to west; a mistake whichseems to have originated with him, and was copied by Strabo.

Varro, who was Pompey's lieutenant during the war against thepirates, and obtained a naval crown on that occasion, among thealmost infinite variety of topics on which he wrote, was the authorof a work on navigation; unfortunately, however, only the title of itis extant: had it yet remained, it would have thrown much light onthe state of navigation, geography, and commerce among the Romans inhis time.

Julius Caesar's attention to science in the midst of his wars andperils is well known. He first formed the idea of a general survey ofthe whole empire; and for this purpose obtained a decree of thesenate. The survey was finished by Augustus: the execution of it wascommitted to three Greek geographers. The survey of the easternportion of the empire was committed to Zenodoxus, who completed it,in fourteen years, five months, and nine days. The northern divisionwas finished by Theodoras in twenty years, eight months, and tendays: and the southern division was finished in twenty-five years,one month, and ten days. This survey, with the supplementary surveysof the new provinces, as they were conquered and added to the empire,formed the basis of the geography of Ptolemy. It appears fromVegetius, that every governor of a province was furnished with adescription of it, in which were given the distance of places, thenature of the roads, the face of the country, the direction of therivers, &c.: he adds, that all these were delineated on a map aswell as described in writing. Of this excellent plan for theitineraries and surveys of the Roman empire, from which the ancientgeographers obtained their fullest and most accurate information,Julius Cæsar was the author.

Julius Cæsar certainly added much to geographical knowledgeby his conquests of Gaul and Britain: his information respecting thelatter, however, as might be expected, is very erroneous. Yet, thateven its very northern parts were known by name to the Romans soonafter his death, is apparent, from this circ*mstance, that DiodorusSiculus, who died towards the middle of the reign of Augustus,mentions Orkas; which, he says, forms the northern extremity of theisland of Britain. This is the very first mention of any place inScotland by any writer.

One of the first objects of Augustus, after he had reduced Egypt,was to explore the interior of Africa, either for the purpose ofconquest, or to obtain the precious commodities, especiallyfrankincense and aromatics, which he had learned were the produce ofthose countries. Ælius Gallus was selected by the emperor forthis expedition, and he was accompanied by the geographer Strabo;who, however, has not given such accurate information of the routewhich was pursued as might have been expected. This is the more to belamented, as Pliny informs us that the places which were visitedduring this expedition are not to be found in authors previous to histime.

Gallus was directed by the emperor to explore Ethiopia, thecountry of the Troglodytæ and Arabia. The expedition againstEthiopia, which Gallus entrusted to Petronius, we shall afterwardsexamine, confining ourselves at present to the proceedings andprogress of Gallus himself. His own force consisted of 10,000 men, towhich were added 500, supplied by Herod, king of the Jews; and 1000Nabathians from Petra; besides a fleet of eighty ships of war and 130transports. Syllæus, the minister of the king of theNabathians, undertook to conduct the expedition; but as it was notfor the interest either of his king or country that it shouldsucceed, he betrayed his trust, and, according to Strabo, wasexecuted at Rome for his treachery on this occasion. His object wasto delay the expedition as much as possible: this he effected bypersuading Gallus to prepare a fleet, which was unnecessary, as thearmy might have followed the route of the caravans, through afriendly country, from Cleopatris, where the expedition commenced, tothe head of the Elanitic Gulf. The troops, however, were embarked,and, as the navigation of the Sea of Suez was intricate, the fleetwas fifteen days in arriving at Leuke Kome: here, in consequence ofthe soldiers having become, during their voyage, afflicted withvarious disorders, and the year being far advanced, Gallus wasobliged to remain till the spring. Another delay was contrived bySyllæus on their leaving Leuke Kome. After this, they seem tohave proceeded with more celerity, and with very little oppositionfrom the natives, till they came to a city of some strength: thisthey were obliged to besiege in regular form; but, after lying beforeit for six days, Gallus was forced, for want of water, to raise thesiege, and to terminate the expedition. He was told that at this timehe was within two days' journey of the land of aromatics andfrankincense, the great object which Augustus had in view. On hisretreat, he no longer trusted to Syllæus, but changed the routeof the army, directing it from the interior to the coast. At Nera, inPetræa, the army embarked, and was eleven days in crossing thegulf to Myos Hormos: from this place it traversed the country of theTroglodytes to Coptus, on the Nile. Two years were spent in thisunfortunate expedition. It is extremely difficult to fix on the limitof this expedition, but it is probable that the town which Gallusbesieged, and beyond which he did not penetrate, was the capital ofthe Mineans. From the time of this expedition, the Romans alwaysmaintained a footing on the coast of the Red Sea; and either duringthe residence of Gallus at Leuke Kome, or soon afterwards, theyplaced a garrison in this place, where they collected the customs,gradually extending their conquests and their geographical knowledgedown the Gulf, till they reached the ocean. This seems to have beenthe only beneficial consequence resulting from the expedition ofGallus.

We must now attend to the expedition of Petronius against theEthiopians. This was completely successful, and Candakè, theirqueen, was obliged, as a token of her submission, to send ambassadorsto Augustus, who was at that time in the island of Samos. About thisperiod the commerce of the Egyptians,--which, in fact, was thecommerce of the Romans,--was extended to the Troglodytes,--with whompreviously they had carried on little or no trade.

The first account of the island of Ceylon, under the name ofTaprobane, was brought to Europe by the Macedonians, who hadaccompanied Alexander into the east. It is mentioned, and a shortdescription given of it, by Onesicritus and Eratosthenes. Iambulus,however, who lived in the time of Augustus, is the first author whoenters into any details regarding it; and though much of what hestates is undoubtedly fabulous, yet there are particularssurprizingly correct, and such as confirm his own account, that heactually, visited the island. According to Diodorus Siculus, he wasthe son of a merchant, and a merchant himself; and while trading inArabia 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 most curious and most conformable to truth, are the statureof the natives and the flexibility of their joints; the length oftheir ears, bored and pendant; the perpetual verdure of the trees;the attachment of the natives to astronomy; their worship of theelements, and particularly of the sun and moon; their cottongarments; the men having one wife in common; the days and nightsbeing equal in length; and the Calamus, or Maiz. It is extraordinary,howeve'r, that Iambulus never mentions cinnamon, which, as he was adealer in spices, it might have been supposed would have attractedhis particular attention.

One of the most celebrated geographers among the ancients,flourished during the reign of Augustus;--we allude to Strabo: hisfundamental principles are, the globosity of the earth, and itscentripetal force; he also lays down rules for constructing globes,but he seems ignorant of the mode of fixing the position of places bytheir latitude or longitude, or, at least, he neglects it. In orderto render his geographical knowledge more accurate and complete, hetravelled over most of the countries between Armenia on the east andEtruria on the west, and from his native country, on the borders ofthe Euxine sea, to the borders of Ethiopia. The portion of the globewhich he describes, is bounded on the north by the Baltic, on theeast by the Ganges, on the south by the mouth of the river Senegal,and on the west by Spain. In describing the countries which hehimself had visited, he is generally very accurate, but his accountsof those he had not visited, are frequently erroneous or veryincomplete. His information respecting Ceylon and the countries ofthe Ganges, seems to have been derived entirely from the statementsbrought to Europe by the generals of Alexander.

In the reign of Claudius, the knowledge of the Romans respectingthe interior of Africa, was slightly extended by the expedition ofSuetonius Paulinus; he was the first Roman who crossed Mount Atlas,and during the winter penetrated through the deserts, which aredescribed as formed of black dust, till he reached a river called theNiger. Paulinus wrote an account of this expedition, which, however,is not extant: Pliny quotes it. In the reign of Claudius, also, theisland of Ceylon became better known, in consequence of an accidentwhich happened to the freedman of a Roman, who farmed the customs inthe Red Sea. This man, in the execution of his duty, was blown offthe coast of Arabia, across the ocean to Taprobane, or Ceylon; herehe was hospitably received by the king, and after a residence of sixmonths was sent back, along with ambassadors, to Claudius. Theyinformed the emperor that their country was very extensive, populous,and opulent, abounding in gold, silver, and pearls. It seems probablethat the circ*mstance of the freedman having been carried to Ceylonby a steady and regular wind, and this man and the ambassadors havingreturned by a wind directly opposite, but as steady and regular, hadsome influence in the discovery of the monsoon. As this discovery lednecessarily to a direct communication between Africa and India, andgrea'ly enlarged the knowledge of the Romans respecting the lattercountry, as well as their commercial connections with it, it will beproper to notice it in a particular manner.

This important discovery is supposed to have been made in theseventh year of the reign of Claudius, answering to the forty-seventhof the Christian era. The following is the account given of it by theauthor of the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, as translated by Dr.Vincent:

"The whole navigation, such as it has been described from Adan inArabia Felix and Kanè to the ports of India, was performedformerly in small vessels, by adhering to the shore and following theindention of the coast; but Hippalus was the pilot who firstdiscovered the direct course across the ocean, by observing theposition of the ports and the general appearance of the sea; for, atthe season when the annual winds peculiar to our climate settle inthe north, and blow for a continuance upon our coast from theMediterranean, in the Indian ocean the wind is constantly to thesouth west; and this wind has in those seas obtained the name ofHippalus, from the pilot who first attempted the passage by means ofit to the east.

"From the period of that discovery to the present time, vesselsbound to India take their departure either from Kanè on theArabian, or from Cape Arometa on the African side. From these pointsthey stretch out to the open sea at once, leaving all the windings ofthe gulfs and bays at a distance, and make directly for their severaldestinations on the coast of India. Those that are intended forLimurike waiting some time before they sail, but those that aredestined for Barugaza, or Scindi, seldom more than three days."

If we may credit Pliny, the Greek merchants of Egypt for someyears after the discovery of the monsoon, did not venture further outto sea than was absolutely necessary, by crossing the widest part ofthe entry of the Persian Gulf, to reach Patala at the mouth of theIndus; but they afterwards found shorter routes, or rather stretchedmore to the south, so as to reach 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 presentinfested this part of the Indian coast, they put on board theirvessels a band of archers. Myos Hormos, or Berenice, was the port onthe Red Sea from which they sailed; in forty days they arrived atMusiris, on the west coast of India. The homeward passage was begunin December or January, when the north east monsoon commenced; thiscarried them to the entrance of the Red Sea, up which to their portthey were generally favored by southerly winds.

As there is no good reason to believe that the ancients maderegular voyages to India, previously to the discovery of themonsoons; yet, as it is an undoubted fact that some of the exclusiveproductions of that country, particularly cinnamon, were obtained bythem, through their voyages on the Red Sea; it becomes an importantand interesting enquiry, by what means these productions were broughtto those places on this sea, from which the Romans obtained them. Inour opinion, the Arabians were the first who introduced Indianproductions into the west from the earliest period to which historygoes back, and they continued to supply the merchants who traded onthe Red Sea with them, till, by the discovery of the monsoon, adirect communication was opened between that sea and India.

At least seventeen centuries before the Christian era, we haveundoubted evidence of the traffic of the Arabians in the spices,&c. of India; for in the 27th chapter of Genesis we learn, thatthe Ishmaelites from Gilead conducted a caravan of camels laden withthe spices of India, and the balsam and myrrh of Hadraumaut, in theregular course of traffic to Egypt for sale. In the 30th chapter ofExodus, cinnamon, cassia, myrrh, frankincense, &c. are mentioned,some of which are the exclusive produce of India; these were used forreligious purposes, but at the same time the quantities of themspecified are so great, that it is evident they must have been easilyobtained. Spices are mentioned, along with balm and other productionsof Canaan, in the present destined by Jacob for Joseph. Thesetestimonies from holy writ are perfectly in unison with what we learnfrom Herodotus; this author enumerates oriental spices as regularlyused in Egypt for embalming the dead.

It is sufficiently evident, therefore, that, at a very earlyperiod, the productions of India were imported into Egypt. That theArabians were the merchants who imported them, is rendered highlyprobable from several circ*mstances. The Ishmaelites, mentioned inthe 37th chapter of Genesis, are undoubtedly the Nabathians, whosecountry is represented by all the geographers, historians, and poets,as the source of all the precious commodities of the east; theancients, erroneously supposing that cinnamon, which we know to be anexclusive production of India, was the produce of Arabia, becausethey were supplied with it, along with other aromatics, from thatcountry. The proof that the Nabathians and the Ishmaelites are thesame, is to be found in the evident derivation of the former name,from Nebaioth, the son of Ishmael. The traditions of the Arabianscoincide with the genealogy of the Scriptures, in regarding Joktan,the fourth son of Shem, as the origin of those trihes which occupiedSabæa and Hadraumaut, or the incense country; Ishmael as thefather of the families which settled in Arabia Deserta; and Edom asthe ancestor of the Idumeans, who settled in Arabia Petræa.

Eight hundred years before the Christian era, the merchandize ofthe Sabeans is particularly noticed by the prophet Isaiah; and evenlong before his time, we are informed, that there were no such spicesas the Queen of Sheba gave to Solomon. That Sheba is Sabæa, orArabia Felix, we learn from Ezekiel:--"The merchants of Sheba andRamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chiefof all spices, and with all precious stones and gold." Six hundredand fifty years after Isaiah bore his testimony to the commerce ofSabæa, we have the authority of Agatharcides, that themerchants of this country traded to India; that the great wealth andluxury of Sabæa were principally derived from this trade; andthat, at the time when Egypt possessed the monopoly of the Indiantrade, with respect to Europe, the Sabeans enjoyed a similaradvantage with regard to Egypt.

Having thus established the fact, that, from the earliest periodof which we have any record, the Arabians were the merchants whobrought the cinnamon, &c. of India into the west, we must, in thenext place, endeavour to ascertain by what means and route thiscommerce was carried on; and we think we can prove that thecommunication between Arabia and India, at a very early period, wasboth by sea and land.

There were many circ*mstances connected with Arabia and theArabians, which would necessarily turn their thoughts to maritimeaffairs, and when they had once embarked in maritime commerce, wouldparticularly direct it to India. The sea washed three sides of thepeninsula of Arabia: the Arabians were not, like the Egyptians,prejudiced, either by their habits or their religion, against thesea. The monsoons must have been perceived by them, from part of thesea-coast lying within their influence; and it can hardly be supposedthat a sea-faring people would not take advantage of them, to embarkin such a lucrative trade as that of India. "There is no historywhich treats of them which does not notice them as pirates, ormerchants, by sea, as robbers, or traders, by land. We scarcely touchupon them, accidentally, in any author, without finding that theywere the carriers of the Indian Ocean." From the earliest period thathistory begins to notice them, Sabæa, Hadraumaut, and Oman, aredescribed as the residences of navigators; and as these places are,in the earliest historians, celebrated for their maritime commerce,it is reasonable to suppose that they were equally so before theancient historians acquired any knowledge of them.

We cannot go farther back, with respect to the fact of theArabians being in India, than the voyage of Nearchus; but in thejournal of this navigator, we find manifest traces of Arabiannavigators on the coast of Mekran, previous to his expedition: healso found proofs of their commerce on the coast of Gadrosia, andArabic names of places--a pilot to direct him, and vessels of thecountry in the Gulf of Persia. Large ships from the Indus, Patala,Persis, and Karmania came to Arabia, as early as the time ofa*gatharcides; and it is probable that these ships were navigated byArabians, as the inhabitants of India were not, at this time, and,indeed, never have been celebrated for their maritime enterprize andskill. The same author mentions a town, a little without the Red Sea,from whence, he says, the Sabeans sent out colonies or factories intoIndia, and to which the large ships he describes came with theircargoes from India. This is the first historical evidence to provethe establishment of Arabian factories and merchants in the ports ofIndia. In the time of Pliny, the Arabians were in such numbers on thecoast of Malabar, and at Ceylon, that, according to that author, theinhabitants of the former had embraced their religion, and the portsof the latter were entirely in their power. Their settlements andcommerce in India are repeatedly mentioned in the Periplus of theErythrean Sea, and likewise their settlements down the coast ofAfrica to Rhaptum, before it was visited by the Greeks from Egypt.For, besides their voyages from India to their own country, theyfrequently brought Indian commodities direct to the coast of Africa.At Sabaea, the great mart of the Arabian commerce with India, theGreeks, as late as the reign of Philometor, purchased the spices andother productions of the east. As there was a complete monopoly ofthem at this place, in the hands of the Arabians, the Greeknavigators and merchants were induced, in the hopes of obtaining themcheaper, to pass the Straits of Babelmandeb, and on the coast ofAfrica they found cinnamon and other produce of India, which had beenbrought hither by the Arabian traders.

The evidence of the land trade between Arabia and India, from avery early period, is equally clear and decisive: Petra, the capitalof Arabia Petrea, was the centre of this trade. To it the caravans,in all ages, came from Minea, in the interior of Arabia, and fromGherra, in the Gulf of Persia,--from Hadraumaut, on the Ocean, andsome even from Sabaea. From Petra, the trade again spread in everydirection--to Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, through Arsinoe, Gaza,Tyre, Jerusalem, Damascus, and other places of less consequence, alllying on routes terminating in the Mediterranean.

The Gherrheans, who were a Babylonian colony settled in that partof Arabia, which extends along the south coast of the Persian Gulf,are the earliest conductors of caravans upon record. They are firstmentioned by Agatharcides, who compares their wealth with that of theSabeans, and describes them as the agents for all the preciouscommodities of Asia and Europe: he adds that they brought much wealthinto Syria, and furnished a variety of articles, which wereafterwards manufactured or resold by the Phoenicians. But the onlyroute by which Syria and Phoenicia could have been supplied by them,was through Petra. The particular articles with which their caravanswere loaded, according to Strabo, were the produce of Arabia, and thespices of India. Besides the route of their caravans, across thewhole peninsula to Petra, it appears that they sometimes carriedtheir merchandize in boats up the Euphrates to Babylon, or even 240miles higher up, to Thapsacus, and thence dispersed it in alldirections by land.

The exact site of the country of the Mineans cannot be certainlyfixed; but it is probable that it was to the south of Hedjaz, to thenorth of Hadraumaut, and to the eastward of Sabaea. According toStrabo, their caravans passed in seventy days from Hadraumaut toAisla, which was within ten miles of Petra. They were laden withaloes, gold, myrrh, frankincense, and other aromatics.

We can but faintly and obscurely trace the fluctuations in thetrade of Petra, in the remote periods of history. We know thatSolomon was in possession of Idumea, but whether it was subdued byNebuchadnezzar is doubtful. This sovereign, however, seems to haveformed some plan of depriving the Gherrheans of the commerce of theGulf of Persia. He raised a mound to confine the waters of theTigris: he built a city to stop the incursions of the Arabs, andopened a communication between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. Afterthis there is no account of Idumea till some years subsequent to thedeath of Alexander the Great: at this period two expeditions weresent into it against its capital, Petra, by Antigonus, both of whichwere unsuccessful. These expeditions were undertaken about the years308 and 309 before Christ. The history of Idumea, from this period,is better ascertained: harassed by the powerful kingdoms of Syria andEgypt,--contiguous to both of which it lay,--it seems to have beengoverned by princes of its own, who were partly independent, andpartly under the influence of the monarchs of Syria and Egypt. Aboutsixty-three years before Christ, Pompey took Petra; and, from thatperiod, the sovereigns of Idumea were tributary to the Romans. Thiscity, however, still retained its commerce, and was in a flourishingcondition, as we are informed by Strabo, on the authority of hisfriend Athenedorus, who visited it about thirty-six years after it.He describes it as built on a rock, distinguished, however, from allthe rocks in that part of Arabia, from being supplied with anabundant spring of water. Its natural position, as well as art,rendered it a fortress of importance in the desert. He represents thepeople as rich, civilized, and peaceable; the government as regal,but the chief power as lodged in a minister selected by the king, whohad the title of the king's brother. Syllaeus, who betrayed EliusGallus, appears to have been a minister of this description.

The next mention that occurs of the trade of Petra is in thePeriplus of the Erythrean Sea, the date of which, though uncertain,there is good reason to fix in Nero's reign. According to this work,Leuke Kome, at the mouth of the Elanitic Gulf, was the point ofcommunication with Petra, the capital of the country, the residenceof Malachus, the king of the Nabathians. "Leuke Kome, itself, had therank of a mart in respect to the small vessels which obtained theircargoes in Arabia, for which reason there was a garrison placed init, under the command of a centurion, both for the purpose ofprotection, and in order to collect a duty of twenty-five in thehundred." In the reign of Trajan, Idumea was reduced into the form ofa Roman province, by one of his generals; after this time it not doesfall within our plan to notice it, except merely to state, that itssubjection does not seem to have been complete or permanent, forduring the latter empire, there were certainly sovereigns of thispart of Arabia, in some degree independent, whose influence andalliance were courted by the Romans and Persians, whenever a war wasabout to commence between these two powers.

From this sketch of the trade of the Arabians from the earliestperiod, we may conclude, in the first place, that when navigation wasin its infancy, it was confined, or almost entirely so, to a landtrade carried on by caravans; and that Petra was the centre to whichthese caravans tended from the east and the south, bringing with themfrom the former the commodities of India, and from the latter thecommodities of the more fertile part of Arabia. From Petra, all thesegoods were again transported by land to the shores of theMediterranean and to Egypt. In the second place, when navigationbecame more commonly known and practised, (and there is good reasonto believe that it was known and practised among the Arabians,especially those near the Persian Gulf, at a very early period,) aportion of the Indian commodities, which before had been carried byland to Petra were brought by sea to Sabaea. It appears that in theage of Agatharcides, the monopoly of the trade between India andEurope by this route was wholly possessed by the Sabeans; that, inorder to evade the effects of this monopoly, the Greeks of Egyptfound their way to Aden and Hadraumaut, in Arabia, and to Mosullon onthe coast of Africa. Here they met with other Arabians, who at thistime also traded to India, and sold them Indian goods at a cheaperrate. And, lastly, we have seen that these ports on the southerncoast of Arabia, and on the coast of Africa, were frequented by themerchants of Egypt, till, by the discovery of the monsoon, theirships were enabled to sail directly to India. It is undoubtedly truethat before this discovery, single ships occasionally reached Indiaby adhering to the coast all the way, but the direct communicationwas very rare. After the nature of the monsoon was thoroughlyunderstood, and it was ascertained that complete dependence could beplaced on its steadiness and regularity, and that by its change, theships could be brought as safely and quickly back from India, as theyhad reached it, the ancients, who at first only ventured to the mouthof the Indus, gradually made their way down the western coast of theIndian peninsula.

The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, a work which has beenfrequently referred to, is rich in materials to illustrate thegeographical knowledge and the commercial enterprize of the ancientsin the part of the world to which it relates. We have alreadyassigned its date to the age of Nero. Our limits will prevent us fromgiving a full account of this work; we shall therefore, in the firstplace, give a short abstract of the geographical knowledge which itdisplays, and in the next place, illustrate from it, the nature ofthe commerce carried on, on the Red Sea, the adjacent coasts ofAfrica and Arabia, and the ports of India, which are noticed init.

At the time of Strabo, the geography of the ancients did notextend, on the eastern coast of Africa, further to the south than apromontory called Noti Cornu, (the Southern Horn,) which seems tohave been in about 12-1/2 degrees north latitude. Beyond this an aridcoast, without ports or fresh water, arrested the progress ofnavigation; but it appears by the Periplus, that this promontory wasnow passed, and commerce had extended to the port of Rhapta and theisle of Menutias, which are supposed to correspond with Babel Velhoand the island of Magadoxa. The author of the Periplus, who seems tohave been a merchant personally acquainted with most of the places hedescribes, had heard of, but not visited the promontory Prasum: herepresents the ocean beyond Rhapta as entirely unknown, but asbelieved to continue its western direction, and after having washedthe south coast of Ethiopia, to join the Western Ocean. The whole ofthe west coast of India, from the Indus to Trapobane, is minutelydescribed in the Periplus. Some of the particulars of the manners andcustoms of the inhabitants coincide in a striking manner with thoseof the present day; this observation applies, among other points, tothe pirates between Bombay and Goa.

Dr. Vincent, in his learned commentary on the Periplus, gives itas his opinion, that the author of the Periplus never went furtherthan Nelkundah himself, that is, to the boundary between theprovinces of Canara and Malabar. The east coast of the Indianpeninsula is not traced so minutely nor so accurately as the westcoast, though there are names and descriptions in the Periplus, fromwhich it may fairly be inferred, that the author alludes to Cavary,Masulapatam, Calingapatam, Coromandel, and other places and districtsof this part of India. The countries beyond the Ganges, the GoldenChersonese, and the countries towards China, are very obscurelynoticed in the Periplus, though the information he gives respectingthe trade carried on in these parts is much more minute and accurate.His description of the direction of the coast of India, is on thewhole, surprisingly consonant to truth: according to him, it tendsfrom north to south, as far as Colchos (Travancore); at this place itbends to the east, and afterwards to the north; and then again alittle to the east, as far as the Ganges. He is the first author inwhom can clearly be traced the name of the great southern division ofIndia: his term is Dachanabades,--Dachan signifying south, and abad acity; and Decan is still the general name of all the country to thesouth of Baroche, the boundary assigned by the author. Theparticulars he mentions of the bay of Cutch, of Cambay, of Baroche,and of the Ghauts, may also be mentioned as proofs of his accuracywith respect to those parts of India, which he visited in person.

Having thus given a sketch of the geographical knowledge containedthe Periplus, we shall next attend to the commercial informationwhich it conveys. As this work is divided into two distinct parts,the first comprising the coast of the Red Sea, and of Africa, fromMyos Hormos on the former, to Rhapta in the latter: and the secondpart, beginning at the same place, and including the whole coast ofArabia, both that which lies on the Red Sea, and that which lies onthe Ocean, and then stretching from the Gulf of Persia to Guzerat,describing the coast of Malabar, as far as Ceylon, we shall, in ourabstract of the commercial intelligence it contains, enumerate theprincipal 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 firstport of Egypt on the Red Sea; as it lies in twenty-seven degreesnorth latitude, and Rhapta, the boundary of the Periplus to thesouth, in nearly ten degrees south latitude, the distance betweenthem will be about 2,500 miles. It is to be supposed, that everything relating to the geography, navigation, and commerce of the RedSea, from Myos Hormos to Aduli, on the western side, and Moosa, onthe eastern side of it, was well known to the merchants of Egypt, asthe author of the Periplus gives no circ*mstantial account of anyport, till he arrives at these places. It appears, also, that tillthe ships arrived at these places, they kept the mid-channel of theRed Sea, and, consequently, there was no occasion, or indeed,opportunity of describing the intermediate ports. We have alreadymentioned, that Myos Hormos was fixed on by Ptolemy Philadelphus, inpreference to Arsinoe, because the navigation of the western part ofthe Red Sea, on which the latter was placed, was intricate andtedious. Berenice was afterwards selected, as being still lower down:but it is worthy of remark, that neither Berenice, nor PtolemaisTheron, another port of the Ptolemies, were harbours, but merelyroadsteads, though from our author's description, there were analmost infinite number of safe harbours, creeks, bays, &c. inevery part of the Red Sea.

Aduli, the first port on the west side of the Red Sea, and theport of communication with Axuma, was, in the age of the Periplus,subject to the same prince, who possessed the whole coast, fromBerenice. The exports from this place were confined to ivory, broughtfrom the interior on both sides of the Nile; the horns of therhinoceros, and tortoise-shell. The imports were very numerous,forming an assortment, as Dr. Vincent justly observes, as specific asa modern invoice: the principal articles were, cloth, manufactured inEgypt, unmilled, for the Barbarian market. The term, Barbarii, wasapplied to the Egyptians, to the whole western coast of the Red Sea,and was derived from Barbar, the native name of the country inhabitedby the Troglodytes, Icthyophagi, and shepherds: as these were muchhated and dreaded by the Egyptians, Barbarii became a term ofreproach and dread, and in this sense it was adopted by the Greeksand Romans, and has passed into the modern European languages. But toreturn from this digression,--the other imports were robes,manufactured at Arsinoe; cloths dyed, so as to imitate the Tyrianpurple; linens, fringed mantles, glass or crystal, murrhine cups,orichalchum, or mixed metal for trinkets and coin; brass vessels forcooking, the pieces of which, when they happened to be broken, wereworn by the women as ornaments; iron, for weapons and other purposes;knives, daggers, hatchets, &c.; brass bowls, wine, oil, gold andsilver plate, camp cloaks, and cover-lids: these formed the principalarticles of import from Myos Hormos, and as they are very numerous,compared with the exports, it seems surprising that coin should alsohave been imported, but that this was the case, we are expressly toldby the author of the Periplus, who particularizes Roman currency,under the name of Denarii. The following articles imported intoAduli, must have come through Arabia, from India: Indian iron; Indiancottons; coverlids, and sashes made of cotton; cotton cloth, dyed thecolour of the mallow-flower, and a few muslins.

The Periplus next passes without the Straits of Babelmandeb: onthe African side, four principal marts are mentioned, to all of whichthe epithet of Tapera, is applied, signifying their position beyondthe straits. The first of these marts is Abalitis: as this place hadno port, goods were conveyed to the ships in boats and rafts; theywere also employed by the natives, in carrying on a trade with theopposite ports of Arabia: what they imported from Arabia, is notspecified; but they exported thither gums, a small quantity of ivory,tortoise-shell, and myrrh of the finest quality. This last articlebeing purchased by the Greek merchants, in Sabæa, was regardedby them as a native production of that part of Arabia, when, inreality, as we learn from the Periplus, it was the produce of Africa.There were imported into Abalitis, from Egypt, flint glass, and glassvessels unsorted; unripe grapes from Diospolis, which were used tomake the rob of grapes; unmilled cloths, for the Barbaric market;corn, wine, and tin; the last article must have come fromBritain.

The next mart is Malao, likewise a roadstead; the imports were thesame as those of Abalitis, with the addition of tunics; cloaksmanufactured at Arsinoe, milled and dyed; iron, and a small quantityof specie: the exports were, myrrh, frankincense, cassia, inferiorcinnamon, substituted for the oriential; gum, and a few slaves. Theonly article of export peculiar to the third mart, Mundus, was afragrant gum, which seems to have grown only in its vicinity.

The fourth and last mart mentioned as lying on the African side ofthe channel, which opens from the Straits of Babelmandeb, isMosullon; this was the most important mart on the whole coast, andthat which gave a specific name to the trade of the ancients: theimports were numerous, comprising, besides those already mentioned,some that were peculiar to this place, such as vessels of silver, asmall quantity of iron, and flint glass: the exports were, cinnamon,of an inferior quality; the quantity of this article is noticed as sogreat, that larger vessels were employed in the trade of this port,expressly for conveying it, than were seen in the other ports ofAfrica. We are informed by Pliny, that Mosullon was a great marketfor cinnamon,--and it would seem, from its being conveyed in largevessels by sea, that it came from Arabia. The cinnamon mentioned inthe Periplus, is, indeed, particularized as of an inferior quality,which is directly at variance with the authority of Dioscorides, whoexpressly states that the Mosulletic species is one of prime quality;if this were the case, it must have been Indian. The other exportswere gums, drugs, tortoise-shell, incense, frankincense, brought fromdistant places; ivory, and a small quantity of myrrh. The abundanceof aromatic articles, which the Greeks procured on this part of thecoast, induced them to give the name of Aromatic to the wholecountry, and particularly to the town and promontory at the easternextremity of it. Cape Aromata, the Gardefan of the moderns, is notonly the extreme point east of the continent of Africa, but alsoforms the southern point of entrance on the approach to the Red Sea,and is the boundary of the monsoon. At the marts between Mosullon andthis Cape, no articles of commerce are specified, exceptfrankincense, in great abundance and of the best quality, atAlkannai. At the Cape itself, there was a mart, with an exposedroadsted; 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 themoderns, terminates; and the coast of Azania, or Agan, begins. Thefirst mart on this coast is Opone, from which there were exported,besides the usual aromatics and other articles, slaves of a superiordescription, chiefly for the Egyptian market, and tortoise-shell,also of a superior sort, and in great abundance. There was nothingpeculiar in the imports. In this part of his work, the author of thePeriplus, mentions and describes the annual voyage between the coastof Africa and India: after enumerating the articles imported from thelatter country, which consisted chiefly of corn, rice, butter; oil ofSesanum; cotton, raw and manufactured sashes; and honey from thecane, called sugar; he adds, that "many vessels are employed in thiscommerce, expressly for the importation of these articles, andothers, which have a more distant destination, sell part of theircargoes on this coast, and take in the produce in return." This seemsto be the first historical evidence of a commercial intercoursebetween India and Africa, independent of the voyages of the Arabians;and as the parts from which the ships sailed to India, lay within thelimits of the monsoon, it most probably was accomplished by means ofit, and directly from land to land, without coasting round by theGulf of Persia. The ports on the west coast of India, to which thetrade was carried on, were Ariake and Barugaza, in Guzerat andConcan.

No mart is mentioned after Opone, till we arrive at Rhapta. Thisplace was so named by the Greeks, because the ships employed by theinhabitants were raised from a bottom composed of a single piece ofwood, and the sides were sewed to it, instead of being nailed. Inorder to preserve the sewing, the whole outside was covered over withsome of the gums of the country. It is a circ*mstance worthy ofnotice, that when the Portuguese first visited this coast, they foundships of exactly the same materials and construction. At Rhapta, thecustoms were farmed by the merchants of Moosa, though it was subjectto one of the princes of Yeman. Arabian commanders and supercargoeswere always employed in their ships, from their experience in thenavigation: the imports of Rhapta were, lances, principallymanufactured at Moosa; axes, knives, awls, and various kinds ofglass: the exports were, ivory, inferior to the Aduli ivory, butcheap, and in great abundance; the horns of the rhinoceros, tortoiseshell, 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 unknownbeyond Rhapta; at this place, therefore, the journal of this voyageterminates; but this place, there is every reason to believe that theauthor visited in person.

The commencement of the second voyage is from Berenice: from thisport he conducts us to Myos Hormos, and there across the Red Sea toLeuke Kome in Arabia. This port we have already noticed as in thepossession of the Romans, and forming the point of communication withPetra. We have also stated from our author, that at Leuke Kome theRomans kept a garrison, and collected a duty of twenty-five per cent.on the goods imported and exported. From it to the coast below BurntIsland, there was no trade carried on, in consequence of the dangersof the navigation from rocks, the want of harbours, the poverty andbarbarism of the natives, who seem to have been pirates, and the wantof 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 regular mart ofthe country, established, protected, and privileged as such by thegovernment. It was not a harbour, but a road with good anchorage on asandy bottom. The inhabitants were Arabians, and it was much resortedto by merchants, both on account of the produce and manufactures ofthe adjacent country, and on account of its trade to India. Theimports into Moosa were principally purple cloth of differentqualities and prices; garments made in the Arabian manner, withsleeves, plain and mixed; saffron; an aromatic rush used in medicine;muslins, cloaks, quilts, but only a few plain, and made according tothe fashion of the country; sashes of various colours; some corn andwine, and coin to pay for the balance of trade. In order toingratiate the sovereigns of the country, horses, mules, gold plate,silver plate richly embossed, splendid robes, and brass goods werealso imported, expressly as presents to them. One of these sovereignswas styled the friend of the Roman emperors. Embassies werefrequently sent to him from Rome, and it is probable that for him thepresents were chiefly designed. The exports from Moosa were myrrh ofthe best quality, gum, and very pure and white alabaster, of whichboxes were made; there was likewise exported a variety of articles,the produce and manufacture of Aduli, which were brought from thatplace to Moosa.

We are next directed to the ports beyond the Straits ofBabelmandeb. The wind in passing them is described as violent, comingon in sudden and dangerous squalls, in consequence of its confinementbetween the two capes which formed the entrance to the straits. Thefirst place beyond them, about 120 miles to the east, described inthe Periplus, is a village called Arabia Felix: this, there is everyreason to believe, is Aden. It is represented in the Periplus ashaving been a place of great importance before the fleets saileddirectly from India to Egypt, or from Egypt to the east. Till thisoccurred, the fleets from the east met in this harbour the fleetsfrom Egypt. This description and account of it exactly correspondswith what Agatharcides relates: he says it received its name ofEudaimon, (fortunate,) on account of the ships from India andEgypt meeting there, before the merchants of Egypt had the courage toventure further towards the eastern marts. Its importance seems tohave continued in some degree till it was destroyed by the Romans,probably in the time of Claudius: the object and reason of this actwas to prevent the trade, which in his time had begun to direct itscourse to India, from reverting to this place.

About 200 miles to the east of Aden was the port of Kane. Thecountry in its vicinity is represented as producing a great quantityof excellent frankincense, which was conveyed to Kane by land incaravans, and by sea in vessels, or in rafts which were floated bymeans of inflated skins. This was a port of considerable trade; themerchants trading to Baragyza, Scindi, Oman, and Persis, as well asto the ports in Africa, beyond the straits. The goods imported wereprincipally from Egypt, and consisted of a small quantity of wheat,wine, cloaths for the Arabian market, common, plain, and mixed;brass, tin, Mediterranean coral, which was in great repute in India,so that the great demand for it prevented the Gauls in the south ofFrance, according to Pliny, from adorning their swords, &c. withit, as they were wont to do; storax, plate, money, horses, statues orimages, and cloth. The exports were confined to the produce of thecountry, especially frankincense and aloes. At Syagros, which isdescribed as a promontory fronting the east, and the largest in theworld, there was a garrison for the protection of the place, whichwas the repository of all the incense collected in these parts.

The island of Dioscorides (Socotra) is next described. It wasinhabited on its northern side, (the only part of it that was theninhabited,) by a few Arabians, Indians, and Greeks, who seem to havefixed a permanent or temporary abode here, for the purpose ofobtaining tortoise-shell: this was much prized, being of a yellowcolour, very hard and durable, and used to make cases, boxes, andwriting tables; this and dragon's blood were its chief productions.In exchange for them, there were imported rice, corn, Indian cottongoods, and women slaves.

The first mart beyond Cape Syagros is Moscha, which is representedas much resorted to on account of the sacchalitic incense which isimported there. This was so extremely abundant that it lay in heaps,with no other protection than that which was derived from the gods,for whose sacrifices it was intended. It is added that it was notpossible for any person to procure a cargo of it without thepermission of the king; and that the vessels were observed andsearched so thoroughly, that not a single grain of it could beclandestinely exported. The intercourse between this port and Kanewas regular; and besides this, it was frequented by such ships asarrived from India too late in the season: here they continued duringthe unfavourable monsoon, exchanging muslins, corn, and oil, forfrankincense. A small island, which is supposed to be the modernMazeira, was visited by vessels from Kane to collect or purchasetortoise-shell: the priests in the island are represented in thePeriplus as wearing aprons made of the fibres of the cocoa tree: thisis the earliest mention of this tree.

Moçandon, the extreme point south of the Gulf of Persia,was the land from which the Arabians, (to use a maritime phrase) tooktheir departure, with various superstitious observances, imploring ablessing on their intended voyage, and setting adrift a small toy,rigged like a ship, which, if dashed to pieces, was supposed to beaccepted by the god of the ocean, instead of their ship.

It is impossible to determine from the Periplus, whether theauthor was personally acquainted with the navigation, ports, andtrade of the Gulf of Persia: the probability is that he was not, ashe mentions only two particulars connected with it; the pearlfishery, and the town of Apologus, a celebrated mart at the mouth ofthe Euphrates; the pearl fishery he describes as extending fromMoçandon to Bahrain. Apologus is the present Oboleh, on thecanal that leads from the Euphrates to Basra.

If the author of the Periplus did not enter the Gulf of Persia, hecertainly stretched over, with the monsoon, either to Karmania, ordirectly to Scindi, or to the Gulf of Cambay; for at these places theminuteness of information which distinguishes the journal againappears.

Omana in Persia is the first mart described; it lay in theprovince of Gadrosia, but as it is not mentioned by Nearchus, whofound Arabs in most other parts of the province, we may conclude thatit was founded after his time. The trade between this place andBaragaza in India, was regular and direct, and the goods brought fromthe latter to the former, seems afterwards to have been sent toOboleh at the head of the Gulf; the imports were brass, sandal-wood;timber, of what kind is not specified; horn, ebony; this is the firstport the trade of which included ebony and sandal-wood: frankincensewas imported from Kane. The exports to Arabia and Baragaza werepurple cloth for the natives; wine, a large quantity of dates, gold,slaves, and pearls of an inferior quality.

The first place in India to which the merchants of Egypt, whilethey followed the ancient course of navigation by coasting, wereaccustomed to trade, was Patala on the Indus; for we have admittedthat single vessels occasionally ventured beyond the Straits ofBabelmandeb, before the discovery of the monsoon, though the tradefrom Egypt to India, previously to that discovery, was by no meansfrequent or regular. The goods imported into Patala were woollencloth of a slight fabric, linen, woven in checquer work, someprecious stones, and some kind of aromatics unknown in India,probably the produce of Africa or Arabia; coral, storax, glassvessels of various descriptions, some plate, money, and wine. FromPatala, the Egyptian merchants brought spices, gems of differentkinds, particularly sapphires, silk stuffs, silk thread, cottoncloths, and pepper. As Patala is not mentioned in the Periplus, it isprobable it was abandoned for Baragaza, a far more considerable marton the same coast, and most probably Baroche on the Nerbuddah.

Before describing Baragaza, however, the author of the Periplusmentions two places on the Indus, which were frequented for thepurposes of commerce: the first near the mouth of the river, calledBarbarike; and the other higher up, called Minagara: the latter wasthe capital of a kingdom which extended as far as Barogaza. As theking of this country was possessed of a place of such consequence tothe merchants as Baragaza, and as from his provinces, or throughthem, the most valuable cargoes were obtained, it was of the utmostmoment that his good will and protection should be obtained andpreserved. For this purpose there were imported, as presents for him,the following articles, all expensive, and the very best of theirkind: plate of very great value; musical instruments; handsomevirgins for the haram; wine of the very best quality; plain cloth,but of the finest sort; and perfumes. Besides these presents, therewere likewise imported a great quantity of plain garments, and somemixed or inferior cloth; topazes, coral, storax, frankincense, glassvessels, plate, specie, and wine. The exports were costus, a kind ofspice; bdellium, a gum; a yellow dye, spikenard, emeralds, sapphires,cottons, silk thread, indigo, or perhaps the indicum of Pliny, whichwas probably Indian ink: skins are likewise enumerated, with theepithet serica prefixed to them, but of what kind they werecannot be determined: wine is specified as an article of import intothis and other places; three kinds of it are particularized: winefrom Laodicea in Syria, which is still celebrated for its wine;Italian wine, and Arabian wine. Some suppose that the last was palmor toddy wine, which seems to have been a great article of trade.

We come now to Baragaza: the author first mentions the produce ofthe district; it consisted of corn, rice, oil of Sesamum, ghee orbutter, and cotton: he then, in a most minute and accurate manner,describes the approach to the harbour; the extraordinarily hightides, the rapidity with which they roll in and again recede,especially at the new moon, the difficult pilotage of the river, areall noticed. On account of these dangers and difficulties, he adds,that pilots were appointed by the government, with large boats, wellmanned, who put to sea to wait the approach of ships. These pilots,as soon as they come on board, bring the ship's head round, and keepher clear of the shoals at the mouth of the river; if necessary, theytow the ship from station to station, where there is good anchorage;these stations were called Basons, and seem to have been poolsretaining the water, after the tide had receded from other parts. Thenavigation of the river was performed only as long as the tide wasfavorable; as soon as it turned, the ships anchored in thesestations.

The sovereign to whom Baragaza belonged is represented as so veryanxious to render it the only mart, that he would not permit ships toenter any of his other harbours; if they attempted it, they wereboarded and conducted to Baragaza; at this place were collected allthe produce and manufactures of this part of India: some of whichwere brought down the river Nerbuddah; others were conveyed acrossthe mountains by caravans. The merchandize of Bengal, and even of theSeres, was collected here, besides the produce of Africa, and of thecountries further to the south in India. The whole arrangement ofthis place was correspondent to this extensive commerce, for theauthor informs us, that such was the despatch in transactingbusiness, that a cargo could be entirely landed and sold, and a newcargo obtained and put on board in the space of three days.

From Ozeni to the east of Baragaza, formerly the capital of thecountry, there was brought to the latter place for exportation,chiefly the following articles: onyx stones, porcelaine, finemuslins, muslins dyed of the colour of the melon, and common cottonin great quantities: from the Panjab there were brought forexportation, spikenard of different kinds, costus, bdellium, ivory,murrhine cups, myrrh, pepper, &c. The imports were wine, of allthe three sorts already mentioned, brass, tin, lead, coral, topazes,cloth of different kinds, sashes, storax, sweet lotus, white glass,stibium, cinnabar, and a small quantity of perfumes: a considerablequantity of corn was also imported; the denarius, both gold andsilver, exchanging with profit against the coin of the country, onaccount of its greater purity.

From Baragaza the author proceeds to a description of the coast ofthe Decan, which, as we have already mentioned, is remarkable for itsaccuracy, as well as for its first mentioning the appellation Decan.At the distance of twenty days' journey to the south lies Plithana,and ten days' journey to the east of this is Tagara, both marts ofgreat consequence, and the latter the capital of the country. Fromthese are brought down, through difficult roads, several articles toBaragaza, particularly onyx stones from Plithana, and cottons andmuslin from Tagara "If we should now describe, (observed Dr. Vincent)the arc of a circle from Minnagar, on the Indus, through Ougein toDowlatabad on the Godavery, of which Baroche should be the centre, wemight comprehend the extent of the intelligence acquired by themerchant of the Periplus. But allowing that this was the knowledge ofthe age, and not of the individual only, where is this knowledgepreserved, except in this brief narrative? which, with all thecorruption of its text, is still an inestimable treasure to all thosewho wish to compare the first dawning of our knowledge in the eastwith the meridian light which we now enjoy by the intercourse andconquests of the Europeans. An arc of this sort comprehends nearthree degrees of a great circle: and if upon such a space, and atsuch a distance from the coast, we find nothing but what is confirmedby the actual appearance of the country, at the present moment, greatallowance is to be made for those parts of the work which are lessconspicuous, for the author did certainly not visit every place whichhe mentions; and there are manifest omissions in the text, as well aserrors and corruptions."

The province of Canara, called by the author of the PeriplusLimurike, follows in his description the pirate coast; afterLimurike, he describes Pandion, corresponding with what is at presentcalled Malabar Proper; this is succeeded by Paralia and Comari, andthe description of the west coast of India is terminated by the pearlfishery and Ceylon. There were several small ports in Limurikefrequented by the country ships; but the only mart frequented byvessels from Egypt was Musiris: it was likewise a great resort ofnative vessels from Ariake or Concan. The articles imported werenearly the same as those at Baragaza, but the exports from it weremore numerous and valuable: this seems to have arisen from its lyingnearer to the eastern and richer parts of India. The principalexports were, pearls in great abundance and extraordinary beauty; avariety of silk stuffs; rich perfumes; tortoise-shell; differentkinds of transparent gems, especially diamonds; and pepper in largequantites, and of the best quality.

The port of Nelkundah, which, as we have already remarked, was thelimit of our author's personal knowledge, was a place of very greattrade; it was much frequented, principally on account of the beteland pepper, which were procured there on very reasonable terms: thepepper is distinguished, in the list of its imports, as the pepper ofCottonara. Besides this article and betel, the only exports were,pearls, ivory, silks, spikenard, precious stones, and tortoise-shell;the imports were chiefly specie, topazes, cloth, stibium, coral,glass, brass, tin, lead, wine, corn, &c.

The ports to the south of Nelkundah are described in a cursorymanner in the Periplus; they were frequented principally by thecountry ships, which carried on a lucrative trade between them andthe ports in the north of India. The exports of the island ofTrapobane, or Ceylon, are particularized as consisting chiefly ofpearls, gems, tortoise-shells, and muslins: cinnamon is not named; analmost decisive proof, if other proof were wanting, that the authorof the Periplus had never visited this island. That trading voyageswere carried on by the natives from the southern ports of India, notonly to the northern ports of the western side of that country, butalso to the eastern ports in the Bay of Bengal, and to the fartherpeninsula itself, we are expressly informed, as our author mentionsvessels of great bulk adapted to the voyages made to the Ganges andthe Golden Chersonese, in contradistinction to other and smallervessels employed in the voyages to Limurike.

Of the remainder of the Periplus little notice is requisite, theaccount of the countries beyond Cape Comorin being entirely drawnfrom report, and consequently erroneous, both in respect to geographyand commerce. In some particulars regarding the latter, however, itis surprisingly accurate: the Gangetic muslins are praised as thefinest manufacture of the sort, and Gangetic spikenard is alsonoticed; the other articles of traffic in the ports on the Gangeswere betel and pearls. Thina is also mentioned as a city, in theinterior of a country immediately under the north, at a certain pointwhere the sea terminates; from this city both the raw material andmanufactured silks are brought by land through Bactria to Baragaza,or else down the Ganges, and thence by sea to Limurike: the routes wehave already described. The means of approach to Thina arerepresented as very difficult; some merchants, however, came from itto a great mart which is annually held near it. The Sesatoe, who fromthe description of them are evidently Tartars, frequent this martwith their wives and children. "They are squat and thick-set, withtheir face broad and their nose greatly depressed. The articles theybring for trade are of great bulk, and inveloped in mats made ofrushes, which, in their outward appearance, resemble the early leavesof the vine. Their place of assembly is between their own borders andthose of China; and here spreading out their mats, they hold a fairfor several days, and at the conclusion of it, return to their owncountry in the interior. Upon their retreat the Thinæ, who havecontinued on the watch, repair to the spot and collect the mats whichthe strangers left behind at their departure; from these they pickout the haulm, and drawing out the fibres, spread the leaves double,and make them into balls, and then pass the fibres through them. Ofthese balls there are three sorts, in this form they take the name ofMalabathrum."

On this account Dr. Vincent very justly remarks, that we havehere, upon the whole, a description of that mode of traffic, whichhas always been adopted by the Chinese, and by which they to thishour trade with Russia, Thibet, and Ava.

Many of the particulars which we have given on the subject of theRoman trade are supplied by Pliny, who wrote his natural history whenRome was in its most flourishing state under the reign of Vespasian.His works consist of thirty-seven books, the first six comprise thesystem of the world and the geography as it was then known. Afterexamining the accounts of Polybius, Agrippa, and Artemidorus, heassigns the following comparative magnitudes to the three greatdivisions of the earth. Europe rather more than a third, Asia about afourth, and Africa about a fifth of the whole. With few exceptions,his geographical knowledge of the east and of the north, the parts ofthe world of which the ancients were the most ignorant, was veryinaccurate: he supposes the Ganges to be the north-eastern limit ofAsia, and that from it the coast turned to the north, where it waswashed by the sea of Serica, between which and a strait, which heimagined formed a communication from the Caspian to the Scythianocean, he admits but a very small space. According to the system ofPliny, therefore, the ocean occupied the whole county of Siberia,Mogul Tartary, China, &c. He derived his information respectingIndia from the journals of Nearchus, and the other officers ofAlexander; and yet such is his ignorance, or the corrupt state of thetext, or the vitiated medium through which he received hisinformation, that it is not easy to reconcile his account with thatof Nearchus. Salmasius, indeed, charges him with confounding the eastand west in his description of India. His geography, in the mostimportant particular of the relative distances of places, is renderedof very little utility or authority, from the circ*mstance pointedout and proved by D'Anville, that he indiscriminately reckons eightstadia to the mile, without reference to the difference between theGreek and Roman stadium. He has, however, added two articles ofinformation to the geographical and commercial knowledge of the eastpossessed before his time; the one is the account of the new courseof navigation from Arabia to the coast of Malabar, which has beenalready described; the other is a description of Trapobane, orCeylon, which, though inaccurate and obscure in many points, must beregarded as a real and important addition to the geographicalknowledge of the Romans.

Pliny's geography of the north is the most full and curious of allantiquity. After describing the Hellespont, Moeotis, Dacia, Sarmatia,ancient Scythia, and the isles in the Euxine Sea, and proceeding lastfrom Spain, he passes north to the Scythic Ocean, and returns westtowards Spain. The coast of part of the Baltic seems to have beenpartly known to him; he particularly mentions an island calledBaltia, where amber was found; but he supposes that the Baltic Seaitself was connected with the Caspian and Indian Oceans. Pliny is thefirst author who names Scandinavia, which he represents as an island,the extent of which was not then known; but by Scandinavia there isreason to believe the present Scandia is meant. Denmark may probablybe rcognised in the Dumnor of this author, and Norway in Noligen. Themountain Soevo, which he describes as forming a vast bay calledCodanus, extending to the promontory of the Cimbri, is supposed bysome to be the mountains that run along the Vistula on the easternextremity of Germany, and by others to be that chain of mountainswhich commence at Gottenburgh. The whole of his informationrespecting the north seems to have been drawn from the expeditions ofDrusus, Varus, and Germanicus, to the Elbe and the Weser, and fromthe accounts of the merchants who traded thither for amber.

Tacitus, who died about twenty years after Pliny, seems to haveacquired a knowledge of the north more accurate in some respects thanthe latter possessed. In his admirable description of Germany, hementions the Suiones, and from the name, as well as othercirc*mstances, there can be little doubt that they inhabited thesouthern part of modern Sweden.

The northern promontory of Scotland was known to Diodorus Siculusunder the name of Orcas; but the insularity of Britain was certainlynot ascertained till the fleet sent out by Agricola sailed round it,about eighty-four years after Christ. Tacitus, who mentions thiscirc*mstance, also informs us, that Ireland, which was known by nameto the Greeks, was much frequented in his time by merchants, fromwhose information he adds, that its harbours were better known thanthose of Britain: this statement, however, there is much reason toquestion, as in the time of Cæsar, all that the Romans knew ofIreland was its relative position to Britain, and that it was abouthalf its size.

The emperor Trajan, who reigned between A.D. 98 and A.D. 117, wasnot only a great conqueror, carrying the Roman armies beyond theDanube into Dacia, and into Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Assyria, andthus extending and rendering more accurate the geographical knowledgeof his subjects; but he was also attentive to the improvement andcommercial prosperity of the empire. He made good roads from one endof the empire to the other; he constructed a convenient and safeharbour at Centum Cellæ (Civita Vecchia), and another at Anconaon the Adriatic: he dug a new and navigable canal, which conveyed thewaters of the Nahar-Malcha, or royal canal of Nebuchadnezzar, intothe river Tigris; and he is supposed to have repaired or renewed theEgyptian canal between the Nile and the Red Sea. He also gavedirections and authority to Pliny, who was appointed governor ofPontus and Bithynia, to examine minutely into the commerce of thoseprovinces, and into the revenues derived from it, and othersources.

The emperor Adrian passed nearly the whole of his reign invisiting the different parts of his dominions: he began his journeyin Gaul, and thence into Germany; he afterwards passed into Britain.On his return to Gaul, he visited Spain; on his next journey he wentto Athens, and thence into the east; and on his second return toRome, he visited Sicily; his third journey comprised the Africanprovinces; his fourth was employed in again visiting the east; fromSyria he went into Arabia, and thence into Egypt, where he repairedand adorned the city of Alexandria, restoring to the inhabitantstheir former privileges, and encouraging their commerce. On hisjourney back to Rome, he visited Syria, Thrace, Macedonia, andAthens. By his orders, an artificial port was constructed atTrebizond on a coast destitute by nature of secure harbours, fromwhich this city derived great wealth and splendour.

The only writer in the time of Adrian, from whom we can derive anyadditional information respecting the geography and trade of theRomans, is Arrian. He was a native of Nicodemia, and esteemed one ofthe most learned men of his age; to him we are indebted for thejournal of Nearchus's voyage, an abstract of which has been given.His accuracy as a geographer, is sufficiently established in thatwork, and indeed, in almost all the particulars respecting India,which he has detailed in his history of the expedition of Alexanderthe Great; and in his Indica, which may be regarded as an appendix tothat history. He lived at Rome, under the emperors Adrian, Antoninus,and Marcus Aurelius, and was preferred to the highest posts ofhonour, and even to the consulship. In the year A.D. 170, he wasappointed governor of Pontus, by Adrian, for the special purpose ofopposing the Alani, who were invading that part of the empire. Hissituation and opportunities as governor, enabled him to derive themost accurate and particular information respecting the Euxine Sea,which he addressed in a letter to Adrian; this Periplus, as it iscalled, "contains whatever the governor of Pontus had seen, fromTrebizond to Dioscurias; whatever he had heard from Dioscurias to theDanube and whatever he knew from the Danube to Trebizond."

The letter begins with the arrival of Arrian at Trebizond, atwhich place, the artificial port already noticed was then forming. AtTrebizond he embarked, and surveyed the eastern coast of the EuxineSea, visiting every where the Roman garrisons. His course led himpast the mouth of the Phasis, the waters of which, he remarks,floated a long time on those of the sea, by reason of their superiorlightness. A strong garrison was stationed at the mouth of thisriver, to protect this part of the country against the Barbarians; headds, however, in his letter, that the new suburbs which had beenbuilt by the merchants and veterans, required some additionaldefence, and that he had, accordingly, for the greater security ofthe place, strengthened it with a new ditch: he ended his voyage atSebastapolis, the most distant city garrisoned by the Romans. Thedescription of the coasts of Asia, from Byzantium to Trebizond, andanother of the interior, from Sebastapolis to the BosphorusCimmerius, and thence to Byzantium, is added to his voyage. The greatobject of this minute and accurate survey was to enable the emperorto take what measures he might deem proper, in case he designed tointerfere in the affairs of the Bosphorus, as well as to point outthe means of defence against the Alani, and other enemies of theRoman power.

We have contented ourselves with this short abstract of thePeriplus of the Euxine, because we have already given all theimportant information it contains on the subject of the commerce ofthis sea. It is very inferior in merit to the Periplus of the Euxine,which has also been attributed to this Arrian, though Dr. Vincent, wethink, has proved that it is the work of an earlier writer, and of amerchant.

As the Roman conquests extended, their geographical knowledge ofcourse increased. In the reign of Antoninus Pius, their armies hadforced a passage much further north in Britain than they had everventured before. One of the results of this success was a maritimesurvey, or rather two partial surveys of the north part of Britain,from which the geography of that part of the island was compiled byPtolemy.

The maritime laws of the Rhodians, or those which passed undertheir name, seem to have been the basis and authority of the Romanmaritime laws at this period; for we are told, that when a merchantcomplained to the emperor that he had been plundered by the imperialofficers at the Cyclades, where he had been shipwrecked, the latterreplied, that he indeed was lord of the earth, but that the sea wasgoverned by the Rhodian laws, and that from them he would obtainredress. This part of the Rhodian law, however, had been but latelyadopted by the Romans; for Antoninus is expressly mentioned as havingenacted, among other laws, that shipwrecked merchandize should be theentire property of the lawful owners, without any interference orparticipation of the officers of the exchequer, and that those whowere guilty of plundering wrecks should be severely punished.

One of the most important and complete surveys of the Roman empire(the idea of which, as has been already stated, was first formed byJulius Cæsar) was begun and finished in the reign of Antoninus,and is well known under the appellation of his Itinerary. It has,indeed, been objected to this date of the Itinerary, that it containsplaces which were not known in the time of Antonine, and names ofplaces which they did not bear till after his reign; thus mention ismade of the province of Arcadia in Egypt, and of Honorius in Pontus,so styled in honor of the sons of the emperor Theodosius. But thefact seems to be that alterations and additions were made to theItinerary, and that occasionally, or perhaps under each subsequentemperor, new editions of it were published. From the maritime part ofthis Itinerary of Antoninus we derive a clear idea of the timidity orwant of skill and enterprise of the Mediterranean seamen in theircommercial voyages. All the ports which it was prudent or necessary,for the safety of the voyage, to touch at, in sailing from Achaia toAfrica are enumerated; and of these there are no fewer than twenty,some of them at the heads of bays on the coasts of Greece, Epirus,and Italy, and within the Straits of Sicily as far as Messina. Theircourse was then to be directed along the east and south coasts ofSicily to the west point of it; from an island off this point theytook their departure for the coast of Africa, a distance of aboutninety miles.

These Itineraries undoubtedly were drawn up in as accurate amanner as possible; but till the time of Ptolemy they were of littleservice to geography or commerce, as, for a private individual tohave one in his possession was deemed a crime little short of hightreason. Geography as a science, therefore, had hitherto made littleadvances; indeed the discovery and example of Hipparchus, of reducingit to astronomical basis, seems to have been forgotten or neglectedtill the middle of the second century. The first after him, whoattempted to fix geography on the base of science was Marinus, ofTyre, who lived a short time before Ptolemy; of his work we have onlyextracts given by this geographer. He divided the terms latitude andlongitude, which, as we have already stated, were introduced byArtemidorus (A.C. 104) into degrees, and these degrees into theirparts, though this improvement was not reduced generally to practicebefore Ptolemy, for we are informed by him, that Marinus had thelatitude of some places and the longitude of others, but scarcely oneposition where he could ascertain both.

With regard to the extent of Marinus' geographical knowledge, orthe accuracy of his details, we cannot form a fair judgment from thefragments of his works which remain. According to Ptolemy, he hadexamined the history of preceding ages, and all the information thathad been collected in his own time, comparing and rectifying them ashe proceeded in his own account.

It will be recollected that the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea didnot trace the African coast lower down than Rhapta; but Marinusmentions Prasum, which, according to that hypothesis, which fixes itin the lowest southern latitude, must have been seven degrees to thesouth of Rhapta. So far, therefore, the knowlege of the ancients, inthe time of Marinus, respecting the east coast of Africa extended;but, as neither he nor Ptolemy mentions a single place between Rhaptaand Prasum, it is probable that the latter was not frequently orregularly visited for the purposes of trade, but that commercialvoyages were still confined to the limit of Rhapta. We have juststated that Prasum, according to the most moderate hypothesis, mustbe fixed seven degrees to the south of Rhapta. Marinus, however,fixes it either in thirty-five degrees south, or under the tropic ofCapricorn. He was led into this and similar errors by assigning toogreat a number of stadia to the degree. Ptolemy endeavours to correcthim, and places Prasum in latitude 15, 30 south; it is remarkablethat the Prasum of Ptolemy is precisely at Mosambique, the last ofthe Arabian settlements in the following ages, and the Prasum ofMarinus, if under the tropic of Capricorn, is the limit of theknowledge of the Arabians on this coast of Africa.

Marinus, as quoted by Ptolemy, affirms that he was in possessionof the journals of two expeditions under the command of SeptimusFlaccus and Julius Maternus: the former of these officers set offfrom Cyrene, and the latter from Leptis; and, according to Marinus,they penetrated through the interior of Africa to the southward ofthe Equator, as far as a nation they styled Agesymba. The error ofMarinus with respect to the valuation of the stadium, has led him tofix this nation in twenty-four degrees south latitude; if allowance,however, be made for his error, the Agesymba will still be placedunder the Equator,--a great distance for a land expedition to havereadied in the interior of Africa. Flaccus reported that theEthiopians of Agesymba, were three months journeying to the south ofthe Garamantes, and the latter were 5400 of the stadia of Marinus,distant from Cyrene. According to the journal of Maternus, when theking of the Garamantes set off to attack the people of Agesymba, hemarched four months to the south.

There are also some notices in Marinus of voyages performed alongthe coast of Africa, between India and Africa, and along part of thecoast of India; he particularly mentions one Theophilus whofrequented the coast of Azania, and who was carried by a south-westwind from Rhapta to Aromata in twenty days; and Diogenes, one of thetraders to India, who on his return after he had come in sight ofAromata, was caught by the north-east monsoon, and carried down thecoast during twenty-five days, till he reached the lakes from whichthe Nile issues. Marinus also mentions a Diogenes Samius, whodescribes the course held by vessels from the Indus to the coast ofCambay, and from Arabia to the coast of Africa. According to him, inthe former voyage they sailed with the Bull in the middle of theheavens, and the Pleiades in the middle of the main yard; in thelatter voyage, they sailed to the south, and by the star Canobus.

We now arrive at the name of Ptolemy, certainly the mostcelebrated geographer of antiquity. He was a native of Alexandria,and flourished in the reign of the emperor Marcus Antoninus. In theapplication of astronomy to geography, he followed Hipparchusprincipally, and he seems from his residence at Alexandria to havederived much information through the merchants and navigators of thatcity, as well as from its magnificent and valuable library. His greatwork, as it has reached us, consists almost entirely of an elementarypicture of the earth, (if it may be so called,) in which its figureand size, and the position of places are determined. There is only ashort notice of the division of countries, and it is very seldom thatany historical notice is added. To this outline, it is supposed thatPtolemy had added a detailed account of the countries then known,which is lost.

His geography, such as we have described it, consists of eightbooks, and is certainly much more scientific than any which had beenpreviously written on this science. In it there appears, for thefirst time, an application of geometrical principles to theconstruction of maps: the different projections of the sphere, and adistribution of the several places on the earth, according to theirlatitude and longitude. Geography was thus established on its properprinciples, and intimately connected with astronomical observationsand mathematical science. The utility and merit of Ptolemy's workseems to have been understood and acknowledged soon after itappeared. Agathemidorus, who lived not long after him, praises himfor having reduced geography to a regular system; and adds, that hetreats of every thing relating to it, not carelessly, or merelyaccording to the ideas of his own, but to what had been delivered bymore ancient authors, adopting from them whatever he found consonantto truth. Agathodæmon, an artist of Alexandria, observing therequest in which his work was held, prepared a set of maps toillustrate it, in which all the places mentioned in it were laiddown, with the latitudes and longitudes he assigned them. Thereputation of his geography remained unshaken and undiminished duringthe middle ages, both in Arabia and Europe; and even now, thescientific language which he first employed, is constantly used, andthe position of places ascertained by specifying their latitude andlongitude.

It was not to be expected, however, that Ptolemy could accuratelyfix the longitude and latitude of places in the remoter parts of thethen known world; his latitudes and longitudes are accordinglyfrequently erroneous, but especially the latter. This arose partlyfrom his taking five hundred stadia for a degree of a great circle,and partly from the vague method of calculating distances, by theestimate of travellers and merchants, and the number of days employedin their journies by land, and voyages by sea. As he took sevenhundred stadia for a degree of latitude, his errors in latitude arenot so important; and though the latitude he assigns to particularplaces is incorrect, yet the length of the globe, according to him,or the distance from the extreme points north and south, then known,is not far from the truth. Thus the latitude of Thule, according toPtolemy, is 64 degrees north, and the parallel through the cinnamoncountry 16° 24' south, that is, 80° 24' on the whole, adifference from the truth of not more than six or seven degrees. Itis remarked by D'Anville, and Dr. Vincent coincides in the justice ofthe remark, that the grandest mistake in the geography of Ptolemy hasled to the greatest discovery of modern times. Strabo had affirmed,that nothing obstructed the passage from Spain to India by a westerlycourse, but the immensity of the Atlantic ocean; but, according toPtolemy's errors in longitude, this ocean was lessened by sixtydegrees; and as all the Portuguese navigators were acquainted withhis work, as soon as it was resolved to attempt a passage to India,the difficulty was, in their idea, lessened by sixty degrees; andwhen Columbus sailed from Spain, he calculated on sixty degrees lessthan the real distance from that country to India. Thus, to repeatthe observation of D'Anville, the greatest of his errors provedeventually the efficient cause of the greatest discovery of themoderns.

Beside the peculiar merit of Ptolemy, which was perceived andacknowledged as soon as his work appeared, he possesses anotherexcellence, which, as far as we know, was first pointed out and dweltupon by Dr. Vincent. According to him, Ptolemy, in his description ofIndia, serves as the point of connection between the Macedonianorthography and the Sanscrit, dispersing light on both sides, andshowing himself like a luminary in the centre. He seems indeed tohave obtained the native appellations of the places in India, in awonderful manner; and thus, by recording names which cannot bemistaken, he affords the means of ascertaining the country, eventhough he gives no particulars regarding it. We have applied thisremark to India exclusively, but it might be extended to almost allthe names of places that occur in Ptolemy, though, as respects India,his obtaining the native appellations is more striking anduseful.

Having offered these general remarks on the excellencies anderrors of Ptolemy, we shall next proceed to give a short and rapidsketch of his geographical knowledge respecting Europe, Asia, andAfrica. On the north-east of Europe he gives an accurate descriptionof the course of the Wolga; and further to the south, he lays downthe course of the Tanais, much nearer what it really is than thecourse assigned it by Strabo. He seems to have been acquainted withthe southern shores of the Baltic from the western Dwina, or theVistula, to the Cimbric Chersonesus: he also describes part of thepresent Livonia. The Chersonesus, however, he stretches two degreestoo far to the north, and also gives it too great a bend to the east.He applies the name of Thule to a country situated to the north-eastof Britain; if his usual error in longitude is rectified, theposition he assigns Thule would correspond with that of Norway. Suchseem to have been the limits of his Europe, unless, perhaps, he hadsome vague idea of the south of Sweden.

He begins his geographical tables with the British isles; and hereis one of his greatest errors. According to him, the north part ofBritain stretches to the east, instead of to the north: the Mull ofGalloway is the most northern promontory, and the land from it bendsdue east. The Western Islands run east and west, along the northshore of Ireland, the west being the true north point in them. He is,however, on the whole, pretty accurate in his location of the tribeswhich at that period inhabited Scotland. Strabo had placed Ireland tothe north of Britain, but in its true latitude. Ptolemy's map, whichis the first geographical document of that island, represents it tothe west of Britain, but five degrees further to the north than itactually is. He delineates its general shape, rivers, andpromontories with tolerable accuracy, and some of his towns may betraced in their present appellations, as Dublin in Eblana. It hasalready been noticed that he was probably acquainted with the southof Sweden, and his four Scandinavian islands are evidently Zealand,Funen, Laland, and Falster. It is remarkable that his geography ismore accurate almost in proportion as it recedes from theMediterranean. The form which he assigns to Italy is much fartherremoved from the truth than the form of most of the other Europeancountries which he describes. His fundamental error in longitude ledhim to give to the Mediterranean Sea a much greater extent than itactually possesses. According to him, it occupies nearly sixty-fivedegrees; and it is a singular circ*mstance, as well as a decisiveproof of the influence of his authority, as well of the slow progressof accurate and experimental geography, that his mensuration of thissea was reputed as exact till the reign of Louis XIV., when it wascurtailed of nearly twenty-five degrees by observation.

The principal points in the geography of Asia, as given byPtolemy, respect the coasts of India, the route to the Seres, and theCaspian sea. His delineation of India is equally erroneous with hisdelineation of the British Isles: according to him, it stretches in aright line from west to east, a little to the south of a line drawnbetween the Ganges and the Indus. He possessed, however, informationrespecting places in the farther peninsula of India, the locality ofseveral of which, by comparing his names with the Sanscrit, may betraced with considerable certainty. He assigns to the island ofCeylon a very erroneous locality, arising from his error respectingthe form of India, and likewise an extent far exceeding the truth. Heis the first author, however, who mentions the seven mouths of theGanges. The route to the Seres, which he describes, has been alreadynoticed: it is remarkable that the latitude which he assigns to hisSera metropolis, is within little more than a degree of the latitudeof Pekin, which, in the opinion of Dr. Vincent, is one of the mostillustrious approximations to truth that ancient geography affords.His description of Arabia is, on the whole, accurate; he has,however, greatly diminished the extent of the Arabian Gulf, and by atthe same time increasing the size of the Persian, he has necessarilygiven an erroneous form to this part of Asia. The ancient opinion ofHerodotus, that the Caspian was a sea by itself, unconnected with anyother, which was overlooked or disbelieved by Strabo, Arrian, &c.was adopted by Ptolemy, but he erroneously describes it as if itsgreatest length was from east to west. The peninsula to which hegives the name of the Golden Chersonesus, and which is probablyMalacca, he describes as stretching from north to south: to the eastof it he places a great bay, and in the most distant part of it thestation of Catigara. Beyond this, he asserts that the earth isutterly unknown, and that the land bends from this to the west, tillit joins the promontory of Prasum in Africa, at which place thisquarter of the world terminated to the south. Hence it appears thathe did not admit a communication between the Indian and Atlanticoceans, 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 torridzone, and that the Atlantic and Indian oceans joined. Ptolemy, as wehave just seen, rejected this idea, and following the opinion ofHipparchus, that the earth was not surrounded by the ocean, but thatthe ocean was divided into large basins, separated from each other byintervening land, maintained, that while the eastern coast of Africaat Cape Prasum united with the coast of Asia at the bay of the GoldenChersonesus, the western coast of Africa, after forming a great gulf,which he named Hespericus, extended between the east and south tillit joined India. The promontory of Prasum was undoubtedly the limitof Ptolemy's knowledge of the east coast of Africa: the limit of hisknowledge of the west coast is not so easily fixed: some suppose thatit did not reach beyond the river Nun; while others, with morereason, extend it to the Gulf of St. Cyprian, because the FortunateIslands, which he assumed as his first meridian, will carry hisknowledge beyond the Nun; and because, at the Gulf of St. Cyprian,the coast turns suddenly and abruptly to the east, in such a manneras may be supposed to have led Ptolemy to believe that it stretchedtowards and joined the coast of India.

Of some of the interior parts of Africa Ptolemy possessed clearand accurate information; regarding others, he presents us with amass of confused notions. He clearly points out the Niger, though hefixes its source in a wrong latitude. In the cities of Tucabath andTagana, which he places on its banks, may perhaps be recognizedTombuctoo and Gana. The most striking defect in his geography of theinterior of Africa is, that he does not allow sufficient extent tothe great desert of Sahara, while the southern parts are too muchexpanded. He places the sources of the Nile, and the Mountains of theMoon in south latitude thirteen, instead of north latitude six orseven; but the error of latitude is not so remarkable andunaccountable as the very erroneous latitude which he assigns to CapeAromata, on a coast which was visited every year by merchants he musthave seen at Alexandria. The most difficult point to explain inPtolemy's central Africa is the river Gir, which he describes asequal in length to the Niger, and running in the same direction, tillit loses itself in the same lake. What this river is, geographershave not agreed. It is mentioned by Claudian, as resembling the Nilein the abundance of its waters. Agethimedorus, a geographer of thethird century, regards it and the Niger as the same river.

What then was the amount of the knowledge of the ancients, as itexisted among the Romans, in the height of their power, respectingthe form, extent, and surface of the globe? If we view a map drawn upaccording to their ideas, we are immediately struck with the formthey assigned the world, and perceive with what propriety they calledthe extent of the world from east to west longitude or length,and the extent from north to south latitude, or breadth. Insome maps, especially that drawn up from the celebrated PeutingerianTables, which contain an itinerary of the whole Roman empire,thirty-five degrees of longitude occupy twenty-eight feet eightinches, whereas thirteen degrees of latitude are compressed withinthe space of one foot. It is easy to conceive how it happened thattoo much space is assigned between places situated east and west ofeach other, as the latitude of a place is much more easily determinedthan its longitude. At the same time, as the routes of the Romanarmies generally were from east to west, the countries lying in thatdirection were better known than those lying to the north and south,though the longitudes, and general space assigned the world, in theformer deviation, were erroneous. It was the opinion of most of theancient geographers, that there was a southern continent orhemisphere, to correspond to and balance the northern; and this theyformed by cutting off the great triangle to the south. The ancientsalso, while they curtailed those parts of the world with which theywere unacquainted, extended the known parts.

The limit of the Roman geography of Europe to the north was theBaltic, beyond which they had some very imperfect and obscure notionof the south of Sweden, and perhaps of Norway. They were acquaintedwith the countries on the eastern boundary of Europe lying on theDanube and the Vistula, and the rivers Wolga and Tanais seem also tohave been tolerably well known to them. Of the whole of the west ofEurope they were well informed, with the exception of the generalfigure, and some part of the British isles.

With respect to Africa, the Romans seem to have been acquaintedwith one-third of it. The promontory of Prasum was the limit of theirknowledge on the east coast: its limits on the western coast it isnot so easy to fix. The western horn was the limit of the voyage ofHanno, which, according to some, is Cape Nun; and, according toothers, Cape Three Points, in Guinea; and we have observed already,that the Gulf of St. Cyprian was probably the limit of Ptolemy'sknowledge. The coasts of Africa on the Mediterranean, and on the RedSea, were of course well known to the Romans; and some points oftheir information respecting the interior were clear and accurate,but, as for these, they trusted almost entirely to the reports ofmerchants, they were as frequently erroneous.

The northern, north-western, north-eastern, and east parts of Asiawere almost utterly unknown to the Romans; but they possessedtolerably accurate information regarding the whole hither peninsulaof India, from the Indus to the Ganges, and some partial andunconnected notices of the farther peninsula and of China.

CHAPTER IV.

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY AND OFCOMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE, FROM THE TIME OF PTOLEMY TILL THE CLOSE OF THEFIFTEENTH CENTURY.

Although the period, which the present chapter embraces, extendsto thirteen centuries, yet, as it is by no means rich or fruitfuleither in discovery or commercial enterprise, it will not detain uslong. The luxuries and wealth of the east, which, in all ages of theworld and to all nations have been so fascinating, had, as we havealready seen, drawn to them the interest and the enterprise of theRomans, in the height of their conquests; and towards the east, withfew exceptions, discovery and commerce pointed, during the whole ofthe period which this chapter embraces. Yet, notwithstanding thispowerful attraction, geography made comparatively little progress:the love of luxury did not benefit it nearly so much as the love ofscience. The geography of Ptolemy, and the description of Greece byPausanias, are, as Malte Brun justly remarks, the last works in whichthe light of antiquity shines on geography. We may further observe,that as circ*mstances directed the route to the east, during themiddle ages, principally through the central parts of Asia, thecountries thus explored, or visited, were among the least interestingin this quarter of the globe, and those of which we possess, even atthe present day, very obscure and imperfect information.

The nations to whom geography and commerce were most indebted,during the period which this chapter embraces, were theArabians,--the Scandinavians, --under that appellation comprehendingthe nations on the Baltic and in the north of Germany,--and theItalian states. Before, however, we proceed to notice and recordtheir contributions to geography, discovery, and commerce, it will beproper briefly to attend to a few circ*mstances connected with thosesubjects, which occurred between the age of Ptolemy and the utterdecline of the Roman empire.

We have already alluded to the intercourse which was begun betweenRome and China, during the reign of Marcus Antoninus, for the purposeof obtaining silk. Of the embassy which preceded and occasioned thiscommercial intercourse, we derive all our information from theChinese historians. A second embassy seems to have been sent in theyear A.D. 284, during the reign of Probus: that the object of thisalso was commercial there can be no doubt; but the particulars or theprecise object in view, and the result which flowed from it, are notnoticed by the Chinese historians. There can be no doubt, however,that these embassies contributed to extend the geography and commerceof the Romans towards the eastern districts of Asia.

Of the attention which some of the Roman emperors, during thedecline of the empire, paid to commerce, we possess a few noticeswhich deserve to be recorded. The emperor Pertinax, whose father wasa manufacturer and seller of charcoal, and who, himself, for sometime pursued the same occupation, at that period an extensive andprofitable one, preserved and exercised, during his reign, that senseof the value of commerce which he had thus acquired. He abolished allthe taxes laid by Commodus on the ports, harbours, and public roads,and gave up his privileges as emperor, especially in all those pointswhere they were prejudicial to the freedom and extension of commerce.It may indeed be remarked, that the very few good or tolerableprinces who, at this period, filled the government of Rome, displayedtheir wisdom as well as their goodness by encouraging trade.Alexander Severus granted peculiar privileges and immunities toforeign merchants who settled in Rome: he lowered the duties onmerchandises; and divided all who followed trade, either on a largeor small scale, into different companies, each of which seems to havepreserved the liberty of choosing their own governor, and over eachof whom persons were appointed, conversant in each particular branchof trade, whose duty it was to settle all disputes that mightarise.

Soon after this period the commerce of Rome in one particulardirection, and that a most important one, received a severe blow. TheGoths, who had emigrated from the north of Germany to the banks ofthe Euxine, were allured to the "soft and wealthy provinces of AsiaMinor, which produced all that could attract, and nothing that couldresist a barbarian conqueror." It is on the occasion of thisenterprise, that we first became acquainted with the maritime usagesand practices of the Goths; a branch of whom, under the name ofScandinavians, we shall afterwards find contributed so much to theextension of geography and commerce. In order to transport theirarmies across the Euxine, they employed "slight flat-bottomed barks,framed of timber only, without the least mixture of iron, andoccasionally covered with a shelving roof on the appearance of atempest." Their first object of importance was the reduction ofPityus, which was provided with a commodious harbour, and wassituated at the utmost limits of the Roman provinces. After thereduction of this place, they sailed round the eastern extremity ofthe Euxine, a distance of nearly three hundred miles, to theimportant commercial city of Trebizond. This they also reduced; andin it they found an immense booty, with which they filled a greatfleet of ships, that were lying in the port at the time of thecapture. Their success encouraged and stimulated them to furtherenterprises against such of the commercial cities or rich coasts ofthe Roman empire, as lay within their grasp. In their secondexpedition, having increased their fleet by the capture of a numberof fishing vessels, near the mouths of the Borysthenes, the Niester,and the Danube, they plundered the cities of Bithynia. And in a thirdexpedition, in which their force consisted of five hundred sail ofships, each of which might contain from twenty-five to thirty men,they passed the Bosphorus and the Hellespont, and ravaged Greece, andthreatened Italy itself.

The extent to which some branches of trade were carried by theRomans about this time, may be deduced from what is related ofFirmus, whose ruin was occasioned by endeavouring to exchange thesecurity of a prosperous merchant for the imminent dangers of a Romanemperor. The commerce of Firmus seems principally to have beendirected to the east; and for carrying on this commerce, he settledhimself at Alexandria in Egypt. Boasting that he could maintain anarmy with the produce of paper and glue, both of which articles hemanufactured very extensively, he persuaded the people of Egypt thathe was able to deliver them from the Roman yoke, and actually hadinfluence sufficient to prevent the usual supplies of corn from beingshipped from Alexandria to Rome. His destruction was the consequence.As an instance of his wealth and luxury, Vopiscus relates that he hadsquares of glass fixed with bitumen in his house. The Roman commercesuffered considerably during the reign of Dioclesian by the revolt ofBritain, under Carausius, who, by his skill and superiority,especially in naval affairs, which enabled him to defeat a powerfulRoman fleet fitted out against him, obtained and secured hisindependence. Carausius was murdered by Alectus: against the latterthe emperor Constantine sailed with a powerful fleet, and havingeffected a landing in Britain, Alectus was defeated and slain. Thisfleet requires to be particularly noticed from two considerations. Inthe first place, it sailed with a side wind, and when the weather wasrather rough,--circ*mstances so unusual, if not unprecedented, thatthey were deemed worthy of an express and peculiar panegyric: and,secondly, this fleet was not equipped and ready for sea till afterfour years' preparation, whereas, in the first Punic war, "withinsixty days after the first stroke of the axe had been given in theforest, a fleet of 160 galleys proudly rode at anchor in thesea."

Soon after this event, we are furnished with materials, from whichwe may judge of the comparative opulence, commerce, and shipping ofthe several countries which bordered on the Mediterranean.Constantine and Licinius were contending for the Roman empire; and asthe contest mainly depended on superiority at sea, each exertedhimself to the utmost to fit out a formidable and numerous fleet.Licinius was emperor of the east: his fleet consisted of 380 gallies,of three ranks of oars; eighty were furnished by Egypt, eighty byPhoenicia, sixty by Ionia and Doria, thirty by Cyprus, twenty byCaria, thirty by Bithynia, and fifty by Africa. At this period thereseems to have been no vessels larger than triremes. The navalpreparations of Constantine were in every respect inferior to thoseof his rival: he seems to have got no ships from Italy: indeed, thefleets which Augustus had ordered to be permanently kept up atMisenum and Ravenna, were no longer in existence. Greece supplied themost if not all Constantine's vessels: the maritime cities of thiscountry sent their respective quotas to the Piraeus; and their unitedforces only amounted to 200 small vessels. This was a feeble armamentcompared with the numerous and powerful fleets that Athens equippedand maintained during the Peloponnesian war. While this republic wasmistress of the sea, her fleet consisted of 300, and afterwards of400 gallies, of three ranks of oars, all ready, in every respect, forimmediate service. The scene of the naval battle between Licinius andConstantine was in the vicinity of Byzantium: as this city was inpossession of the former, Constantine gave positive orders to forcethe passage of the Hellespont: the battle lasted two days, andterminated in the complete defeat of Licinius. Shortly after thisdecisive victory, the Roman world was again united under one emperor,and the imperial residence and seat of government was fixed byConstantine at Byzantium, which thenceforth obtained the name ofConstantinople.

In the middle of the fourth century Ammianus Marcellinus gives ussome important and curious information respecting the Roman commercewith the East. According to him it was customary to hold an annualfair at Batnae, a town to the east of Antioch, not far from the banksof the Euphrates. Merchandize from the East was brought hitheroverland by caravans, as well as up the Euphrates; and its value atthis fair was so great, that the Persians made an attempt to plunderit. To the same author we are indebted for some notices respectingthe countries which lay beyond the eastern limits of the Romanempire, and also for the first clear and undoubted notice of rhubarb,as an extensive article of commerce for medicinal purposes.

Towards the end of the fourth century, the naval expeditions ofthe Saxons attracted the notice and excited the fears of the Britonsand the Gauls: their vessels apparently were unfit for a long voyage,or for encountering either the dangers of the sea or of battle; theywere flat-bottomed and slightly constructed of timber, wicker-work,and hides; but such vessels possessed advantages, which to the Saxonsmore than compensated for their defects: they drew so little waterthat they could proceed 100 miles up the great rivers; and they couldeasily and conveniently be carried on waggons from one river toanother.

We have already noticed the itineraries of the Roman empire: ofthese there were two kinds, the annotota and the picta;the first containing merely the names of places; the other, besidesthe names, the extent of the different provinces, the number of theirinhabitants, the names of the mountains, rivers, seas, &c.; ofthe first kind, the itinerary of Antoninus is the most celebrated: toit we have already alluded: to the second kind belong thePeutingarian tables, which are supposed to have been drawn up in thereign of Theodosius, about the beginning of the fifth century, thoughaccording to other conjectures, they were constructed at differentperiods.

The beginning of the tables is lost, comprising Portugal, Spain,and the west part of Africa; only the south-east coast of England isinserted. Towards the east, the Seres, the mouth of the Ganges, andthe island of Ceylon appear, and routes are traced through the heartof India. Dr. Vincent remarks, that it is a very singularcirc*mstance that these tables should have the same names in thecoast of India as the Periplus, but reversed. Mention is also made inthem of a temple of Augustus or the Roman emperor: thesecirc*mstances, Dr. Vincent justly observes, tend to prove thecontinuance of the commerce by sea with India, from the time ofClaudius to Theodosius; a period of above 300 years. In these tablesvery few of the countries are set down according to their realposition, their respective limits, or their actual size.

The law of the emperor Theodosius, by which he prohibited hissubjects, under pain of death, from teaching the art of ship-buildingto the barbarians, was ineffectual in the attainment of the objectwhich he had in view; nor did any real service to the empire resultfrom a fleet of 1100 large ships that he fitted out, to act inconjunction with the forces of the western empire for the protectionof Rome against Genseric, king of the Vandals. This fleet arrived inSicily, but performed nothing; and Genseric, notwithstanding the lawof Theodosius, obtained the means and the skill of fitting out aformidable fleet. The Vandal empire in Africa was peculiarly adaptedto maritime enterprise, as it stretched along the coast of theMediterranean above ninety days' journey from Tangier to Tripoli: thewoods of mount Atlas supplied an inexhaustible quantity of shiptimber; the African nations whom he had subdued, especially theCarthaginians, were skilled in ship-building and in maritime affairs;and they eagerly obeyed the call of their new sovereign, when he heldout to them the plunder of Rome. Thus, as Gibbon observes, after aninterval of six centuries, the fleets that issued from the port ofCarthage again claimed the empire of the Mediterranean. A feeble andineffectual resistance was opposed to the Vandal sovereign, whosucceeded in his grand enterprise, plundered Rome, and landed safelyin Carthage with his rich spoils. The emperor Leo, alarmed at thissuccess, fitted out a fleet of 1113 ships, at the expense, it iscalculated, of nearly five millions sterling. This fleet, with animmense army on board, sailed from Constantinople to Carthage, but iteffected nothing. Genseric, taking advantage of a favourable wind,manned his largest ships with his bravest and most skilful sailors;and they towed after them vessels filled with combustible materials.During the night they advanced against the imperial fleet, which wastaken by surprise; confusion ensued, many of the imperial ships weredestroyed, and the remainder saved themselves by flight. Gensericthus became master of the Mediterranean; and the coasts of Asia,Greece, and Italy, were exposed to his depredations.

Towards the end of the fifth century, the Romans under Theodoricexhibited some slight and temporary symptoms of reviving commerce.His first object was to fit out a fleet of 1000 small vessels, toprotect the coast of Italy from the incursions of the African Vandalsand the inhabitants of the Eastern empire. And as Rome could nolonger draw her supplies of corn from Egypt, he reclaimed and broughtinto cultivation the Pomptine marshes and other neglected parts ofItaly. The rich productions of Lucania, and the adjacent provinces,were exchanged at the Marcilian fountain, in a populous fair,annually dedicated to trade: the gradual descent of the hills wascovered with a triple plantation of divers vines and chestnut trees.The iron mines of Dalmatia, and a gold mine in Bruttium, werecarefully explored and wrought. The abundance of the necessaries oflife was so very great, that a gallon of wine was sometimes sold inItaly for less than three farthings, and a quarter of wheat at aboutfive shillings and sixpence. Towards a country thus wisely governed,and rich and fertile, commerce was naturally attracted; and it wasencouraged and protected by Theodoric: he established a freeintercourse among all the provinces by sea and land: the city gateswere never shut; and it was a common saying, "that a purse of goldmight safely be left in the field." About this period, many rich Jewsfixed their residence in the principal cities of Italy, for thepurposes of trade and commerce.

The most particular information we possess respecting thegeographical knowledge, and the Indian commerce of the ancients atthe beginning of the sixth century, is derived from a work of Cosmas,surnamed Indico Pleustes, or the Indian navigator. He was originallya merchant, and afterwards became a monk; and Gibbon justly observes,that his work displays the knowledge of a merchant, with theprejudices of a monk. It is entitled Christian Topography, andwas composed at Alexandria, in the middle of the fifth century, abouttwenty years after he had performed his voyage. The chief object ofhis work was to confute the opinions that the earth was a globe, andthat there was a temperate zone on the south of the torrid zone.According to Cosmas, the earth is a vast plane surrounded by a wall:its extent 400 days' journey from east to west, and half as much fromnorth to south. On the wall which bounded the earth, the firmamentwas supported. The succession of day and night is occasioned by animmense mountain on the north of the earth, intercepting the light ofthe sun. In order to account for the course of the rivers, hesupposed that the plane of the earth declined from north to south:hence the Euphrates, Tigris, &c. running to the south, were rapidstreams; whereas the Nile, running in a contrary direction, was slowand sluggish. The prejudices of a monk, are sufficiently evident inthese opinions; but, in justice to Cosmas, it must be remarked, thathe labours hard, and not unsuccessfully, to prove that his notionswere all the same as those of the most ancient Greek philosophers;and, indeed, his system differs from that of Homer, principally inhis assigning a square instead of a round figure to the planesurface, which they both supposed to belong to the earth. Thecosmography of Homer, thus adopted by Cosmas and most Christianwriters, modified in some respects by the cosmography they drew fromthe Scriptures, is a strong proof, as Malte Brun observes, of thepowerful influence which the poetical geography of Homer possessedover the opinions even of very distant ages.

Having thus briefly detailed those parts of Cosmas's work, whichare merely curious as letting us into the prevalent cosmography ofhis time, we shall now proceed to those parts which, as Gibbonremarks, display the knowledge of a merchant.

We have already noticed the inscription at Aduli for which we areindebted to this author, and the light which it throws on thecommercial enterprise of the Egyptian sovereigns. According toCosmas, the oriental commerce of the Red Sea, in his time, hadentirely left the Roman dominions, and settled at Aduli: this placewas regularly visited by merchants from Alexandria and Aela, anArabian port, at the head of the eastern branch of the Red Sea. FromAduli, vessels regularly sailed to the East: here were collected thearomatics, spices, ivory, emeralds, &c. of Ethiopia, and shippedby the merchants of the place in their own vessels to India, Persia,South Arabia, and through Egypt and the north of Arabia, forRome.

Cosmas was evidently personally acquainted with the west coast ofthe Indian peninsula. He enumerates the principal ports, especiallythose from which pepper was shipped. This article he describes as asource of great traffic and wealth. The great island of Sielidiba, orCeylon, was the mart of the commerce of the Indian ocean. Its portswere visited by vessels from Persia, India, Ethiopia, South Arabia,and Tzinitza. If the last country is China, of which there can belittle doubt, as he mentions that the Tzinitzae brought to Ceylonsilk, aloes, cloves, and sandal-wood, and expressly adds that theircountry produced silk,--Cosmas is the first author who fully assertsthe intercourse by sea between India and China. Besides the foreignvessels which frequented the ports of Ceylon, the native merchantscarried on an extensive trade in their own vessels, and on their ownaccount. In addition to pepper from Mali on the coast of Malabar, andthe articles already enumerated from China, &c., copper, a woodresembling ebony, and a variety of stuffs, were imported fromCalliena, a port shut to the Egyptian Greeks at the time of thePeriplus; and from Sindu they imported musk, castoreum, andspikenard. Ceylon was a depôt for all these articles, whichwere exported, together with spiceries, and the precious stones forwhich this island was famous.

Cosmas expressly states that he was not in Ceylon himself, butthat he derived his information respecting it and its trade fromSopatrus, a Greek, who died about the beginning of the sixth century.This, as Dr. Vincent observes, is a date of some importance: for itproves that the trade opened by the Romans from Egypt to Indiadirect, continued upon the same footing from the reign of Claudiusand the discovery of Hippalus, down to A.D. 500; by which means wecame within 350 years of the Arabian voyage published by Renaudot,and have but a small interval between the limit of ancient geographyand that of the moderns.

From this author we first learn that the Persians having overcomethe aversion of their ancestors to maritime enterprise, hadestablished a flourishing and lucrative commerce with India. All itsprincipal ports were visited by Persian merchants; and in most of thecities there were churches in which the service was performed bypriests, ordained by a Persian archbishop.

We shall conclude our notice of Ceylon, as described by Cosmas,from the account of Sopatrus, with mentioning a few miscellaneousparticulars, illustrative of the produce and commerce of the island.The sovereignty was held by two kings; one called the king of theHyacinth, or the district above the Ghants, where the precious stoneswere found; the other possessed the maritime districts. In Ceylon,elephants are sold by their height; and he adds, that in India theyare trained for war, whereas, in Africa, they are taken only fortheir ivory. Various particulars respecting the natural history ofCeylon and India, &c. are given, which are very accurate andcomplete: the cocoa-nut with its properties is described: the pepperplant, the buffalo, the camelopard, the musk animal, &c.: therhinoceros, he says, he saw only at a distance; he procured someteeth of the hippopotamus, but never saw the animal itself. In thepalace of the king of Abyssinia, the unicorn was represented inbrass, but he never saw it. It is extraordinary that he makes nomention of cinnamon, as a production of Ceylon.

The most important points respecting the state of Eastern commercein the age of Cosmas, as established by his information, are thefollowing: that Ceylon was the central mart between the commerce ofEurope, Africa, and the west of India, and the east of India andChina; that none of the foreign merchants who visited Ceylon wereaccustomed to proceed to the eastern regions of Asia, but receivedtheir silks, spices, &c. as they were imported into Ceylon; andthat, as cloves are particularly specified as having been importedinto Ceylon from China, the Chinese at this period must have tradedwith the Moluccas on the one hand, and with Ceylon on the other.

Cosmas notices the great abundance of silk in Persia, which heattributes to the short land carriage between it and China.

In our account of the very early trade of Carthage, a branch of itwas described from Herodotus, which the Carthaginians carried on,without the use or intervention of words, with a remote Africantribe. Of a trade conducted in a similar manner, Cosmas gives us someinformation; according to him, the king of the Axumites, on the eastcoast of Africa, exchanged iron, salt, and cattle, for pieces of goldwith an inland nation, whom he describes as inhabiting Ethiopia. Itmay be remarked in confirmation of the accuracy, both of Herodotusand of Cosmas, in what they relate on this subject, and as anillustration and proof of the permanency and power of custom amongbarbarous nations, that Dr. Shaw and Cadamosto (in Purchas'sPilgrimage) describe the same mode of traffic as carried on in theirtimes by the Moors on the west coast of Africa, with the inhabitantsof the banks of the Niger.

In the middle of the sixth century, an immense and expensivefleet, fitted out by the Emperor Justinian for the purpose ofinvading the Vandals of Africa, gives us, in the detail of itspreparation and exploits, considerable insight into the maritimestate of the empire at this period. Justinian assembled atConstantinople 500 transports of various sizes, which it is not easyexactly to calculate; the presumption derived from the accounts wehave is, that the smallest were 30 tons, and the largest 500 tons;and that the aggregate tonnage of the whole amounted to about 100,000tons: an immense fleet, even compared with the fleets of moderntimes. On board of this fleet there were 35,000 seamen and soldiers,and 5000 horses, besides arms, engines, stores, and an adequatesupply of water and provisions, for a period, probably, of two orthree months. Such were the transports: they were accompanied andprotected by 92 light brigantines, for gallies were no longer used inthe Mediterranean; on board of these vessels were 2000 rowers. Thecelebrated Belisarius was the commander-in-chief, both of the landand sea forces. The course of this numerous and formidable fleet wasdirected by the master-galley in which he sailed; this wasconspicuous by the redness of its sails during the day, and bytorches fixed on its mast head during night. A circ*mstance occurredduring the first part of the voyage, which instructs us respectingthe mode of manufacturing the bread used on long voyages. When thesacks which contained it were opened, it was found to be soft andunfit for use; and on enquiring into the cause, the blame was clearlytraced to the person by whose orders it had been prepared. In orderto save the expense of fuel, he had ordered it to be baked by thesame fire which warmed the baths of Constantinople, instead of bakingit twice in an oven, as was the usual and proper practice. In thelatter mode, a loss of one-fourth was calculated on and allowed; andthe saving occasioned by the mode adopted was probably another motivewith the person under whose superintendence the bread wasprepared.

During the voyage from Methone, where fresh bread was taken onboard to the southern coast of Sicily, from which, according tomodern language, they were to take their departure for Africa, theywere becalmed, and 161 days were spent in this navigation. Anincident is mentioned relating to this part of the voyage, whichpoints out the method used by the ancients to preserve their waterwhen at sea. As the general himself was exposed to the intolerablehardship of thirst, or the necessity of drinking bad water, thatwhich was meant for his use was put into glass bottles, which wereburied deep in the sand, in a part of the ship to which the rays ofthe sun could not reach. Three months after the departure of thefleet from Constantinople, the troops were landed near Carthage;Belisarius being anxious to effect this as soon as possible, as hismen did not hesitate to express their belief, that they were not ableto contend at once with the winds, the waves, and the barbarians. Theresult of this expedition was the conquest of the African provinces,Sardinia, and Corsica.

The absurd and injudicious regulations of Justinian, respectingthe corn trade of the empire have been already noticed; nor did hisother measures indicate, either a better acquaintance with theprinciples of commerce, or more regard to its interests. The mastersof vessels who traded to Constantinople were often obliged to carrycargoes for him to Africa or Italy, without any remuneration; or, ifthey escaped this hardship, enormous duties were levied on themerchandize they imported. A monopoly in the sale of silk was grantedto the imperial treasurer; and, indeed, no species of trade seems tohave been open and free, except that in cloth. His addition ofone-seventh to the ordinary price of copper, so that hismoney-changers gave only 180 ounces of that metal, instead of 210,for one-sixth of an ounce of gold, seems rather to have been theresult of ignorance than of fraud and avarice; since he did not alterthe gold coin, in which alone all public and private payments weremade. At this time, the geographical knowledge of the Romans,respecting what had formerly constituted a portion of their empire,must have declined in a striking manner, if we may judge from theabsurd and fabulous account which Procopius gives of Britain. And thecommercial relations of the Britons themselves had entirelydisappeared, even with their nearest neighbours; since, in thehistory of Gregory of Tours, there is not a single allusion to anytrade between Britain and France.

At the beginning of the seventh century we glean our last noticeof any event connected with the commerce and maritime enterprise ofthe Romans; and the same period introduces us to the rising power andcommerce of the Arabians.

Alexandria, though its importance and wealth as a commercial cityhad long been on the wane, principally by the removal of most of theoriental trade to Persia, was still the commercial capital of theMediterranean, and was of the utmost importance to Constantinople,which continued to draw from it an annual supply of about 250,000quarters of corn; but in the beginning of this century it wasconquered by the Persians, and the emperor was obliged to enter intoa treaty with the conquerors, by which he agreed to pay a heavy anddisgraceful tribute for the corn which was absolutely necessary forthe support of his capital. But a sudden and most extraordinarychange took place in the character of Heraclius: he roused himselffrom his sloth, indolence and despair; he fitted out a large fleet;exerted his skill, and displayed his courage and coolness in a stormwhich it encountered; carried his armies into Persia itself, andsucceeded in recovering Egypt and the other provinces which thePersians had wrested from the empire.

The very early commerce of the Arabians, by means of caravans,with India, and their settlements on the Red Sea and the coasts ofAfrica and India at a later period, for the purposes of commerce,have been already noticed. Soon after they became the disciples ofMahomet, their commercial and enterprizing spirit revived, if indeedit had ever languished; and it certainly displayed itself withaugmented zeal, vigour, and success, under the influence of their newreligion, and the genius and ambition of their caliphs. Persia,Syria, Egypt, Africa, and Spain, were successively conquered by them;and one of their first and most favourite objects, after they hadconquered a country, was the amelioration or extension of itscommerce. When they conquered Persia, the trade between that countryand India was extensive and flourishing: the Persian merchantsbrought from India its most precious commodities. The luxury of thekings of Persia consumed a large quantity of camphire, mixed withwax, to illuminate their palaces; and this must have been brought,indirectly, through India, from Japan, Sumatra, or Borneo, the onlyplaces where the camphire-tree grows: a curious and striking proof ofthe remote and extensive influence of the commerce and luxury ofPersia, at the time it was conquered by the Arabians. The conquerors,aware of the importance of the Indian commerce, and of the advantageswhich the Tigris and Euphrates afforded for this purpose, very soonafter their conquest, founded the city of Bassora: a place, which,from its situation midway between the junction and the mouth of theserivers, commands the trade and navigation of Persia. It soon rose tobe a great commercial city; and its inhabitants, directing theirprincipal attention and most vigorous enterprize to the East, soonpushed their voyages beyond Ceylon, and brought, directly from theplace of their growth or manufacture, many of those articles whichhitherto they had been obliged or content to purchase in that island.Soon after the conquest of Persia was completed, the Caliph Omardirected that a full and accurate survey and description, of thekingdom should be made, which comprehended the inhabitants, thecattle, and the fruits of the earth.

The conquest of Syria added comparatively little to the commerceof the Arabians; but in the account which is given of thisenterprize, we are informed of a large fair, which was annually heldat Abyla, between Damascus and Heliopolis, where the produce andmanufactures of the country were collected and sold. In the accountgiven of the conquest of Jerusalem by the Arabians, we have also anaccount of another fair held at Jerusalem, at which it is probablethe goods brought from India by Bassora, the Euphrates, and thecaravans, were sold. As soon as the conquest of the western part ofSyria was completed, the Arabians took advantage of the timber ofLibanus, and of the maritime skill of the Phoenicians, which even yetsurvived: they fitted out a fleet of 1,700 barks, which soon rodetriumphant in the Mediterranean. Cyprus, Rhodes, and the Cyclades,were subdued, and Constantinople itself was attacked, but withouteffect.

The conquest of Egypt, however, was of the most importance to theArabian commerce, and therefore more especially demands ournotice.--"In their annals of conquest," as Gibbon remarks, "the siegeof Alexandria is perhaps the most arduous and important enterprize.The first trading city in the world was abundantly replenished withthe means of subsistence and defence." But the Saracens were bold andskilful; the Greeks timid and unwarlike; and Alexandria fell into thepossession of the disciples of Mahomet. As soon as the conquest ofEgypt was completed, its administration was settled, and conducted onthe most wise and liberal principles. In the management of therevenue, taxes were raised, not by the simple but oppressive mode ofcapitation, but on every branch from the clear profits of agricultureand commerce. A third part of these taxes was set apart, with themost religious exactness, to the annual repairs of the dykes andcanals. At first, the corn which used to supply Constantinople wassent to Medina from Memphis by camels; but Omrou, the conqueror ofEgypt, soon renewed the maritime communication "which had beenattempted or achieved by the Pharaohs, the Ptolemies, or theCæsars; and a canal, at least eighty miles in length, wasopened from the Nile to the Red Sea. This inland navigation, whichwould have joined the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, was soon,however, discontinued, as useless and dangerous;" and about the year775, A.D., it was stopped up at the end next the Red Sea.

The conquest of Africa, though not nearly so advantageous to thecommerce of the Arabians, was yet of some importance to them in thispoint of view: it gradually extended from the Nile to the AtlanticOcean. Tripoly was the first maritime and commercial city which theirarms reduced: Bugia and Tangier were next reduced. Cairoan was formedas a station for a caravan; a city, which, in its present decay,still holds the second rank in the kingdom of Tunis. Carthage wasnext attacked and reduced; but an attempt was made by forces sentfrom Constantinople, joined by the ships and soldiers of Sicily, anda powerful reinforcement of Goths from Spain, to retake it. TheArabian conquerors had drawn a strong chain across the harbour; thisthe confederate fleet broke: the Arabians for a time were compelledto retreat; but they soon returned, defeated their enemies, burntCarthage, and soon afterwards completed the conquest of this part ofAfrica.

The beginning of the eighth century is remarkable for theirinvasion of Spain, and for their second fruitless attack onConstantinople; during the latter, their fleet, which is said to haveconsisted of 1800 vessels, was totally destroyed by the Greek fire.With regard to their conquest of Spain, it was so rapid, that in afew months the whole of that great peninsula, which for two centurieswithstood the power of the Roman republic at its greatest height, wasreduced, except the mountainous districts of Asturia and Biscay, Herealso the Arabians displayed the same attention to science by whichthey were distinguished in Asia: ten years after the conquest, a mapof the province was made, exhibiting the seas, rivers, harbours, andcities, accompanied with a description of them, and of theinhabitants, the climate, soil, and mineral productions. "In thespace of two centuries, the gifts of nature were improved by theagriculture, the manufactures, and the commerce of an industriouspeople." The first of the Ommiades who reigned in Spain, levied onthe Christians of that country, 10,000 ounces of gold, 10,000 poundsof silver, 10,000 houses, &c. "The most powerful of hissuccessors derived from the same kingdom the annual tribute of aboutsix millions sterling. His royal seat of Cordova contained 600mosques, 900 baths, and 200,000 houses: he gave laws to 80 cities ofthe first order, and to 300 of the second and third: and 12,000villages and hamlets were situated on the banks of theGuadalquivir."

The religious prejudices, as well as the interests of theArabians, led them to exclude the Christians from every channelthrough which they had received the produce of India. That they wereprecluded from all commercial intercourse with Egypt, is evident,from a fact noticed by Macpherson, in his Annals of Commerce. BeforeEgypt was conquered by the Arabians, writings of importance in Europewere executed on the Egyptian papyrus; but after that period, atleast till the beginning of the ninth century, they are uponparchment.--This, as Macpherson observes, amounts almost to a proof,that the trade with Egypt, the only country producing papyrus, wasinterrupted.

In consequence of the supply of silks, spices, and other orientalluxuries which Constantinople derived from the fair at Jerusalem,(still allowed by the Arabians to be annually held,) not beingsufficient for the demand of that dissipated capital, and their pricein consequence having very much increased, some merchants weretempted to travel across Asia, beyond the northern boundary of theArabian power, and to import, by means of caravans, the goods ofChina and India.

Towards the beginning of the ninth century, as we have alreadyremarked, the commercial relations of the Arabians and the Christiansof Europe commenced, and Alexandria was no longer closed to thelatter. The merchants of Lyons, Marseilles, and other maritime townsin the south of France, in consequence of the friendship and treatiessubsisting between Charlemagne and the Caliph Haroun Al Rasched,traded with their ships twice a year to Alexandria; from this citythey brought the produce of Arabia and India to the Rhone, and bymeans of it, and a land carriage to the Moselle and the Rhine, Franceand Germany were supplied with the luxuries of the east. Thefriendship between the emperor and the caliph seems in other cases tohave been employed by the former to the advancement of the commercialintercourse between Asia and Europe; for we are expressly informed,that a Jewish merchant, a favourite of Charlemagne, made frequentvoyages to Palestine, and returned with pictures,--merchandize beforeunknown in the west.

Hitherto we have viewed the Arabians chiefly as fostering andencouraging commerce; but they also deserve our notice, for theirattention to geographical science and discoveries. From the period oftheir first conquests, the caliphs had given orders to their generalsto draw up geographical descriptions of the countries conquered; andwe have already noticed some of these descriptions. In 833, A.D., theCaliph Almamon employed three brothers of the name of Ben Schaker, tomeasure a degree of latitude, first in the desert of Sangdaar,betweeen Racca and Palmyra, and afterwards near Cufa, for the purposeof ascertaining the circumference of the globe.

We now arrive at the era of a most important document,illustrative of the commerce of the eastern parts of India and ofChina, 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 theArabic by Renaudot." The genuineness and authenticity of theseaccounts were for a long time doubted; but De Guignes, from theChinese annals, has completely removed all doubt on the subject.

The most remarkable circ*mstance connected with this journey is,that in the ninth century the Mahomedans should have been able toreach China; but our surprise on this point will cease, when weconsider the extent of the Mahomedan dominions towards the east ofAsia, the utmost limits of which, in this direction, approached verynearly the frontiers of China. If, therefore, they travelled by land,no serious difficulty would lie in their way; but Renaudot thinks itmore probable, that they proceeded thither by sea.

According to these travellers, the Arabian merchants, no longerconfining themselves to a traffic at Ceylon for the commodities ofthe east of Asia, traded to every part of that quarter of the globe,even as far as the south coast of China. The account they give of thetraffic with this latter country, is very minute: "When foreignvessels arrive at Canfu, which is supposed to be Canton, the Chinesetake possession of their cargoes, and store them in warehouses, tillthe arrival of all the other ships which are expected: it thushappens that the vessels which first arrive are detained six months.They then take about a third part of all the merchandize, as duty,and give the rest up to the merchants: of these the emperor is thepreferable purchaser, but only for ready money, and at the highestprice of the market." One circ*mstance is particularly noticed, whichproves, that at this period the Arabians were numerous and respectedin China; for a cadi, or judge, of their own religion, was appointedto preside over them, under the emperor. The Chinese are described assailing along the coast as far as the Persian Gulf, where they loadedtheir vessels with merchandize from Bassora. Other particulars arementioned, respecting their trade, &c., which agree wonderfullywith what we know of them at present: they regarded gold and silvermerely as merchandize: dressed in silk, summer and winter: had nowine, but drank a liquor made from rice. Tea is mentioned under thename of sak--an infusion of this they drank, and a largerevenue was derived from the duty on it. Their porcelaine also isdescribed and praised, as equally fine and transparent as glass.Every male child was registered as soon as born; at 18 he began topay the capitation tax; and at 80 was entitled to a pension.

These Arabian travellers likewise supply us with some informationrespecting the trade of the Red Sea. The west side of it was in theirtime nearly deserted by merchant ships; those from the Persian Gulfsailed to Judda on the Arabian coast of it: here were always foundmany small coasting vessels, by means of which the goods from India,Persia, &c. were conveyed to Cairo. If this particular isaccurate, it would seem to prove that at this period the canalbetween the Nile and the Red Sea, which had been rendered navigableby Omrou, was regularly used for the purposes of commerce.

In these accounts, the typhon, or whirlwind, so common in theChinese seas, is mentioned under that appellation: the flying fishand unicorn are described; and we have notices of ambergrise, themusk, and the animal from which it is produced: the last is mentionedas coming from Thibet.

The next Arabian author, in point of time, from whom we deriveinformation respecting geography and commerce, is Massoudi. He diedat Cairo in 957: he was the author of a work describing the mostcelebrated kingdoms in Europe, Africa, and Asia; but the detailsrespecting Africa, India, and the lesser Asia, are the most accurateand laboured. The account we shall afterwards give of thegeographical knowledge of the Arabians, renders it unnecessary topresent any abstract, in this place, of the geographical part of hiswork; we shall therefore confine ourselves to the noticesinterspersed respecting commerce. The Arabians traded to nearly everyport of India, from Cashmere to Cape Comorin; and seem to have beenprotected and particularly favoured in their commercial pursuits. Inthe year 877 a great rebellion occurred in China, and the Arabianmerchants had been massacred at Canfn. According to Massoudi,however, in his time this city had recovered from its disasters;confidence had revived; the Arabian merchants from Bassora, and otherports in Persia, resorted to it; and vessels from India and theadjacent islands. He also describes a route to China by landfrequented by traders: this seems to have been through Korasin,Thibet, and a country he calls Ilestan. With regard to the Arabiancommerce with Africa, the merchants settled at Omar traded to Sofalafor gold, and to an island, which is supposed to be Madagascar, wherethey had established colonies.

Of the geographical knowledge displayed by the next Arabiantraveller in point of date, [Ebor->Ebn] Haukal, we shall atpresent take no notice, for the reason already assigned; but confineourselves to his notices regarding commerce. According to him, themost wealthy merchants resided at Siraf, where they traded veryextensively and successfully in the commodities of India and China.Hormus was the principal trading place in Karmania; Daibul in Sind:the merchants here traded to all parts. The countries near theCaspian were celebrated for their manufactures of silk, wool, hair,and gold stuffs. In Armenia, hangings and carpets, dyed with a wormor insect a beautiful colour, called kermez, were made.Samarcand was celebrated for the excellency of its paper. Trebezondwas the principal trading place on the Black Sea. Alexandria iscelebrated for the grandeur of its buildings; but its trade is notmentioned.

About the beginning of the eleventh century we derive our earliestnotice of the commerce of Spain under its Arabian conquerors. Theport of Barcelona was at this period the principal station forcommercial intercourse with the eastern nations bordering on theMediterranean; and as a proof of the character which its merchantsheld, it may be noticed, that their usages were collected into acode: by this code all vessels arriving at, or sailing from,Barcelona, are assured of friendly treatment; and they are declaredto be under the protection of the prince, so long as they are nearthe coast of Catalonia. How much Spain was indebted to the Arabiansfor their early commerce may be judged of from the number ofcommercial and maritime terms in the Spanish language, evidentlyderived from the Arabic.

In the middle of the twelfth century, Al Edrissi composed at thecourt of Roger King of Sicily, whose subject he was, his GeographicalAmusem*nts. In this work we find little that relates to commerce: itsgeographical details will assist us when we give our sketch of thegeographical knowledge of the Arabians.

In the work of [Ebor->Ebn] Al Ouardi, which was drawn up in1232, Africa, Arabia, and Syria are minutely described; butcomparatively little is said on Europe, India, and the North ofAsia.

The next Arabian geographer in point of time is Abulfeda: he wrotea very particular description of the earth, the countries beingarranged according to climates, with the latitude and longitude ofeach place. In the introduction to this work he enters on the subjectof mathematical geography, and describes the most celebratedmountains, rivers, and seas of the world. Abulfeda was a native ofSyria; and this and the adjacent countries are described with mostfullness and accuracy: the same remark applies to his description ofEgypt and the north coast of Africa. The information contained in hiswork, respecting Tartary, China, &c., is not nearly so full andminute as might have been expected, considering the intercourse ofthe Arabians with those countries. Of Europe, and all other parts ofAfrica except Egypt and the north coast, he gives little or noinformation.

Within these very few years, some valuable notices have beenreceived, through M. Burckhardt, and Mr. Kosegarten of Jena, of IbnBatouta, an Arabian traveller of the fourteenth century. According toM. Burckhardt, he is, perhaps, the greatest land traveller that everwrote his travels. He was a native of Tangier, and travelled forthirty years, from 1324 to 1354. He traversed more than once Egypt,Syria, Arabia, Persia, the coast of the Red Sea, and the easterncoast of Africa. Bochara, Balk, Samarcand, Caubul, India, and China,were visited by him: he even ventured to explore several of theIndian islands; crossed the mountains of Thibet, traversed India, andthen, taking shipping, went to Java. He again visited China, andreturned thence by Calicut, Yeman, Bagdad, and Damascus, to Cairo.After having visited Spain, he directed his travels to Africa;reached the capital of Morocco, and thence as far as Sodjalmasa. Fromthis place he crossed the Desert with the slave merchants toTaghary--twenty-five days journey: he represents the houses here asbuilt of rock salt, and covered with camel skins. For twenty daysmore he crossed a desert without water or trees, and the sand ofwhich was so loose, that it left no traces of footsteps. He nowarrived at the frontier town of Soudan. After travelling for sometime longer, he reached the banks of the Niger, which, according tothe information he received, flowed into the Nile at the secondcataract. He visited Tombuctoo and other places in this part ofAfrica, and finished his travels at Fez.

We shall now conclude our account of the Arabians, with aconnected and condensed view of their geographical knowledge.

It is natural to suppose that they would be best acquainted withthose countries which had embraced the faith of Mahomet; and that theprejudices and contempt with which his disciples have always regardedChristians, and, indeed, all who were of a different religion, wouldstand in the way of their seeking or acquiring information respectingthose portions of the globe, the inhabitants of which were not oftheir faith. The exceptions to this are to be found principally inthose countries, from which they derived the principal articles oftheir commerce; or which, though not proselytized, were conquered bythem.

Hence, Europe in general was scarcely known to them beyond theirdominions in Spain, and the adjacent parts of France. There are,however, exceptions to this remark; for we find, scattered throughtheir geographical works, notices tolerably accurate and justrespecting Ireland, Paris, Antharvat, which seems to be England, theDuchy of Sleswig, the City of Kiov, and some other places.

The whole of the north of Africa having been subdued, wasthoroughly known by them; and they seem to have extended their arms,or at least their knowledge, as far into the interior as the banks ofthe Niger. On the east side, their arms had penetrated to Sofala; buton the west their knowledge does not appear to have reached beyondCape Blanco, in the Bay of Arguin. The fortunate islands of theancients were known to them, and the Pike of Teneriffe seemsobscurely represented. Of the other islands and ports farther to thesouth on this side of Africa, it is impossible to ascertain theiridentity; or whether, as represented by the Arabians, they may not beregarded as among those fables in geography, in which all the ancientnations indulged. We may, however, trace some resemblance, in name ordescription, to the Canary Islands, the River Senegal, and the Riod'Ouro. Malte Brun is of opinion, that their knowledge extendedbeyond Cape Boyador, for so long a time impassable by thePortugese.

On the eastern side of Africa, the Ethiopia of the Arabians seemsto have terminated at Cape Corrientes: their power and religion wereestablished from the Cape to the Red Sea. In their geographicaldescriptions of this part of Africa, we may trace many names ofcities which they still retain. But they adopted the error of Ptolemyin supposing that the southern parts of Africa and Asia joined; forEdrisi describes an extensive country, extending from the coast ofAfrica to that of India, beyond the Ganges.

The island of Madagascar seems to be faintly pourtrayed by them;and it is certain that Arabian colonies and the Mahometan religionwere established in it from a very early period. Massoudi mentions anisland, two days' sail from Zanguebar, which he calls Phanbalu, theinhabitants of which were Mahometans; and it is worthy of remark, asMalte Brun observes, that in the time of Aristotle a large island inthis Ocean was known under a similar name, that of Phebol. It issurprizing that the island of Ceylon, with which the Arabians hadsuch regular and constant intercourse, should be placed by Edrisinear the coast of Africa.

But it was in Asia that the conquest, and commerce, and religionof the Arabians spread most extensively; and hence their geographicalknowledge of this part of the globe is more full, accurate, andminute, than what they had acquired of the other portions. By theirconquest of Persia, the ancient Bactriana, Transoxiana, &c. fellinto their power; and according to their wise plan, they immediatelymade themselves acquainted with the geography, productions, &c.of these countries. From their writers we can glean many new andcurious particulars, respecting the districts which lie to the northand east of the Gihon: whether in all respects they are accurate,cannot now be ascertained; for these districts, besides that they arecomparatively little known to the moderns, have suffered so much fromvarious causes, that their identity can hardly be determined.

On the west of Asia, near the Black Sea and the borders of Europe,the Arabian geographers throw much light; their information is minuteand exact, and it reaches to the passes of Caucasus. Red Russia, itis well known, derives its appellation from the colour of the hair ofits inhabitants. Now the Arabian geographers describe a Sclavonicnation, inhabiting a country near Caucasus, called Seclab,remarkable for the redness of their hair. Hence, it is probable thatthe modern inhabitants of Red Russia, who are Sclavonic, emigrated toit from this district of Caucasus.

Some notices appear of those parts, of Russia which border onRussia: Maschput, which is represented as a city of consequence,probably is Moscow. On the borders of the salt plains of Susith, acountry is described, called Boladal Rus, evidently Russia, theinhabitants of which are represented as noted for their filth.

With the figure and extent of the Caspian Sea, the Arabiangeographers were tolerably well acquainted: and they describe, so asto be recognized, several tribes inhabiting the borders of this sea,as well as the vicinity of the Wolga. One is particularly noticed andcelebrated, being called the People of the Throne of Gold, the khanof whom lived at Seray, near the mouth of the Wolga. To the east ofthe Caspian, the Arabian conquests did not extend farther than thoseof Alexander and his immediate successors. Transoxiana was the limitof their dominions towards the north, in this part of the world.

Of many of the districts which the Arabians, conquered, in thispart of Asia, they have furnished us with such accurate and fullinformation, that modern discoveries have been able to add or correctvery little. That they were acquainted with Thibet and China, hasalready appeared, from the account given of their commerce. Thibetthey represent as divided into three parts, Thibet upper, central,and lower. At the beginning of the eighth century, Arabianambassadors were sent to China: they passed through Cashgar. Afterthis period, journies to China by the route of Samarcand werefrequent. Besides Canfu, described by the Mahomedan travellers ofRenaudot, other cities in China were visited by the Arabianmerchants, most of which were in the interior; but the Arabiangeographers seem to have been puzzled by the Chinese names. We learn,however, that the provinces of the north were distinguished fromthose of the south; the former were called Cathay and Tehar Cathar,or Cathay, which produces tea: its capital was Cambalu: the provincesin the south were called Tchin or Sin. The appellation of Cathay wasthat under which alone China was long known to the Europeans. Underthe name of Sin, given to the southern districts, the Arabiangeographers frequently comprehended all the country to the Ganges.The Arabians divided the present Hindostan into two parts; Sind andHind: the first seems to have comprised the countries lying on theIndus; Hind lay to the east, and comprehended Delhi, Agra, Oude,Bengal, &c. The Decan, at least the western part of it, belongedto Sind. The coast of Coromandel, as well as the interior, wasunknown to them. On the west or Malabar coast, their information wasfull and accurate; but it terminated at Cape Comorin.

While part of the forces of the Caliph Walid were employed in theconquest of Spain, another part succeeded in reducing Multan andLahore; and the Arabian geographers, always ready to take advantageof the success of their arms, to promote geographical knowledge,describe their new eastern conquests, and the countries whichbordered on them, in the most glowing language. The valley ofCashmere, in particular, affords ample matter for their panegyrics.The towns of Guzerat, Cambay, and Narwhorra are described: in thelast resided the most powerful king of India; his kingdom extendedfrom Guzerat and Concan to the Ganges. The city of Benares,celebrated as a school of Indian philosophy, and the almostimpregnable fortress of Gevatior, are mentioned by them, as well as acolony of Jews in Cochin, and the Maldive islands: these theyfrequented to obtain cowries, which then, as now, were used asmoney.

It is supposed that the isle of Sumatra is described by them underthe name of Lumery; for the peculiar productions are the same, andSumatra was known under the name of Lambry in the time of Marc Paul,and Mandeville. Java is evidently meant by Al D'Javah: it isrepresented as rich in spices, but subject to volcanic eruptions;circ*mstances by which it is yet distinguished. A short period beforethe Portuguese reached these seas, Arabian colonists establishedthemselves at Ternate and some of the other spice islands; and theirlanguage, religious opinions, and customs, may clearly be traced inthe Philippine islands.

From the geographical discoveries, the travels by sea and land,and the commercial enterprize of the Arabians, we pass to those ofthe Scandinavians; under that appellation, including not only theScandinavians, properly so called, who inhabited the shores of theBaltic and the coasts of Norway, but also those people who dwelt onthe northern shores of the German Ocean; for they were of the sameorigin as the Baltic nations, and resembled them in manners andpursuits.

By an inspection of the map it will appear, that all these tribeswere situated nearly as favorably for maritime enterprize as thenations which inhabited the shores of the Mediterranean; and thoughtheir earliest expeditions by sea were not stimulated by the samecause, commercial pursuits, yet they arose from causes equallyefficient. While the countries bordering on the Mediterranean wereblessed with a fertile soil and a mild climate, those on the Balticwere comparatively barren and ungenial; their inhabitants, therefore,induced by their situation to attend to maritime affairs, werefurther led to employ their skill and power by sea, in endeavouringto establish themselves in more favored countries, or, at least, todraw from them by plunder, what they could not obtain in theirown.

We have already mentioned the maritime expeditions of the Saxons,which struck terror into the Romans, during the decline of theirempire. The other Scandinavian nations were acted on by the samecauses and motives. Neglecting the peaceful art of agriculture,inured to the sea from their earliest years, and the profession andpractice of piracy being regarded as actually honourable by them, itis no wonder that their whole lives were spent in planning orexecuting maritime expeditions. Their internal wars also, bydepriving many of their power or their property, compelled them toseek abroad that which they had lost at home. No sooner had a princereached his eighteenth year, than he was entrusted by his father witha fleet; and by means of it he was ordered and expected to add to hisglory and his wealth, by plunder and victory. Lands were divided intocertain portions, and from each portion a certain number of shipswere to be fully equipped for sea. Their vessels, as well asthemselves, were admirably adapted to the grand object of theirlives; the former were well supplied with stones, arrows, and strongropes, with which they overset small vessels, and with grapplingirons to board them; and every individual was skilful in swimming.Each band possessed its own ports, magazines, &c. Their shipswere at first small, being only a kind of twelve-oared barks; theywere afterwards so much enlarged, that they were capable ofcontaining 100 or 120 men.

It is not our intention to notice the piratical expeditions ofScandinavians, except so far as they tended to discovery, orcommerce, or were productive of permanent effects. Among the firstcountries to which they directed themselves, and where they settledpermanently, were England and Ireland; the result of their settlementin England was the establishment of the Anglo-Saxon dominion power inthat kingdom; the result of their expeditions to Ireland was theirsettlement on its eastern coasts. In the middle of the ninth century,the native Irish had been driven by them into the central and westernparts of the country, while the Scandinavian conquerors, under theappellation of Ostmen, or Eastmen, possessed of all the maritimecities, carried on an extensive and lucrative commerce, not only withtheir native land, but also with other places in the west of Europe.Their settlements on the Shetland, Orkney, and western islands ofScotland, are only mentioned, because in these last the Scandinaviansseem to have established and encouraged manufactures, the forerunnerand support of commerce; for towards the end of the ninth century,the drapery of the Suderyans, (for so the inhabitants were called, astheir country lay to the south of Shetland and Orkney,) was muchcelebrated and sought after.

About this period the Scandinavian nations began to minglecommerce and discovery with their piratical expeditions. Alfred, kingof England, obliged to attend to maritime affairs, to defend histerritories from the Danes, turned his ardent and penetrating mind toevery thing connected with this important subject. He began byimproving the structure of his vessels; "the form of the Saxon ships(observes Mr. Strutt, who derives his description from contemporarydrawings) at the end of the eighth century, or beginning of theninth, is happily preserved in some of the ancient MSS. of that date,they were scarcely more than a very large boat, and seem to be builtof stout planks, laid one over the other, in the manner as is done inthe present time; their heads and sterns are very erect, and risehigh out of the water, ornamented at top with some uncouth head of ananimal, rudely cut; they have but one mast, the top of which is alsodecorated with a bird, or some such device; to this mast is made fasta large sail, which, from its nature and construction, could only beuseful when the vessel went before the wind. The ship was steeredwith a large oar, with a flat end, very broad, passing by the side ofthe 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 masthead, mentioned in this description, appears, from the account ofCanute's fleet, given in Du Cange, to have been for the purpose ofshewing the wind.

The same energy and comprehension of mind which induced andenabled Alfred to improve his navy so much, led him to favourgeographical pursuits and commere. In his Anglo-Saxon translation ofOrosius, he has inserted the information he had obtained from twoScandinavians, Ohter and Wulfstan. In this we have the most ancientdescription, that is clear and precise, of the countries in the northof Europe. Ohter sailed from Helgoland in Norway, along the coast ofLapland, and doubling the North Cape, reached the White Sea. Thiscape had not before been doubled; nor was it again, till in themiddle of the 16th century, by Chancellor, the English navigator, whowas supposed at that time to be the original discoverer. Ohter alsomade a voyage up the Baltic, as far as Sleswig. Wulfstan, however,penetrated further into this sea than Ohter; for he reached Truse, acity in Prussia, which he represents as a place of considerabletrade.

Alfred even extended his views to India, whether stimulated byreligious views, or by the desire of obtaining its luxuries, isuncertain; perhaps both motives operated on his mind. We know thatthe patriarch of Jerusalem corresponded with him; and that theChristians of St. Thomas, in India, would probably be mentioned inthese letters: we also know, that about a century before Alfredlived, the venerable Bede was possessed of pepper, cinnamon, andfrankincense. Whatever were Alfred's motives, the fact is undoubted,that he sent one of his bishops to St. Thomas, who brought backaromatic liquors, and splendid jewels. Alfred seems to have been richin the most precious commodities of the East; for he presented Asser,his biographer, with a robe of silk, and as much incense as a strongman could carry. After all, however, the commerce of England in hisreign was extremely limited: had it been of any importance, it wouldhave been more specially noticed and protected by his laws. It wasotherwise, however, in the reign of Athelstan; for there is a famouslaw made by him, by which the rank and privileges of a thane areconferred on every merchant, who had made three voyages across thesea, with a vessel and cargo of his own. By another law passed inthis reign, the exportation of horses was forbidden.

From this period till the conquest, England was prevented fromengaging in commerce by the constant irruption of the Danes, and bythe short duration of their sovereignty after they had succeeded inobtaining it. There are, however, even during this time, some noticeson the subject; as appears from the laws of Ethelred: by these, tollswere established on all boats and vessels arriving at Billingsgate,according to their size. The men of Rouen, who brought wine and largefish, and those from Flanders, Normandy, and other parts of France,were obliged to shew their goods, and pay the duties; but theemperor's men, who came with their ships, were more favoured, thoughthey were not exempt from duty.

From what relates to the geographical knowledge and the commerceof the Scandinavian inhabitants of England, we shall now pass on tothe geographical discoveries and commerce of the other Scandinaviannations.

About the year 861, a Scandinavian vessel, probably on its voyageto Shetland or Orkney, discovered the Feroe islands. This discovery,and the flight of some birds, induced the Scandinavians to believethat there was other land in the vicinity of these islands. About tenyears afterwards, Iceland was discovered by some Norwegian nobilityand their dependants, who were obliged to leave their native country,in consequence of the tyranny of Harold Harfragre. According to someaccounts, however, Iceland had been visited by a Norwegian pirate afew years before this; and if the circ*mstance mentioned in theIcelandic Chronicles be true, that wooden crosses, and other littlepieces of workmanship, after the manner of the Irish and Britons,were found in it, it must have been visited before the Scandinaviansarrived. The new colonists soon acquired a thorough knowledge of thesize of the island; for they expressly state, that its circumferenceis 168 leagues, 15 to a degree, which corresponds with the mostaccurate modern measurement.

Iceland soon became celebrated for its learning; the history ofthe North, as well as its geography, is much indebted to its authors:nor were its inhabitants, though confined to a cold and sterile landvery remote from the rest of Europe, inattentive to commerce; forthey carried on a considerable trade in the northern seas,--theirships visiting Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, &c.; and thereis even an instance of their having made a commercial voyage as faras Constantinople.

To them the discovery of Greenland and of America is due. Thefirst took place about the beginning of the tenth century: a colonywas immediately established, which continued till it was destroyed bya pestilence in the 14th century, and by the accumulation of ice,which prevented all communication between Iceland and Greenland.

The discovery of America took place in the year 1001: anIcelander, in search of his father who was in Greenland, was carriedto the south by a violent wind. Land was discovered at a distance,flat, low, and woody. He did not go on shore, but returned. Hisaccount induced a Norwegian nobleman to fit out a ship to explorethis new land; after sailing for some time, they descried a flatshore, without verdure; and soon afterwards a low land covered withwood. Two days' prosperous sailing brought them to a third shore, onthe north of which lay an island: they entered, and sailed up ariver, and landed. Pleased with the temperature of the climate, theapparent fertility of the soil, and the abundance of fish in therivers, they resolved to pass the winter in this country; and theygave it the name of Vinland, from the quantity of small grapes whichthey found growing. A colony was soon afterwards formed, who tradedwith the natives; these are represented as of diminutive stature, ofthe same race as the inhabitants of the west part of Greenland, andas using leathern canoes. The merchandize they brought consistedchiefly of furs, sables, the skins of white rats, &c.; and theyprincipally and most eagerly requested, in exchange, hatchets andarms. It appears from the Icelandic Chronicles, that a regular tradewas established between this country and Norway, and that driedgrapes or raisins were among the exports. In the year 1121, a bishopwent from Greenland for the purpose of converting the colonists ofVinland to the Christian religion: after this period, there is noinformation regarding this country. This inattention to the newcolony probably arose from the intercourse between the west ofGreenland and Iceland having ceased, as we have already mentioned,and from the northern nations having been, about this period, wastedby a pestilence, and weakened and distracted by feuds. Of thecertainty of the discovery there can be no doubt: the IcelandicChronicles are full and minute, not only respecting it, but alsorespecting the transactions which took place among the colonists, andbetween them and the natives. And Adam of Bremen, who lived at thisperiod, expressly states, that the king of Denmark informed him, thatanother island had been discovered in the ocean which washes Norway,called Vinland, from the vines which grew there; and he adds, welearn, not by fabulous hearsay, but by the express report of certainDanes, that fruits are produced without cultivation. OrdericusVitalis, in his Ecclesiastical History, under the year 1098, reckonsVinland along with Greenland, Iceland, and the Orkneys, as under thedominion of the king of Norway.

Where then was Vinland?--it is generally believed it was part ofAmerica; and the objections which may be urged against this opinion,do not appear to us to be of much weight. It is said that no part ofAmerica could be reached in four days, the space of time in which thefirst discoverer reached this land, and in which the voyages fromGreenland to it seem generally to have been made. But the west partof Greenland is so near some part of America, that a voyage mighteasily be effected in that time. In answer to the objection, thatvines do not grow in the northern parts of America, where Vinland, ifpart of this continent, must be fixed, it may be observed, that inCanada the vine bears a small fruit; and that still further north, inHudson's Bay, according to Mr. Ellis, vines grew spontaneously,producing a fruit which he compares to the currants of the Levant.The circ*mstances mentioned in the Icelandic Chronicles respectingthe natives, that their canoes are made of skins; that they are veryexpert with their bows and arrows; that on their coasts they fish forwhales, and in the interior live by hunting; that their merchandizeconsists of whalebone and furs; that they are fond of iron, andinstruments made of it; and that they were small in stature, allcoincide with what we know to be characterestic of the inhabitants ofLabrador. It is probable, therefore, that this part of America, orthe island of Newfoundland, was the Vinland discovered by theIcelanders.

The beginning and middle of the tenth century witnessed anincreasing spirit of commerce, as well as considerable attention togeographical pursuits in other Scandinavian nations, as well as theIcelanders. Periodical public fairs were established in several townsof Germany, and other parts of the North: one of the mostconsiderable articles of traffic at these fairs consisted of slavestaken in war. Sleswig is represented as a port of considerable tradeand consequence; from it sailed ships to Slavonia, Semland, andGreece, or rather, perhaps, Russia. From a port on the side ofJutland, opposite to Sleswig, vessels traded to Frisca, Saxony, andEngland; and from another port in Jutland they sailed to Fionia,Scania, and Norway. Sweden is represented as, at this time, carryingon an extensive and lucrative trade. At the mouth of the Oder, on thesouth side of the Baltic, there seems to have been one, if not twotowns which were enriched by commerce.

For most of these particulars respecting the commerce of theBaltic and adjacent seas, at this period, we are indebted to Adam ofBremen. He was canon of Bremen in the eleventh century: and from theaccounts of the missionaries who went into Lapland, and other partsof the North, to convert the inhabitants to Christianity, theinformation he received from the king of Denmark, and his ownobservations, he drew up a detailed account of the Scandinaviankingdoms. His description of Jutland is full, and he mentions severalislands in the Baltic, which are not noticed by prior writers. Healso treats of the interior parts of Sweden, the coasts only of whichhad been previously made known by the voyages published by kingAlfred. Of Russia, he informs us that it was a very extensivekingdom, the capital of which was Kiev; and that the inhabitantstraded with the Greeks in the Black Sea. So far his information seemsto have been good; but though his account of the south coasts of theBaltic is tolerably correct, yet he betrays great ignorance in mostof what he says respecting the northern parts of the Baltic. In hiswork the name Baltic first Occurs. His geographical descriptionsextend to the British isles; but of them he relates merely thefabulous stories of Solinus, &c. The figure of the earth, and thecause of the inequality of the length of the day and night, wereknown to Adam of Bremen.

About the middle of the twelfth century, Lubeck was founded; andit soon became a place of considerable trade, being the resort ofmerchants from all the countries of the North, and having a mint,custom-house, &c. We shall afterwards be called upon to notice itmore particularly, when we come to trace the origin and history ofthe Hanseatic League. At present we shall only mention, that withinthirty years after it was founded, and before the establishment ofthe League, Lubeck was so celebrated for its commerce, that theGenoese permitted its merchants to trade in the Mediterranean onboard their vessels, on the same footing with their own citizens. Thesuccess of the Lubeckers stimulated the other inhabitants of thispart of the Baltic shores; and the bishop of Lunden founded a city inZealand, for the express purpose of being a place of trade, as itsname, Keopman's haven, Chapman's haven, (Copenhagen,) implies.Towards the close of this century, Hamburgh is noticed as a place oftrade.

The two cities of Lubeck and Hamburgh are generally regarded ashaving laid the foundation of the Hanseatic League. This League wasfirst formed, solely to protect the carriage by land of merchandizebetween these cities; it is supposed to have been began about themiddle of the thirteenth century. Other cities soon joined theLeague, and its objects became more multiplied and extensive; butstill having the protection and encouragement of their commerceprincipally in view. The total number of confederated cities wasbetween seventy and eighty. Lubeck was fixed upon as the head of theLeague: in it the assemblies met, and the archives were preserved.Inland commerce, the protection of which had given rise to theLeague, was still attended to; but the maritime commerce of theBaltic, as affording greater facilities and wealth, was that withwhich the League chiefly occupied itself. The confederated citieswere 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 between theVistula and the Gulf of Finland, by the Teutonic knights, wasfavourable to the commercial views of the confederated cities; forthe conquerors obliged the natives to confine their attention andlabour exclusively to agriculture, permitting Germans alone to carryon commerce, and engage in trade. Hence Germans emigrated to thesecountries; and the League, always quicksighted to their owninterests, soon connected themselves with the new settlers, andformed commercial alliances, which were recognized and protected bythe Teutonic knights. Elbing, Dantzic, Revel, and Riga, were thusadded to the League--cities, which, from their situation, wereadmirably calculated to obtain and forward the produce of theinterior parts of Poland and Russia.

The northern countries of the Baltic shore, in a great measureinattentive to commerce, and distracted by wars, were supplied by theLeague with money, on condition that they should assign to them thesources of wealth which their mines supplied, and moreover grant themcommercial privileges, immunities, and establishments. Lubeck waschiefly benefited and enriched by the treaties thus formed; for sheobtained the working of the mines of Sweden and Norway, which do notseem to have been known, and were certainly not productively andeffectively worked before this time. The League also obtained, byvarious means, the exclusive herring fishery of the Sound, whichbecame a source of so much wealth, that the "fishermen weresuperintended, during the season, with as much jealousy as if theyhad been employed in a diamond mine."

Towards the close of the thirteenth century, the king of Norwaypermitted the League to establish a factory and the staple of theirnorthern trade at Bergen. A singular establishment seems soon to havebeen formed here: at first the merchants of the League were permittedto trade to Bergen only in the summer months; but they afterwardswere allowed to reside here permanently, and they formed twenty-onelarge factories, all the members of which were unmarried, and livedtogether in messes within their factories. Each factory was capableof 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.; andthey exported ship-timber, masts, furs, butter, salmon, dried cod,fish-oil, &c.

As the grand object of the League was to secure to themselves theprofits arising from the mutual supply of the north and south ofEurope, with the merchandize of each, they had agents in France,Spain, &c. as well as in the countries on the Baltic. England, atthis period, did not carry on much commerce, nor afford muchmerchandize or produce for exportation; yet even in it the HanseaticLeague established themselves. Towards the end of the thirteenthcentury they had a factory in London, and were allowed to exportwool, sheep's skins, and tin, on condition that they kept in repairthe gate of the city called Bishopsgate: they were also allowed theprivilege of electing an alderman.

Bruges, which is said to have had regular weekly fairs for thesale of the woollen manufactures of Flanders so early as the middleof the tenth century, and to have been fixed upon by the HanseaticLeague, in the middle of the thirteenth, as an entrepôt fortheir trade, certainly became, soon after this latter period, a cityof great trade, probably from its connection with the HanseaticLeague, though it never was formally admitted a member. We shallafterwards have occasion to notice it in our view of the progress ofthe Hanseatic League.

As the commerce of the League encreased and extended in theBaltic, it became necessary to fix on some depôt. Wisby, a cityin the island of Gothland, was chosen for this purpose, as being mostcentral. Most exaggerated accounts are given of the wealth andsplendour to which its inhabitants rose, in consequence of theircommercial prosperity. It is certain that its trade was veryconsiderable, and that it was the resort of merchants and vesselsfrom all the north of Europe: for, as the latter could not, in theimperfect state of navigation, perform their voyage in one season,their cargoes were wintered and lodged in magazines on shore. At thiscity was compiled a code of maritime laws, from which the modernnaval codes of Denmark and Sweden are borrowed; as those of Wisbywere founded on the laws of Oleren, (which will be noticed when wetreat of the commerce of England during this period,) and on the lawsof Barcelona, of which we have already spoken; and as these againwere, in a great measure, borrowed from the maritime code ofRhodes.

But to return to the more immediate history of the HanseaticLeague,--about the year 1369 their power in the Baltic was so great,that they engaged in a successful war with the king of Denmark, andobliged him, as the price of peace, to deliver to them several townswhich were favourably situated for their purpose.

The Hanseatic League, though they were frequently involved indisputes, and sometimes in wars, with France, Flanders, Holland,Denmark, England, and other powers, and though they undoubtedly aimedat, not only the monopoly, but also the sovereignty of the Baltic,and encroached where-ever they were permitted to fix themselves, yetwere of wonderful service to civilization and commerce. "In order toaccomplish the views of nature, by extending the intercourse ofnations, it was necessary to open the Baltic to commercial relations;it was necessary to instruct men, still barbarous, in the elements ofindustry, and to familiarize them in the principles of civilization.These great foundations were laid by the confederation; and at theclose of the fifteenth century, the Baltic and the neighbouring seashad, by its means, become frequented routes of communication betweenthe North and the South. The people of the former were enabled tofollow the progress of the latter in knowledge and industry." Theforests of Sweden, Poland, &c. gave place to corn, hemp, andflax; the mines were wrought; and, in return, the produce andmanufactures of the South were received. Towns and villages wereerected in Scandinavia, where huts only were before seen: the skinsof the bear and wolf were exchanged for woollens, linens, and silks:learning was introduced; and printing was scarcely invented before itwas practised in Denmark, Sweden, &c.

It was at this period that the Hanse towns were the mostflourishing; and that Bruges, largely partaking of their prosperity,and the sole staple for all their goods, rose to its highest wealthand consequence, and, in fact, was the grand entrepôt of thetrade of Europe. The Hanse towns were at this time divided into fourclasses: Lubeck was at the head of the whole League; in it themeetings of the deputies from the other towns were held, and thearchives of the League were kept. Under it were Hamburgh, Rostok,Wismar, and other nine towns situated in the north of Germany.Cologne was the chief city of the second class, with twenty-ninetowns under it, lying in that part of Germany. Brunswick was thecapital of the third class, having under it twelve towns, farther tothe south than those under Lubeck. Dantzic was at the head of thefourth class, having under it eight towns in its vicinity, besidessome smaller ones more remote. The four chief factories of the Leaguewere Novogorod in Russia, London, Bruges, and Bergen.

From this period till the middle of the sixteenth century, theirpower, though sometimes formidable, and their commerce, thoughsometimes flourishing, were both on the decline. Several causescontributed to this: they were often engaged in disputes, and notunfrequently in wars, with the northern powers. That civilization,knowledge, and wealth, to which, as we have remarked, theycontributed so essentially, though indirectly, and without havingthese objects in view, disposed and enabled other powers toparticipate in the commerce which they had hitherto exclusivelycarried on. It was not indeed to be supposed, that either themonarchs or the subjects would willingly and cheerfully submit tohave all their own trade in the very heart of their own countryconducted, and the fruit of it reaped by foreign merchants. They,therefore, first used their efforts to gain possession of their owncommerce, and then aspired to participate in the trade of othercountries; succeeding by degrees, and after a length of time, in boththese objects, the Hanseatic League was necessarily depressed in thesame proportion.

The Dutch and the English first began to seek a participation inthe commerce of the North. The chief cities which formed the republicof Holland had been among the earliest members or confederates of theLeague, and when they threw off the yoke of Germany, and attachedthemselves to the house of Bourbon, they ceased to form part of theLeague; and after much dispute, and even hostility with the remainingmembers of it, they succeeded in obtaining a part of the commerce ofthe Baltic, and commercial treaties with the king of Denmark, and theknights of the Teutonic order.

The commerce of the League was also curtailed in the Baltic, whereit had always been most formidable and flourishing, by the English,who, in the beginning of the fifteenth century, gained admission fortheir vessels into Dantzic and the ports of Sweden and Denmark. Theonly port of consequence in the northern nations, to which the shipsof the League were exclusively admitted, was Bergen, which at thisperiod was rather under their dominion than under that of Norway. Inthe middle of the sixteenth century, however, they abandoned it, inconsequence of disputes with the king of Denmark. About the same timethey abandoned Novogorod, the czar having treated their merchantsthere in a very arbitrary and tyrannical manner. These, and othercirc*mstances to which we have already adverted, made their commerceand power decline; and, towards the beginning of the seventeenthcentury, they had ceased to be of much consequence. 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, stillretained a lucrative trade: this remark applies chiefly to Lubeck andHamburgh; the former of these cities possessed, about the middle ofthe seventeenth century, 600 ships, some of which were very large;and the commerce by which Hamburgh is still distinguished, is in somemeasure the result of what it enjoyed as a member of the HanseaticLeague.

We shall now turn our attention to the Italian states: Venice andAmalfi were the first which directed their labours to the arts ofdomestic industry, the forerunners and causes of commercialprosperity. New wants and desires being created, and a taste forelegance and luxury formed, foreign countries were visited. Muratorimentions several circ*mstances which indicate a revival of acommercial spirit; and, as Dr. Robertson remarks, from the close ofthe seventh century, an attentive observer may discern faint tracesof its progress. Indeed, towards the beginning of the sixth century,the Venetians had become so expert at sea, that Cassiodorus addresseda letter to the maritime tribunes of Venice, (which is still extant,)in which he requests them to undertake the transporting of the publicstores of wine and oil from Istria to Ravenna. In this letter, acurious but rather poetical account is given of the state of the cityand its inhabitants: all the houses were alike: all the citizenslived on the same food, viz. fish: the manufacture to which theychiefly applied themselves was salt; an article, he says, moreindispensable to them than gold. He adds, that they tie their boatsto their walls, as people tie their cows and horses in otherplaces.

In the middle of the eighth century, the Venetians no longerconfined their navigation to the Adriatic, but ventured to double thesouthern promontory of Greece, and to trade to Constantinople itself.The principal merchandize with which they freighted their ships, ontheir return-voyage, consisted of silk, the rich produce of the East,the drapery of Tyre, and furs; about a century afterwards, theyventured to trade to Alexandria. Amalfi, Genoa, and Pisa followedtheir example; but their trade never became very considerable tillthe period of the crusades, when the treasures of the West were infact placed in their hands, and thus fresh vigour was given to theircarrying trade, manufactures, and commerce.

There are a few notices, however, respecting the commerce ofVenice, and the other states of Italy, prior to the crusades, whichit may be necessary very briefly to give. About the year 969, Veniceand Amalfi are represented, by contemporary authors, as possessing anequal share of trade. The latter traded to Africa, Constantinople,and, it would appear, to some ports in the east end of theMediterranean; and Italy, as well as the rest of Europe, entirelydepended on these two states for their supply of the produce of theEast. At the beginning of the eleventh century, the citizens ofAmalfi seem to nave got the start of the Venetians in the favor andcommerce of the Mahomedan states of the East: they were permitted toestablish factories in the maritime towns, and even in Jerusalem; andthose privileges were granted them expressly because they importedmany articles of merchandize hitherto unknown in the East.

In the middle of the same century, Pisa rose into eminence for itscommerce; it traded principally with the Saracen king of Sicily, andwith Africa. The Genoese also, at this period, are represented aspossessing a large portion of the trade of the Levant, particularlyof Joppa.

As the most lucrative branch of commerce of all the Italian stateswas that in the productions of the East, and as these could only beobtained through Constantinople or Egypt, each state was eager togain the favor of rulers of these places. The favor of the Greekemperor could be obtained principally by affording him succoursagainst his enemies; and these the Venetians afforded in 1082 soeffectually, that, in return, they were allowed to build a number ofwarehouses at Constantinople, and were favoured with exclusivecommercial privileges. Dalmatia and Croatia were also ceded tothem.

We now come to the period of the crusades, from which may be datedthe rapid increase of the commerce and power of the Italian states.As none of the other European powers had ships numerous enough toconvey the crusaders to Dalmatia, whence they marched toConstantinople, the fleets of Venice, Pisa, and Genoa were employedfor this purpose. But before they agreed to lend their fleets, theybargained, that on the reduction of any city favorable to commerce,they should be permitted to trade there without duty or molestation,and be favoured with every privilege and protection which they mightdesire. In consequence of this bargain, they obtained, in someplaces, the exclusive right over whole streets, and the appointmentof judges to try all who lived in them, or traded under theirprotection.

A quarrel which took place between the Venetians and the GreekEmperor Manuel, in 1171, is worthy of notice, as being connected withthe origin of the bank of Venice. The republic not being able tosupply, from its own sources, the means of carrying on the war, wasobliged to raise money from her citizens. To regulate this thechamber of loans was established: the contributors to the loan weremade creditors to the chamber, and an annual interest of 4 per cent.was allotted to them. If this rate of interest was not compulsive, itis a sure criterion of a most flourishing state of trade, and of verygreat abundance of money; but there is every reason to believe if wascompulsive.

At the beginning of the 13th century, Constantinople was conqueredby the Venetians, and the leaders of the fourth crusade: this eventenabled them to supply Europe more abundantly with all theproductions of the East. In the partition of the Greek empire whichfollowed this success, the Venetians obtained part of thePeloponnesus, where, at that period, silk was manufactured to a greatextent. By this accession, to which was added several of the largestislands in the Archipelago, their sea coast extended from Venice toConstantinople: they likewise purchased the isle of Crete. The wholetrade of the eastern Roman empire was thus at once transferred to theVenetians; two branches of which particularly attracted theirattention,--the silk trade and that with India. The richest and mostrare kinds of silk were manufactured at Constantinople; and to carryon this trade, many Venetians settled themselves in the city, andthey soon extended it very considerably, and introduced themanufacture itself into Venice, with so much success, that the silksof Venice equalled those of Greece and Sicily. The monopoly of thetrade of the Black Sea was also obtained by them, after the captureof Constantinople; and thus some of the most valuable articles ofIndia and China were obtained by them, either exclusively, or ingreater abundance, and at a cheaper rate than they could be procuredby any other route. In consequence of all these advantages, Venicewas almost the sole channel of commerce in this part of Europe,during the period of the Latin empire in Constantinople. This empire,however, was of very short continuance, not lasting more than 57years.

In the interval, the merchants of Florence became distinguishedfor their commercial transactions, and particularly by becomingdealers in money by exchange, and by borrowing and lending oninterest. In order to carry on this new branch of traffic, they hadagents and correspondents in different cities of Europe; and thus theremittance of money by bills of exchange was chiefly conducted bythem. Other Italian states followed their example; and a new branchof commerce, and consequently a new source of wealth, was thus struckout.

In the year 1261, the Greek emperor regained Constantinoplethrough the assistance of the Genoese; and the latter, as usual, wereamply repaid for their services on this occasion. Pera, the chiefsuburb of Constantinople, was allotted to them: here they had theirown laws, administered by their own magistrates; and they wereexempted from the accustomed duties on goods imported and exported.These privileges raised their commerce in this part of the worldabove that of the Venetians and Pisans; who, however, were stillpermitted to retain their factories. The Genoese soon began to aim atmore extensive power and trade; and under the pretext that theVenetians were going to attack their new settlement, they obtainedpermission to surround it, and their factories in the neighbouringcoasts, with fortifications. The trade of the Black Sea was under thedominion of the Greek emperor, who, by the possession ofConstantinople, commanded its narrow entrance: even the sultan ofEgypt solicited liberty to send a vessel annually to purchase slavesin Circassia and Lesser Tartary. The Genoese eagerly looked toparticipating in the valuable commerce of this sea; and this objectthey soon obtained. In return they supplied the Greeks with fish andcorn. "The waters of the Don, the Oxus, the Caspian, and the Wolga,opened a rare and laborious passage for the gems and spices of India;and after three months march, the caravans of Carizme met the Italianvessels in the harbours of the Crimea." These various branches oftrade were monopolized by the diligence and power of the Genoese; andtheir rivals of Venice and Pisa were forcibly expelled. The Greekemperor, alarmed at their power and encroachments, was at lengthengaged in a maritime war with them; but though he was assisted bythe Venetians, the Genoese were victorious.

The Venetians, who were thus driven from a most lucrativecommerce, endeavoured to compensate for their loss by extending theirpower and commerce in other quarters: they claimed and received atoll on all vessels navigating the Adriatic, especially from thosesailing between the south-point of Istria and Venice. But theircommerce and power on the Adriatic could be of little avail, unlessthey regained at least a portion of that traffic in Indianmerchandize, which at this period formed the grand source of wealth.Constantinople, and consequently the Black Sea, was shut up fromthem: on the latter the Genoese were extending their traffic; theyhad seized on Caffa from the Tartars, and made it the principalstation of their commerce. The Venetians in this emergency lookedtowards the ancient route to India, or rather the ancient depôtfor Indian goods,-- Alexandria: this city had been shut againstChristians for six centuries; but it was now in the possession of thesultan of the Mamalukes, and he was more favourable to them. Underthe sanction of the Pope, the Venetians entered into a treaty ofcommerce with the sultans of Egypt; by which they were permitted tohave one consul in Alexandria, and another in Damascus. Venetianmerchants and manufacturers were settled in both these cities. If wemay believe Sir John de Mandeville, their merchants frequently wentto the island of Ormus and the Persian Gulf, and sometimes even toCambalu. By their enterprize the Indian trade was almost entirely intheir possession; and they distributed the merchandize of the Eastamong the nations of the north of Europe, through Bruges and theHanseatic League, and traded even directly in their own vessels toEngland.

In the beginning of the fifteenth century, the annual value of thegoods exported from Venice amounted to ten millions of ducats; andthe profits on the home and outward voyages, were about fourmillions. Their shipping consisted of 3000 vessels, of from 10 to 200amphoras burden, carrying 17,000 sailors; 300 ships with 8000 seamen;and 45 gallies of various sizes, manned by 11,000 seamen. In thedock-yard, 16,000 carpenters were usually employed. Their trade toSyria and Egypt seems to have been conducted entirely, or chiefly, byready money; for 500,000 ducats were sent into those countriesannually: 100,000 ducats were sent to England. From the Florentinesthey received annually 16,000 pieces of cloth: these they exported todifferent ports of the Mediterranean; they also received from theFlorentines 7000 ducats weekly, which seems to have been the balancebetween the cloth they sold to the Venetians, and the French andCatalan 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 conquestof Constantinople by the Turks, the consequence of which was theexpulsion of the Genoese, they were enabled, almost without a rival,to supply the encreasing demand of Europe for the productions of theEast. Their vessels visited every port of the Mediterranean, andevery coast of Europe; and their maritime commerce, about the end ofthe fifteenth century, was probably greater than that of all the restof Europe. Their manufactures were also a great source of wealth; theprincipal were silk, cloth of gold and silver, vessels of gold andsilver, and glass. The discovery of a passage to the East Indies bythe Cape of Good Hope, the powerful league of Cambray, and othercirc*mstances, weakened and gradually destroyed their commerce andpower.

We have said that they supplied almost, without a rival, thedemand in Europe for the produce of the East. That rival wasFlorence: the success of her merchants in a new branch of commercehas been already noticed. The profits they derived from lending moneyon interest, and from negociating bills of exchange, aided by theirprofits on their manufactures, for which, particularly those of silkand woollen, they were celebrated so early as the beginning of thefourteenth century, had rendered Florence one of the first cities ofEurope, and many of its merchants extremely rich. In the year 1425,having purchased the port of Leghorn, they resolved, if possible, topartake in the commerce of Alexandria. A negociation was accordinglyopened with the sultan: the result of which was, that the Florentinesobtained some share in the Indian trade; and soon afterwards itappears that they imported spices into England. It is supposed, thatthe famous family of the Medici were extensively concerned in theIndian trade of Florence. Cosmo de Medici was the greatest merchantof the age: he had agents and money transactions in every part ofEurope; and his immense wealth not only enabled him to gratify hislove for literature and the fine arts, but also to influence thepolitics of Italy, and occasionally of the more remote parts ofEurope. In the time of Lorenzo de Medici, about the close of thefifteenth century, the commercial intercourse between Florence andEgypt was greatly extended. Florence, indeed, was now in the zenithof her prosperity; after this period her commerce declined,principally from the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope.

In these brief notices of the commerce of the principal Italianstates, Venice, Genoa, and Florence, in the days of their greatestglory, we have purposely omitted any reference to the other states,except stating a fact or two relating to Amalfi and Pisa, during thatperiod, when they nearly rivalled the three great states. It will beproper, however, to subjoin to this account of Italian commerce, asit existed prior to the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, someimportant facts respecting Amalfi, Pisa, Milan, Modena, &c., inorder that our sketch, though necessarily brief, may not bedeficient.

A great rivalship existed between Pisa and Amalfi in the twelfthcentury, arising chiefly from commercial jealousy; and this rivalshipleading to war, Amalfi was twice taken and pillaged by the Pisans,who, indeed, during the zenith of their power, had repeatedlytriumphed over the Saracens of Africa and Spain. Amalfi, however,soon recovered; but we possess no memorials of her commerce afterthis period, which deserve insertion here. Her maritime laws, thedate of which is uncertain, seem to have been generally adopted bythe Italian states.

Towards the end of the twelfth century, the power and commerce ofPisa were at their height: it partook, with Genoa and Venice, of theadvantages derived from the trade of Constantinople. In the beginningof the next century, however, we find it became a mere auxiliary ofVenice. Its subsequent wars with Genoa, and the factions which arosewithin its walls, reduced its commerce so low, about the middle ofthe fourteenth century, that nothing respecting it worthy of noticeoccurs after this period.

The wealth derived by Florence from a traffic in money has beenalready noticed. The example of this city was followed by Asti, aninland town of Piedmont, Milan, Placentia, Sienna, Lucca, &c.Hence the name of Lombard, or Tuscan merchant, was given to all whoengaged in money transactions. The silk manufacture was the principalone in Italy; it seems to have been introduced by the Venetians, whenthey acquired part of the Greek empire. In the beginning of thefourteenth century, Modena was the principal seat of thismanufacture; soon afterwards Florence, Lucca, Milan, and Bologna,likewise engaged in it.

Within the period to which the present chapter is confined, thereare few traces of commerce in any other parts of Europe besides theItalian states and the Hanseatic League: the former monopolizing thecommerce of the south of Europe and of Asia, and the latter that ofthe north of Europe, particularly of the Baltic, engrossed among themand the cities which were advantageously situated for intermediatedepôts, nearly all the trade that then existed. There are,however, a few notices of commercial spirit and enterprize in otherparts of Europe, during this period, which must not be omitted.

In Domesday-book a few particulars are set down relating to theinternal and foreign trade of England. In Southwark the king had aduty on ships coming into a dock, and also a toll on the Strand.Gloucester must have enjoyed some manufactures of trade in iron, asit was obliged to supply iron and iron rods for the king's ships.Martins' skins were imported into Chester, either from Iceland orGermany. The navigation of the Trent and the Fosse, and the road toYork, were carefully attended to.

If we may believe Fitz-Stephen, London, in the middle of thetwelfth century, possessed a considerable portion of trade: among theimports, he mentions gold, spices, and frankincense from Arabia;precious stones from Egypt; purple drapery from India, palm oil fromBagdad: but it is certain that all these articles were obtaineddirectly from Italian merchants. The furs of Norway and Russia werebrought by German merchants, who, according to William of Malmsbury,were the principal foreign merchants who traded to England. The sameauthor mentions Exeter, as a city much resorted to by foreignmerchants; and that vessels from Norway, Iceland, and othercountries, frequented the port of Bristol. Chester at this periodalso possessed much trade, particularly with Iceland, Aquitaine,Spain, and Germany. Henry I. made a navigable canal from the Trent tothe Witham at Lincoln, which rendered this place one of the mostflourishing seats of home and foreign trade in England. The IcelandicChronicles inform us that Grimsby was a port much resorted by themerchants of Norway, Scotland, Orkney, and the Western Islands.

Previous to the reign of Henry II., the sovereigns and lords ofmanors in England claimed, as their right, the property of allwrecked vessels; but this monarch passed a law, enacting, that if anyone human creature, or even a beast, were found alive in the ship, orbelonging to her, the property should be kept for the owners,provided they claimed it in three months. This law, as politic as itwas humane and just, must have encouraged foreign trade. In thisreign the chief exports seem to have been lead, tin, and wool, andsmall quantities of honey, wax, cheese, and salmon. The chief importswere 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 belongingto England, are generally supposed to have been passed by Richard I.;both these, however, and their exact date, are uncertain: they werecopied from the Rhodian law, or rather from the maritime laws ofBarcelona.

Though it appears by official documents in the reign of king John,that the south coast of England, and the east coast only, as far asNorfolk, were esteemed the principal part of the country; yet, veryshortly after the date of these documents, Newcastle certainly hadsome foreign trade, particularly with the northern nations of Europefor furs. In this reign are the first records of English letters ofcredit.

Some idea may be formed of the importation of wine at thebeginning of the fourteenth century, by the following facts: in theyear ending 20th Nov. 1299, the number of vessels that arrived inLondon and the other ports, (with the exception of the Cinque ports,)bringing cargoes of wine amounting to more than nineteen tuns, wasseventy-three; and the number in the next year was seventy-one. It isprobable, however, that we may double these numbers, since the Cinqueports, being exempted from the duty on wine, would import much morethan any other equal number of ports. From a charter granted toforeign merchants in 1302, it appears that they came from thefollowing countries to trade in England:--Germany, France, Spain,Portugal, Navarre, Lombardy, Tuscany, Provence, Catalonia, Aquitaine,Thoulouse, Quercy, Flanders, and Brabant. The very importantprivileges and immunities granted to them sufficiently proves, thatat this period the commerce of England was mainly dependent on them.That there were, however, native merchants of considerable wealth andimportance, cannot be doubted. In the year 1318, the king called acouncil of English merchants on staple business: they formed a boardof themselves; and one was appointed to preside, under the title ofmayor of the merchants, or mayor of the staple.

About the middle of this century, Dover, London, Yarmouth, Boston,and Hull, were appointed places for exchanging foreign money; and theentire management was given to William de la Pole. His name deservesparticular notice, as one of the richest and most enlightened of theearly merchants of England. His son, Michael, was also a merchant,and was created earl of Suffolk by Richard II. "His posterityflourished as earls, marquises, and dukes of Suffolk, till a royalmarriage, and a promise of the succession to the crown, brought thefamily to ruin."

When Edward III. went to the siege of Calais, the different portsof England furnished him with ships. From the list of these itappears, that the whole number supplied was 700, manned by 14,151seamen, averaging under twenty men for each vessel. Gosford is theonly port whose vessels average thirty-one men. Yarmouth sentforty-three vessels; Fowey, forty-seven; Dartmouth, thirty-one;Bristol, twenty-four; Plymouth, twenty-six; London, twenty-five;Margate, fifteen; Sandwich, twenty-two; Southampton, twenty-one;Winchelsea, twenty-one; Newcastle, sixteen; Hull, seventeen.

In the year 1354 we have a regular account of such exports andimports as paid duty; from which it appears, that there were exported31,651 sacks of wool, 3036 cwt. of woad, sixty-five wool-fells, 4774pieces of cloth, and 8061 pieces of worsted stuff; and there wereimported 1831 pieces of fine cloth, 397 cwt. of wax, and 1829 tuns ofwine, besides linen, mercery, groceries, &c. As tin, lead, andseveral other articles are not enumerated, it may be inferred thatthey paid no duty. In the year 1372 there is the earliest record ofdirect trade with Prussia. As the woollen manufactures of Englandbegan to flourish, the importation of woollen cloths necessarilydiminished; so that, in the act of 1378, reviving the acts of 1335and 1351 for the encouragement of foreign merchants, though cloth ofgold and silver, stuffs of silk, napery, linen, canvas, &c. areenumerated as imported by them, woollen cloth is not mentoned. Thetrade to the Baltic gradually increased as the ports in the north ofEngland, particularly Newcastle, rose in wealth. In 1378 coals andgrindstones were exported from this place to Prussia, Norway,Schonen, and other ports of the Baltic. Soon afterwards, inconsequence of some disputes between the Prussians and English, acommercial treaty was formed between the Grand Master of Prussia andEdward III., by which it was agreed that the Prussian merchants inLondon should be protected, and that English merchants should havefree access to every part of Prussia, to trade freely, as it used tobe in ancient times. In order to carry this treaty into full effecton the part of the English, a citizen of London was chosen to begovernor of the English merchants in Prussia and the other countrieson the Baltic. Disputes, however, still arose, and piracies werecommitted on both sides. Meetings were therefore held at the Hague,to hear and settle the complaints of each party. From the statementsthen given in, it appears, that woollen clothes now formed aconsiderable part of the exports of England to the Baltic. That theywere also exported in considerable quantity to the south of Europe,appears from other documents.

At the beginning of the fifteenth century the foreign commerce ofEngland had considerably increased; for we are informed, that somemerchants of London shipped wool and other goods, to the value of24,000 l., to the Mediterranean; and nearly about the sametime, the English merchants possessed valuable warehouses and anextensive trade at Bergen in Norway, and sent vessels of the size of200 tons to Portugal. The freight of one of these is stated to havebeen worth 6000 crowns in gold. The improvement of the woollenmanufactures may be inferred from the following circ*mstance: alum isvery useful to fullers and dyers. About the year 1422, the Genoeseobtained from the Greek emperor the lease of a hill in Asia Minor,containing alum: England was one of the chief customers for thisarticle; but it undoubtedly was imported, not in English, but inGenoese vessels. In the year 1450 the Genoese delivered alum to thevalue of 4000l. to Henry VI. Bristol seems to have been one of themost commercial cities in England. One merchant of it is mentioned ashaving been possessed of 2470 tuns of shipping: he traded to Finmarkand Iceland for fish, and to the Baltic for timber and other bulkyarticles in very large ships, some of which are said to have been ofthe burden of 400, 500, and even 900 tons. Towards the latter end ofthe fifteenth century, the parliament, in order to encourage Englishshipping, (as hitherto the greatest part of the foreign trade ofEngland had been carried on by foreign merchants in foreign vessels,)enacted a species of navigation law, and prohibited the king'ssubjects from shipping goods in England and Wales on board any vesselowned by a foreigner, unless when sufficient freight could not befound in English vessels.

Such are the most instructive and important notices respecting thestate and progress of English commerce, which occur prior to thediscovery of the Cape of Good Hope and America. We shall now proceedto give similar notices of the commerce of Scotland, Ireland, France,and the other countries of Europe; these, however, shall be verybrief and few. In the middle of the twelfth century, Berwick, whichthen belonged to Scotland, is described as having more foreigncommerce than any other port in that kingdom, and as possessing manyships. One of the merchants of this town was distinguished by theappellation of the opulent. Inverluth, or Leith, is describedmerely as possessing a harbour, but no mention is made of its trade.Strivelen had some vessels and trade, and likewise Perth. There wassome trade between Aberdeen and Norway. There were no trading townson the west coast of Scotland at this period; but about twenty yearsafterwards, a weekly market, and an annual fair were granted bycharter to Glasgow.

It is probable that the foreign commerce of Scotland, beingconfined to the east coast, was principally carried on with Norway:with which country, indeed, Scotland had intimate connection; for wedo not find any notice of foreign merchants from other countriestrading to or settling in Scotland, till towards the end of thethirteenth century, when some Flemish merchants established a factoryat Berwick. Wool, wool-fells, hides, &c. were the chief articlesof export; salmon also was exported. Of the importance and value ofthe trade of this place we may form some idea, from the circ*mstance,that the custom duties amounted to upwards of 2,000 l.sterling; and of 1,500 marks a year settled on the widow of Alexanderprince of Scotland, 1,300 were paid by Berwick.

In the year 1428. foreign commerce attracted considerableattention in Scotland; and in order to encourage the native merchantsto carry it on themselves, and by their own vessels, the parliamentof Scotland seem, some time previous to this date, to have passed anavigation act; for in an act passed this year, the Scotch merchantswere permitted for a year ensuing, to ship their goods in foreignvessels, where Scotch ones were not to be found, notwithstanding thestatute to the contrary. Indeed, during the civil wars in England,between the houses of York and Lancaster, when the manufactures andcommerce of that country necessarily declined, the commerce ofScotland began to flourish, and was protected and encouraged by itsmonarchs. The herring fishery was encouraged; duties were laid on theexportation of wool, and a staple for Scotch commerce was fixed inthe Netherlands, In the year 1420 Glasgow began to acquire wealth bythe fisheries; but until the discovery of America and the WestIndies, it had little or no foreign trade. Towards the middle of thefifteenth century, several acts of parliament were passed toencourage agriculture, the fisheries, and commerce; the Scotchmerchants 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 were passed: among the most important enactmentswere those which related to the freight of ships, the mode of stowingit, the mode of fixing the average in case goods were thrownoverboard, and the time of the year when vessels might sail toforeign countries.

The commerce of Ireland, when its ports were frequented by theOstmen, has been already noticed. In the middle of the twelfthcentury, we are informed, that foreign merchants brought gold toIreland, and that wheat and wine were imported from Bretagne intoWexford; but the exports in return are not particularized. About thisperiod, some trade seems to have been carried on between Bristol andDublin; and on the conquest of Ireland by Henry II., that monarchgave his city of Dublin to be inhabited by his men of Bristol. Acharter granted by the same monarch, gives to the burgesses of thatcity free trade to England, Normandy, Wales, and the other ports ofIreland. From this time the commerce of Dublin seems to haveflourished. It is certain, that at the middle of the fourteenthcentury the Irish stuffs were in such request abroad, that imitationsof them were attempted by the Catalans, and they were worn asarticles of luxury by the ladies of Florence. But of the mode inwhich they were conveyed to foreign countries, and the articles whichwere received in exchange for them, we have no certaininformation.

Though France possessed excellent ports in the Mediterranean,particularly Marseilles, which, as we have seen, in very early timeswas celebrated for its commerce, yet she, as well as less favouredports of Europe, was principally indebted for her trade to theLombards and other Italian merchants, during the middle ages. Thepolitical state of the country, indeed, was very unfavourable tocommerce during this period; there are, consequently, few particularsof its commerce worth recording. About the beginning of thefourteenth century, Montpelier seems to have had a considerabletrade; and they even sent ships with various articles of merchandizeto London. Mention of Bourdeaux occurs about the same time, as havingsent out, in one year, 1350 vessels, laden with 13,429 tuns of wine;this gives nearly 100 tuns in each vessel on an average. ButBourdeaux was in fact an English possession at this time. Thatcommerce between France and England would have flourished andextended considerably, had it not been interrupted by the frequentand bitter wars between these countries, is evident from theconsequences which followed the truce which was concluded betweentheir monarchs in 1384. The French, and particularly the Normans,taking immediate advantage of this truce, imported into England animmense quantity of wine, fruits, spiceries, and fish; gold andsilver alone were given in exchange. The Normans appear to havetraded very extensively in spiceries; but it is uncertain, whetherthey brought them directly from the Mediterranean: they likewisetraded to the east country or Baltic countries. About a centuryafterwards, that is in 1453, France could boast of her wealthymerchant, as well as Florence and England. His name was JacquesCoeur: he is said to have employed 300 factors, and to have tradedwith 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 Italianand Flemish merchants make a conspicuous figure. Flanders wascelebrated for its woollen manufactures, as well as for containingthe central depôts of the trade between the south and north ofEurope. Holland, which afterwards rose to such commercial importance,does not appear in the annals of commerce till the beginning of thefifteenth century. At this period, many of the manufacturers ofBrabant and Flanders settled in Holland; and about the same time theHollanders engaged in maritime commerce; but there are no particularsrespecting it, that fall within the limits of the presentchapter.

It remains to notice Spain. The commerce of Barcelona in itsearliest stage has been already noticed. The Catalans, in thethirteenth century, engaged very extensively in the commerce of theMediterranean, to almost every port of which they traded. Theearliest navigation act known was passed by the count of Barcelonaabout this time; and laws were also framed, containing rules for theowners and commanders of vessels, and the clerks employed to keeptheir accounts; for loading and discharging the cargo; for the mutualassistance to be given by vessels, &c. These laws, and others, toextend and improve commerce, were passed during the reign of JamesI., king of Arragon, who was also count of Barcelona. Themanufactures and commerce of this part of Spain continued to flourishfrom this time till the union of the crowns of Castile and Arragon,which event depressed the latter kingdom. In 1380, a Catalan ship waswrecked on the coast of Somersetshire, on her voyage from Genoa toSluys, the port of Bruges: her cargo consisted of green ginger, curedginger, raisins, sulphur, writing paper, white sugar, prunes,cinnamon, &c. In 1401, a bank of exchange and deposit wasestablished at Barcelona: the accommodation it afforded was extendedto foreign as well as native merchants. The earliest bill of exchangeof which we have any notice, is one dated 28th April, 1404, which wassold by a merchant of Lucca, residing in Bruges, to a merchant ofBarcelona, also residing there, to be paid by a Florence merchantresiding in Barcelona. By the book of duties on imports and exports,compiled in 1413, it appears, that the Barcelonians were very liberaland enlightened in their commercial policy; this document also givesus a high idea of the trade of the city of Barcelona. A still furtherproof and illustration of the intelligence of the Barcelonamerchants, and of the advantages for which commerce is indebted tothem, occurs soon afterwards: for about the year 1432 they framedregulations respecting maritime insurance, the principal of whichwere, that no vessel should be insured for more than three quartersof her real value,--that no merchandize belonging to foreignersshould be insured in Barcelona, unless freighted in a vesselbelonging to the king of Arrogan: the words, more or less,inserted frequently in policies, were prohibited: if a ship shouldnot be heard of in six months, she was to be deemed lost.

Little commerce seems to have been carried on from any other portof Spain besides Barcelona at this period: the north of Spain,indeed, had a little commercial intercourse with England, as appearsby the complaints of the Spanish merchants; complaints that severalof their vessels bound to England from this part of Spain had beenplundered by the people of Sandwich, Dartmouth, &c. Seven vesselsare particularly mentioned: one of which, laden with wine, wool, andiron, was bound for Flanders; the others, laden with raisins,liquorice, spicery, incense, oranges, and cheese, were bound forEngland. The largest of these vessels was 120 tons: one vessel, withits cargo, was valued as high as 2500l.

The following short abstract of the exports and imports of theprincipal commercial places in Europe, about the middle of thefifteenth century, taken from a contemporary work, will very properlyconclude 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, goatskins, saffron, and quicksilver; the most of these were exported toBruges. The chief imports of Spain were Flemish woollen cloth andlinen. This account, however, of the commerce of Spain, does notappear 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 notmentioned.

Bretagne exported salt, wine, cloth, and canvas.

The exports of Scotland were wool, wool-fells, and hides toFlanders; from which they brought mercery, haberdashery, cart-wheels,and barrows. The exports of Ireland were hides, wool, salmon, andother fish; linen; the skins of martins, otters, hares, &c. Thetrade of England is not described: the author being an Englishman,and writing for his countrymen, we may suppose, thought itunnecessary.

The exports of Prussia were beer, bacon, copper, bow-staves, wax,putty, pitch, tar, boards, flax, thread of Cologne, and canvas; thesewere sent principally to Flanders, from which were brought woollencloths. The Prussians also imported salt from Biscay.

The Genoese employed large vessels in their trade; their principalexports were cloth of gold and silver, spiceries, woad, wool, oil,wood-ashes, alum, and good: the chief staple of their trade was inFlanders, to which they carried wool from England.

The Venetians and Florentines exported nearly the same articles asthe Genoese; and their imports were nearly similar.

Flanders exported madder, wood, garlick, salt-fish, woollencloths, &c. The English are represented as being the chiefpurchasers in the marts of Brabant, Flanders, and Zealand; to thesemarts were brought the merchandize of Hainault, France, Burgundy,Cologne, and Cambray, in carts. The commodities of the East, and ofthe south of Europe, were brought by the Italians: England sent herwool, and afterwards her woollen cloth.

From this view of the trade of Europe in the middle of thefifteenth century, it appears, that it was principally conducted bythe Italians, the Hanse merchants, and the Flemings; and that thegreat marts were in Flanders. Towards the end of this century,indeed, the other nations of Europe advancing in knowledge andenterprize, and having acquired some little commercial capital, eachbegan, in some degree, to conduct its own trade. The people ofBarcelona, at a very early period, form the only exception to thisremark; they not only conducted their own trade, but partook largelyin conducting the trade of other nations.

From the remotest period to which we can trace the operations ofcommerce, we have seen that they were chiefly directed to theluxuries of Asia; and as the desire of obtaining them in greaterabundance, and more cheaply and easily, was the incitement which ledto the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope by the Portuguese, it willbe proper, before we narrate that event, briefly to give suchparticulars respecting Asiatic commerce as occur within the periodwhich this chapter embraces, and to which, in our account of theArabians, we have not already alluded. This will lead us to a noticeof some very instructive and important travels in the East; and theinformation which they convey will point out the state of thegeography of Asia, as well as its commerce, during the middleages.

The dreadful revolutions which took place in Asia in the twelfthand thirteenth centuries, and which threatened to extend to Europe,induced the European powers, and particularly the Pope, to endeavourto avert the evil, by sending embassies to the Mogul potentates. Sofrequent were these missions, that, in the beginning of thefourteenth century, a work was composed which described the variousroutes to Grand Tartary. What was at first undertaken from policy andfear, was afterwards continued from religious zeal, curiosity, a loveof knowledge, and other motives. So that, to the devastations ofGenghis Khan we may justly deem ourselves indebted for the full andimportant information we possess respecting the remote parts of Asiaduring the middle ages.

The accounts of India and China by the two Mahomedan travellershave been already noticed: between the period of their journey, andthe embassies and missions to which we have just alluded, the onlyaccount of the East which we possess is derived from the work ofBenjamin, a Jew of Tudela in Spain. It is doubted whether he visitedall the places he describes: his object was principally to describethose places where the Jews resided in great numbers.

After describing Barcelona as a place of great trade, frequentedby merchants from Greece, Italy, and Alexandria, and a great resortof the Jews, and giving a similar character of Montpelier and Genoa,he proceeds to the East. The inhabitants of Constantinople being toolazy to carry on commerce themselves, the whole trade of this city,which is represented as surpassing all others, except Bagdad, inwealth, was conducted by foreign merchants, who resorted to it fromevery part of the world by land and sea. New Tyre was a place ofconsiderable traffic, with a good harbour: glass and sugar were itsprincipal exports. The great depôt for the produce andmanufactures of India, Persia, Arabia, &c., was an island in thePersian Gulf. He mentions Samarcand as a place of considerableimportance, and Thibet as the country where the musk animal wasfound. But all beyond the Persian Gulf he describes in such vagueterms, that little information can be gleaned. It is worthy ofremark, that nearly all the Jews, whom he represents as very numerousin Thebes, Constantinople, Samarcand, &c., were dyers of wool: inThebes alone, there were 2000 workers in scarlet and purple. Afterthe conquest of the northern part of China by Genghis Khan, the cityof Campion in Tangut seems to have been fixed upon by him as the seatof a great inland 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 1245, 1246, the pope sent ambassadors to the Tartarand Mogul khans: of these Carpini has given us the most detailedaccount of his embassy, and of the route which he followed. Hisjourney occupied six months: he first went through Bohemia, Silesia,and Poland, to Kiov, at that time the capital of Russia. Thence heproceeded by the Dnieper to the Black Sea, till he arrived at thehead quarters of the Khan Batou. To him we are indebted for the firstinformation of the real names of the four great rivers which waterthe south of Russia, the Dnieper, the Don, the Volga, and the Jaik.He afterwards proceeded to the head quarters of another khan, on theeastern shores of the Caspian. After passing a country where thefamous Prester John is said to have reigned, he reached the end ofhis journey, the head quarters of the khan of the Moguls. Besides theinformation derived from his own observations, he inserts in hisnarrative all he had collected; so that he may be regarded as thefirst traveller who brought to the knowledge of western Europe theseparts of Asia; but though his travels are important to geography,they throw little light on the commerce of these countries.

Rubruquis was sent, about this time, by the king of France to theMogul emperor: he passed through the Crimea, and along the shores ofthe Volga and the Caspian Sea; visited the Khans Sartach and Batou;and at length arrived at the great camp of the Moguls. Here he sawChinese ambassadors; from whom, and certain documents which he foundamong the Moguls, he learnt many particulars respecting the north ofChina, the most curious of which is his accurate description of theChinese language and characters. He returned by the same route bywhich he went. In his travels we meet with some informationrespecting the trade of Asia. The Mogul khans derived a considerablerevenue from the salt of the Crimea. The alum of Caramonia was agreat object of traffic. He is the first author, after AmmianusMarcellinus, who mentions rhubarb as an article of medicine andcommerce. Among the Moguls he found a great number of Europeans, whohad been taken prisoners: they were usually employed in working themines, and in various manufactures. He is the first traveller whomentions koumis and arrack; and he gives a very particular andaccurate description of the cattle of Thibet, and the wild and fleetasses of the plains of Asia. Geography is indebted to him forcorrecting the error of the ancients, which prevailed till his time,that the Caspian joined the Northern Ocean: he expressly representsit as a great inland sea,--the description given of it by Herodotus,but which was overlooked or disbelieved by all the other ancientgeographers.

While the pope and the French monarch were thus endeavouring toconciliate the Moguls by embassies, the Emperor Frederic of Germany,having recovered Jerusalem, Tyre, and Sidon, formed an alliance withthe princes of the East; and this alliance he took advantage of forthe purposes of oriental commerce: for his merchants and factorstravelled as far as India. In the last year of his reign, twelvecamels, laden with gold and silver, the produce of his trade with theEast, 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 MarcoPolo: he, his father, and uncle, after trading for some time in manyof the commercial and opulent cities of Lesser Asia, reached the moreeastern parts of that continent, as far as the court of the greatkhan, on the borders of China. For 26 years they were either engagedin mercantile transactions, or employed in negociations with theneighbouring states by the khan; they were thus enabled to see much,and to collect much important information, the result of which wasdrawn up by Marco Polo. He was the first European who reached China,India beyond the Ganges, and the greater number of the islands in theIndian Ocean. He describes Japan from the accounts of others: noticesgreat and little Java, supposed to be Borneo and Sumatra; and is thefirst who mentions Bengal and Guzerat by their present names, asgreat and opulent kingdoms. On the east coast of Africa, hisknowledge did not reach beyond Zanguebar, and the port of Madagascaropposite to it: he first made known this island to Europe. Such is asketch of the countries described by Marco Polo; from which it willeasily be perceived, how much he added to the geographical knowledgeof Asia possessed at that period.

The information he gives respecting the commerce of the countrieshe 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 mostexcellent harbour, which was much frequented by Genoese and Venetianvessels, for spices and other merchandize. Rich silks weremanufactured in Georgia, Bagdat, Tauris, and Persia, which were thesource of great wealth to the manufacturers and merchants. All thepearls in Christendom are brought from Bagdat. The merchants fromIndia bring spices, pearls, precious stones, &c. to Ormus: thevessels of this port are described as very stoutly built, with onemast, one deck, and one sail. Among the most remarkable cities ofChina, he particularly notices Cambalu, or Pekin, Nankin, andQuinsai. At the distance of 2,500 Italian miles from this last city,was the port of Cauzu, at which a considerable trade was carried onwith India and the spice islands. The length of the voyage, inconsequence of the monsoons, was a year. From the spice islands wasbrought, besides other articles, a quantity of pepper, infinitelygreater than what was imported at Alexandria, though that placesupplied all Europe. He represents the commerce and wealth of Chinaas very great; and adds, that at Cambalu, where the merchants hadtheir distinct warehouses, (in which they also lived,) according tothe nation to which they belonged, a large proportion of them wereSaracens. The money was made of the middle bark of the mulberry,stamped with the khan's mark. Letters were conveyed at the rate of200 or 250 miles a day, by means of inns at short distances, whererelays of horses were always kept. The tenth of all wool, silk, andhemp, and all other articles, the produce of the earth, was paid tothe khan: sugar, spices, and arrack, paid only 3-1/2 per cent. Theinland trade is immense, and is carried on principally by numerousvessels on the canals and rivers. Marco Polo describes porcelain,which was principally made at a place he calls Trigui; it was verylow-priced, as eight porcelain dishes might be bought for a Venetiangroat: he takes no notice of tea. He supposes the cowries of theMaldives to be a species of white porcelaine. Silver then, as now,must have been in great demand, and extremely scarce; it was muchmore valuable than gold, bearing the proportion to the latter, as 1to 6 or 8. Fine skins also bore a very high price: another proof ofthe stability of almost every thing connected with China. He wasparticularly struck with what he calls black stones, which werebrought from the mountains of Cathay, and burnt at Pekin, as wood,evidently meaning some kind of coal. The collieries of China arestill worked, principally for the use of the porcelainemanufactures.

Marco Polo seems to have regarded Bengal and Pegu as parts ofChina: he mentions the gold of Pegu, and the rice, cotton, and sugarof Bengal, as well as its ginger, spikenard, &c. The principalbranch of the Bengal trade consisted in cotton goods. In Guzeratalso, there was abundance of cotton: in Canhau, frankincense; and inCambaia, indigo, cotton, &c. He describes the cities on the eastand west coasts of India; but he does not seem either to havepenetrated himself inland, or to have learnt any particularsregarding the interior from other persons. Horses were a greatarticle of importation in all parts of India: they were brought fromPersia and Arabia by sea. In the countries to the north of India,particularly Thibet, corals were in great demand, and brought ahigher price than any other article: this was the case in the time ofPliny, who informs us, that the men in India were as fond of coralfor an ornament, as the women of Rome were of the Indian pearls. InPliny's time, corals were brought from the Mediterranean coast ofFrance to Alexandria, and were thence exported by the Arabians toIndia. Marco Polo does not inform us by what means, or from whatcountry they were imported into the north of India. The greater Java,which he represents as the greatest island in the world, carried onan extensive trade, particularly by means of the Chinese merchants,who imported gold and spices from it. In the lesser Java, the treeproducing sago grows: he describes the process of making it. In thisisland there are also nuts as large as a man's head, containing aliquor superior to wine,--evidently the cocoa nut. He likewisem*ntions the rhinoceros. The knowledge of camphire, the produce ofJapan, Sumatra, and Borneo, was first brought to Europe by him. Thefishery of pearls between Ceylon and the main land of India isdescribed; and particular mention is made of the large ruby possessedby the king of that island. Madagascar is particularly mentioned, assupplying large exports of elephants' teeth.

Marco Polo's description of the vessels of India is very full andminute: as he sailed from China to the Indian islands in one of thesevessels, we may suppose it is perfectly accurate. according to him,they were fitted up with many cabins, and each merchant had his owncabin. They had from two to four masts, all or any of which could belowered; the hold was divided not merely for the purpose of keepingdistinct each merchant's goods, but also to prevent the water from aleak in one division extending to the rest of the hold. The bottomsof the vessels were double planked at first, and each year a newsheathing was added; the ships lasted only six years. They werecaulked, as modern ships are; the timbers and planks fixed with ironnails, and a composition of lime, oil, and hemp, spread over thesurface. They were capable of holding 5000 or 6000 bags of pepper,and from 150 to 300 seamen and passengers. They were supplied withoars as well as sails: four men were allotted to each oar. Smallervessels seem to have accompanied the larger ones, which besides hadboats on their decks.

When the power of the Romans was extinguished in Egypt, and theMahomedans had gained possession of that country, Aden, which hadbeen destroyed by the former in the reign of Claudius, resumed itsrank as the centre of the trade between India and the Red Sea. Inthis situation it was found by Marco Polo. The ships which came fromthe East, did not pass the straits, but landed their cargoes at Aden;here the trankies of the Arabs, which brought the produce ofEurope, Syria, and Egypt, received them, and conveyed them to Assab,Cosir, or Jidda: ultimately they reached Alexandria. Marco Polo givesa magnificent picture of the wealth, power, and influence of Aden inthe thirteenth century.

When the Christians were expelled from Syria, in the beginning ofthe fourteenth century, and, in order to procure the merchandize ofthe east, were obliged to submit to the exactions of the sultan ofEgypt; Sanuto, a Venetian, addressed a work to the Pope, in which heproposed to suppress the Egyptian trade by force. In this work aremany curious particulars of the Indian trade at this time; and it ishighly interesting both on this account, and from the clear-sightedspeculations of the author. It appears to have produced a strongsensation; and though his mode of suppressing the Egyptian trade wasnot followed, yet, in consequence of it, much more attention was paidto Oriental commerce. According to him, the productions of the Eastcame to the Venetians in two different ways. Cloves, nutmegs, pearls,gems, and other articles of great value, and small bulk, wereconveyed up the Persian Gulf and the Tigris to Bassora, and thence toBagdat; from which they were carried to some port in theMediterranean. The more bulky and less valuable articles wereconveyed by Arabian merchants to the Red Sea, and thence across thedesert and down the Nile to Alexandria. He adds, that ginger andcinnamon, being apt to spoil on shipboard, were from ten to twentyper cent. better in quality, when brought by land carriage, thoughthis conveyance was more expensive.

From the works of Sanuto, it appears that sugar and silk were thetwo articles from their trade in which the Saracens derived thegreatest portion of their wealth. Cyprus, Rhodes, Amorea, and Marta(probably Malta), produced sugar; silk was the produce of Apulia,Romania, Crete, and Cyprus. Egypt was celebrated, as in old times,for the fineness of its flax; European flax was far inferior. TheEgyptian manufactures of linen, silk, and linen and silk mixed, andalso the dates and cassia of that country were exported to Turkey,Africa, the Black Sea, and the western ports of Europe, either inSaracen or Christian vessels. In return for these articles, theEgyptians received from Europe, gold, silver, brass, tin, lead,quicksilver, coral, and amber: of these, several were again exportedfrom Egypt to Ethiopia and India, particularly brass and tin. Sanutofurther observes, that Egypt was dependent on Europe for timber,iron, pitch, and other materials for ship building.

As his plan was to cut off all trade with the Saracens, and forthat purpose to build a number of armed galleys, he gives manycurious particulars respecting the expence of fitting them out; heestimates that a galley capable of holding 250 men, will cost 1500florins, and that the whole expence of one, including pay,provisions, &c. for nine months, would be 7000 florins. Theseamen he proposes to draw from the following places, as affordingthe most expert: Italy, the north of Germany, Friesland, Holland,Slavia, Hamburgh, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.

In the year 1335, Pegoletti, an Italian, wrote a system ofcommercial geography; in this, the route taken by the merchants whobrought produce and manufactures from China to Azof is particularlydescribed. "In the first place," he says, "from Azof to Astracan itis twenty-five days journey with waggons drawn by oxen; but withwaggons by horses, only ten or twelve. From Astracan to Sara, by theriver, one day; from Sara to Saracanco, on the north-east coast ofthe Caspian Sea, eight days by water; thence to Lake Aral, twentydays' journey with camels. At Organci on this lake there was muchtraffic. To Oltrarra on the Sihon, thirty-five or forty days, alsowith camels; to Almaley with asses, thirty-five days; to Camexu,seventy days with asses; to a river, supposed to be the Hoangho, inChina, fifty days with horses; from this river the traveller may goto Cassai, to dispose of his loading of silver there, and from thisplace he travels through the whole of Cathay with the Chinese moneyhe receives for his silver; to Gambelecco, Cambalu, or Pekin, thecapital of Cathay, is thirty days' journey." So that the whole timeoccupied about 300 days. Each merchant generally carried with himsilver and goods to the value of 25,000 gold ducats; the expence ofthe whole journey was from 300 to 350 ducats. The other travellers ofthe fourteenth century, from whom we derive any informationrespecting Eastern geography and commerce, are Haitho, Oderic, andSir John Mandeville; they add little, however, to the full andaccurate details of Marco Polo, on which we can depend.

Haitho's work, comprehends the geography of the principal statesof Asia; his information was derived from Mogul writings, therelation of Haitho I. king of Armenia, who had been at the headquarters of Mangu Khan, and from his own personal knowledge.

Oderic is the first missionary upon record in India; the date ofhis journey is 1334; among much that is marvellous, his relationscontain some extraordinary truths. He went, in company with othermonks, as far as China. There is little new or valuable till hereaches the coast of Malabar: of the pepper trade on this coast hegives a clear and rational account. He next describes Sumatra and theadjacent islands, and mentions the sago tree. Respecting China, heinforms us, among other things which are fabulous, that persons ofhigh rank keep their nails extremely long, and that the feet of thewomen are very small. He expresses great surprise and admiration atthe wealth of the cities through which he passed on his return fromZartan to Pekin. Tartary and Thibet were visited by him, afterleaving China; he mentions the high price of the rhubarb of theformer country and the Dalai Lama of Thibet. In his voyages in Indiahe sailed on board a vessel which carried 700 people,--aconfirmation, as Dr. Vincent observes, of the account we have fromthe time of Agatharcides down to the sixteenth century,--which sailedfrom Guzerat and traversed the Indian Ocean.

Sir John Mandeville, an Englishman, in order to gratify his desireof seeing distant and foreign countries, served as a volunteer underthe Sultan of Egypt and the Grand Khan of Cathai. He travelledthrough Turkey, Armenia, Egypt, Africa, Syria, Arabia, Persia,Chaldea, Ethiopia, Tartary, India, and China. There is, however,little information in his travels on our present subject. Herepresents the Venetians as not only trading regularly to Ormus, butsometimes even penetrating as for as Cambalu. Famagusta, in Cyprus,according to him, was one of the most commercial places in the world,the resort of merchants of all nations, Christians andMahomedans.

Some curious and interesting particulars on the subject ofOriental commerce are scattered in the travels of Clavigo, who formedpart of an embassy sent by Henry III. of Castile to Tamerlane, in1403. Clavigo returned to Spain in 1406. He passed throughConstantinople, which he represents as not one-third inhabited, upthe Black Sea to Trebizond. Hence he traversed Armenia, the north ofPersia, and Khorasan. Tauris, according to him, enjoyed a lucrativecommerce: in its warehouses were an abundance of pearls, silk, cottongoods, and perfumed oils. Sultania also was a great mart for Indiancommodities. Every year, between June and August, caravans arrived atthis place. Cotton goods of all colours, and cotton yarn were broughtfrom Khorasan; pearls and precious stones from Ormus; but theprincipal lading of the caravans consisted of spices of variouskinds: at Sultania these were always found in great abundance, and ofthe best quality. From Tauris to Samarcand there were regularstations, at which horses were always ready to convey the orders ofthe khan or travellers. We are indebted to Clavigo for the firstinformation of this new route of the commerce between India andEurope, by Sultania: it is supposed to have been adopted on thedestruction of Bagdat by the Moguls; but we learn from othertravellers that, towards the end of the fifteenth century, Sultaniawas remarkable for nothing besides the minarets of a mosque, whichwere made of metal, and displayed great taste and delicacy ofworkmanship.

Tamerlane lived in excessive magnificence and luxury at Samarcand;hither he had brought all his captives, who were expert in any kindof manufacture, especially in the silks of Damascus, and the swordcutlery of Turkey. To this city the Russians and Tartars broughtleather, hides, furs, and cloth: silk goods, musk, pearls, preciousstones, and rhubarb, were brought from China, or Cathay. Six monthswere occupied in bringing merchandize from Cambalu, the capital ofCathai, to Samarcand; two of these were spent in the deserts.Samarcand had also a trade with India, from which were received maceand other fine spices. Clavigo remarks, that such spices were neverbrought to Alexandria.

Schildeberger, a native of Munich, was taken prisoner by the Turksin 1394: he afterwards accompanied Tamerlane in his campaigns tillthe year 1406. During this period, and his subsequent connexion withother Tartar chiefs, he visited various parts of central Asia. But ashe had not an opportunity of writing down at the time what he saw andlearnt, his narrative is neither full, nor altogether to be dependedupon for its accuracy. He was, besides, illiterate, And therefore itis often extremely difficult to ascertain, from his orthography, whatplaces he actually means to name or describe. With all thesedrawbacks and imperfections, however, there are a few points on whichhe gives credible and curious information. He particularizes the silkof Strana, and of Schirevan; and adds, that from the last the rawsilk is sent to Damascus, and there manufactured into the stuffs ordamasks, for which it was already so celebrated. Fine silk wasproduced at Bursa, and exported to Venice and Lucca, for themanufacture of velvet. It ought to be mentioned, that he takes nonotice of Saray and Astrakan, the latter of which was taken anddestroyed by Tamerlane, in 1395. The wild asses in the mountainousdeserts, and the dogs which were harnessed to sledges, areparticularly mentioned by this traveller.

The interior parts of the north of Asia were visited, in 1420, bythe ambassadors of the Emperor Tamerlane's son; and their journey isdescribed in the Book of the Wonders of the World, written by thePersian historian, Emir Khond, from which it was translated intoDutch by Witsen, in his Norden Oste Tartarye. Their route was throughSamarcand to Cathay. On entering this country, we are informed of acirc*mstance strikingly characteristic of Chinese policy andsuspicion. Cathayan secretaries took down, in writing, the names ofthe ambassadors, and the number of their suite. This was repeated atanother place, the ambassadors being earnestly requested to state theexact number of their servants; and the merchants, who were with him,having been put down by him under the description of servants, were,on that account, obliged to perform the particular duties under whichthey were described. Among the presents made by the emperor to theambassadors, tin is mentioned. Paper-money seems, at this period, tohave given place to silver, which, however, from severalcirc*mstances mentioned, must have been very scarce.

From the travels of Josaphat Barbaro, an ambassador from Venice,first to Tana (Azof), and then to Persia, some information may bedrawn respecting the commerce of these parts of Asia, about themiddle of the fifteenth century. He particularly describes the Wolgaas being navigable to within three days' journey of Moscow, theinhabitants of which sail down it every year to Astrakan for salt.Astrakan was formerly a place of consequence and trade, but had beenlaid waste by Tamerlane. Russia is a fertile country, but extremelycold. Oxen and other beasts are carried to market in the winter,slaughtered, with their entrails taken out, and frozen so hard, thatit is impossible to cut them up: they are very numerous and cheap.The only fruits are apples, nuts, and walnuts. Bossa, a kind of beer,is made in Russia. This liquor is still drank in Russia: it is madefrom millet, and is very inebriating. The drunkenness of the Russiansis expressly and pointedly dwelt upon. Barbaro adds, that the grandduke, in order to check this vice, ordered that no more beer shouldbe brewed, nor mead made, nor hops used. The Russians formerly paidtribute to Tartary; but they had lately conquered a country calledCasan; to the left of the Wolga, in its descent. In this country aconsiderable trade is carried on, especially in furs, which are sentby way of Moscow to Poland, Prussia, and Flanders. The furs, however,are not the produce of Kasan, but of countries to the north-east, ata great distance.

Barbaro is very minute and circ*mstantial in his description ofthe manners, dress, food, &c. of the Georgians. He visited theprincipal towns of Persia. Schiraz contained 200,000 inhabitants.Yezd was distinguished and enriched by its silk manufactures.

CHAPTER V.

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY AND COMMERCE,FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE FIFTEENTH TO THE BEGINNING OF THE NINETEENTHCENTURY.

The improvement of mankind in knowledge and civilization evidentlydepends on the union of three circ*mstances,--enlarged and increaseddesires, obstacles in the way of obtaining the objects of thesedesires, and practicable means of overcoming or removing theseobstacles. The history of mankind in all ages and countries justifiesand 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 andpolitics, still there are in it sufficient traces of the operation ofall those three causes towards their improvement in knowledge andcivilization.

That they operated in extending the progress of discovery andcommerce is evident. We have already remarked that from the earliestperiods, the commodities of the east attracted the desires of thewestern nations: the Arabians, Carthaginians, Greeks, and Romans ofthe ancient world; the Italian and Hanseatic states of the middleages, all endeavoured to enrich themselves by trading in commoditiesso eagerly and universally desired. As industry and skill increased,and as the means as well as the desire of purchase and enjoymentspread, by the rise of a middle class in Europe, the demand for thesecommodities extended. The productions and manufactures of the north,as well as of the south of Europe, having been increased andimproved, enabled the inhabitants of these countries to participatein those articles from India, which, among the ancients, had beenconfined exclusively to the rich and powerful.

On the other hand, even at the very time that this enlarged demandfor Indian commodities was taking place in Europe, and wasaccompanied by enlarged means as well as extended skill andexpedience in discovery and commerce,--at this very time obstaclesarose which threatened the almost entire exclusion of Europeans fromthe luxuries of Asia. It may well be doubted, whether, if the enemiesof the Christian faith had not gained entire possession of all theroutes to India, and moreover, if these routes had been rendered moreeasy of access and passage, they could have long supplied theincreased demands of improving Europe. But that Europe should, on theone hand, improve and feel enlarged desires as well as means ofpurchasing the luxuries of the east, while on the other hand, thepracticability of acquiring these luxuries should diminish, formed acoincidence of circ*mstances, which was sure to produce importantresults.

As access to India by land, or even by the Arabian Gulf by sea,was rendered extremely difficult and hazardous by the enmity of theMahometans, or productive of little commercial benefit by theirexactions, the attention and hopes of European navigators weredirected to a passage to India along the western coast of Africa. As,however, the length and difficulties of such a voyage were extremelyformidable, it would probably have been either not attempted at all,or have required much longer time to accomplish than it actually did,if, in addition and aid of increased desires and an enlargedcommercial spirit, the means of navigating distant, extensive, andunknown seas, had not likewise been, about this period, greatlyimproved.

We allude, principally, to the discovery of the mariners' compass.The first clear notice of it appears in a Provençal poet ofthe end of the twelfth century. In the thirteenth century it was usedby the Norwegians in their voyages to and from Iceland, who made itthe device of an order of knighthood of the highest rank; and from apassage in Barber's Bruce, it must have been known in Scotland, ifnot used there in 1375, the period when he wrote. It is said to havebeen used in the Mediterranean voyages at the end of the thirteenthor beginning of the fourteenth century.

With respect to the nations of the east, it is doubted whetherthey derived their knowledge of it from the Europeans, or theEuropeans from them. When we reflect on the long and perilous voyagesof the Arabians, early in the Christian era, we might be led to thinkthat they could not be performed without the assistance of thecompass; but no mention of it, or allusion to it, occurs in theaccount of any of their voyages; and we are expressly informed byNicolo di Conti, who sailed on board a native vessel in the Indianseas, about the year 1420, that the Arabians had no compass, butsailed by the stars of the southern pole; and that they knew how tomeasure their elevation, as well as to keep their reckoning, by dayand night, with their distance from place to place. With respect tothe Chinese, the point in dispute is not so easily determined: it isgenerally imagined, that they derived their knowledge of the compassfrom Europeans: but Lord Macartney, certainly a competent judge, hasassigned his reasons for believing that the Chinese compass isoriginal, and not borrowed, in a dissertation annexed to Dr.Vincent's Periplus of the Erythrean Sea. At what period it was firstknown among them, cannot be ascertained; they pretend that it wasknown before the age of Confucius. That it was not brought from Chinato Europe by Marco Polo, as some writers assert, is evident from thecirc*mstance that this traveller never mentions or alludes to it. Thefirst scientific account of the properties of the magnet, asapplicable to the mariner's compass, appears in a letter written byPeter Adsiger, in the year 1269. This letter is preserved among themanuscripts of the university of Leyden; extracts from it are givenby Cavallo, in the second edition of his Treatise on Magnetism. Fromthese extracts it is evident that he was acquainted with theattraction, repulsion, and polarity of the magnet, the art ofcommunicating those properties to iron, the variation of the magneticneedle; and there are even some indications that he was acquaintedwith the construction of the azimuth compass.

Next in importance and utility to the mariners' compass, inpreparing the way for the great discoveries by which the fifteenthcentury is distinguished, maps and charts may be placed. For though,in general, they were constructed on very imperfect and erroneousnotions of the form of the world, and the relative size and situationof different countries, yet occasionally there appeared maps whichcorrected some long established error, or supplied some newinformation; and even the errors of the maps, in some cases, notimprobably held out inducements or hopes, which would not otherwisehave been entertained and realized, as we have already remarked,after D'Anville, that the greatest of Ptolemy's errors provedeventually the efficient cause which led to the greatest discovery ofthe moderns.

Malte Brun divides the maps of the middle ages into two classes:those in which the notions of Ptolemy and other ancient geographersare implicitly copied, and those in which new countries are inserted,which had been either discovered, or were supposed to exist.

In most of the maps of the first description, Europe, Asia, andAfrica are laid down as forming one immense island, and Africa is notcarried so far as the equator. One of the most celebrated of thesemaps was drawn up by Marin Sanuto, and inserted in his memorialpresented to the pope and the principal sovereigns of Europe, for thepurpose of persuading and shewing them, that if they would obligetheir merchants to trade only through the dominions of the Caliphs ofBagdat, they would be better supplied and at a cheaper rate, andwould have no longer to fear the Soldans of Egypt. This memorial withits maps was inserted in the Gesta Dei per Francos, as we are assuredby the editor, from one of the original copies presented by Sanuto tosome one of the princes. Hence, as Dr. Vincent remarks, it probablycontains the oldest map of the world at this day extant, except thePeutingerian tables. Sanuto, as we have already noticed, in giving anabstract of the commercial information contained in his memorial,lived in 1324.

In the monastery of St. Michael di Murano, there is a planisphere,said to be drawn up in 1459, by Fra Mauro, which contains a report ofa ship from India having passed the extreme point south, 2000 milestowards the west and southwest in 1420.

Ramusio describes a map, supposed to be this, which he states tohave been drawn up for the elucidation of Marco Polo's travels.

On this map, so far as it relates to the circumnavigation ofAfrica, Dr. Vincent has given a dissertation, having procured afac-simile copy from Venice, which is deposited in the BritishMuseum; the substance of this dissertation we shall here compress. Hedivides his dissertation into three parts. First, whether this wasthe map noticed by Ramusio, and by him supposed to be drawn up toelucidate the travels of Marco Polo. On this point he concludes thatit was the map referred to by Ramusio, but that his informationrespecting it is not correct. The second 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 thewest coast of Africa. Manro lived in the reign of Alphonso the Fifth,that is between 1438 and 1480; the whole of this map, therefore, isprior to Diaz and Gama, two 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 Portuguesediscoveries. The proof of the genuineness of the map is derived fromthe date on the planisphere, 1459; the internal evidence on the workitself; and the fact that Alphonso, or Prince Henry of Portugal, whodied in 1463, received a copy of this map from Venice, and depositedit in the monastery of Alcobaca, where it is still kept. The sum paidfor this copy, and the account of expenditure, are detailed in a MS.account in the monastery of St. Michael.

The third, and by far the most important part of Dr. Vincent'sdissertation, examines what the map contains respecting thetermination cf Africa to the south. On the first inspection of themap it is evident, that the author has not implicitly followedPtolemy, as he professes to do. The centre of the habitable world isfixed at Bagdat. Asia and Europe he defines rationally, and Africa sofar as regards its Mediterranean coast. He assigns two sources to theNile, both in Abyssinia. On the east coast of Africa, he carries anarm of the sea between an island which he represents as of immensesize, and the continent, obliquely as far nearly as the latitude andlongitude of the Cape of Good Hope. This island he calls Diab, andthe termination on the south, which he makes the extreme point ofAfrica, Cape Diab.

The great object of Mauro, in drawing up this map, was toencourage the Portuguese in the prosecution of their voyages to thesouth of Africa. This is known to be the fact from other sources, andthe construction of the map, as well as some of the notices andremarks, which are inserted in its margin, form additional evidencethat this was the case. Two passages, as Dr. Vincent observes, willset this in the clearest light. The first is inserted at Cape Diab;"here," says the author, about the year 1420, "an Indian vessel, onher passage across the Indian ocean was caught by a storm, andcarried 2000 miles beyond this Cape to the west and south-west; shewas seventy days in returning to the Cape." This the author regardsas a full proof that Africa was circumnavigable on the south.

In the second passage, inserted on the margin, after observingthat the Portuguese had been round the continent of Africa, more than2000 miles to the south-west beyond the Straits of Gibraltar; thatthey found the navigation easy and safe, and had made charts of theirdiscoveries; he adds, that he had talked with a person worthy ofcredit, who assured him he had been carried by bad weather, in anIndian ship, out of the Indian Ocean, for forty days, beyond CapeSofala and the Green Islands, towards the west and south-west, andthat in the opinion of the astronomer on board, (such as all Indianships carry,) they had been hurried away 2000 miles. He concludes byexpressing his firm belief that the sea surrounding the southern andsouth-eastern part of the world is navigable; and that the Indian Seais ocean, and not a lake. We may observe, by the bye, that in anotherpassage inserted in the margin, he expressly declares that the Indianships 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 firstasserts that the passage was round Cape Diab, at the termination ofAfrica, and the second that it was round Cape Sofala, fifteen degreesto the north of the extremity of this quarter of the world: butwithout attempting to reconcile this contradiction, it is abundantlyevident that Mauro, by noticing the Portuguese navigators, as havingreached 2000 miles to the south of Gibraltar, and adding that 2000miles more of the coast of Africa had been explored by an Indianship, meant to encourage the further enterprises of the Portuguese,by the natural inference that a very small space of unsailed sea mustlie between the two lines, which were the limits of the navigation ofthe Portuguese and Indian vessel. The unexplored space was indeedmuch greater than Mauro estimated and represented it in his map tobe; but, as Dr. Vincent remarks, his error in this respect manifestlycontributed to the prosecution of the Portuguese designs, as theerror of the ancient geographers, in approximating China to Europe,produced the discovery of America by Columbus.

We have dwelt thus long on the map of Mauro, as being by far themost important of the maps of the second description, or those inwhich were inserted real or supposed discoveries. The rest of thisdescription require little notice.

A map of the date of 1346, in Castilian, represents Cape Bojada inAfrica as known, and having been doubled at that period. Amanuscript, preserved at Genoa, mentions that a ship had sailed fromMajorca to a river called Vedamel, or Rui Jaura (probablyRio-do-Ouro,) but her fate was not known. The Genoese historiansrelate that two of their countrymen in 1291, attempted to reach Indiaby the west; the fate of this enterprize is also unknown. The CanaryIslands, the first discovery of which is supposed to have taken placebefore the Christian era, and which were never afterwards completelylost sight of, being described by the Arabian geographers, appear ina Castilian map of 1346. Teneriffe is called in this map Inferno, inconformity with the popular notion of the ancients, that theseislands were the seat of the blessed. In a map of 1384, there is anisland called Isola-di-legname, or the Isle of Wood, which, from thisappellation, and its situation, is supposed by some geographers to bethe island of Madeira. It would seem that some notions respecting theAzores were obscurely entertained towards the end of the fourteenthcentury, as islands nearly in their position are laid down in themaps of 1380.

In the library of St. Marc, at Venice, there is a map drawn byBianco, in 1436. In it the ancient world is represented as formingone great continent, divided into two unequal parts by theMediterranean, and by the Indian Ocean, which is carried from east towest, and comprises a great number of islands. Africa stretches fromwest to east parallel to Europe and Asia, but it terminates to thenorth of the equator. The peninsula of India and the Gulf of Bengalscarcely appear. The eastern part of Asia consists of two greatpeninsulas, divided by an immense gulf. Then appear Cathai,Samarcand, and some other places, the names of which areunintelligible. All the kingdoms of Europe are laid down exceptPoland and Hungary. To the west of the Canaries, a large tract ofcountry is laid down under the appellation of Antitia; somegeographers have maintained that by this America was indicated, butthere does not appear any ground for this belief.

Having offered these preliminary and preparatory observations, weshall now proceed to the discoveries of the Portuguese. From theslight sketch which has already been given of the progress ofgeography and commerce, between the time of Ptolemy and the fifteenthcentury, it appears that the Portuguese had distinguished themselvesless, perhaps, than any other European nation, in these pursuits;but, long before the beginning of the fifteenth century,circ*mstances had occurred, connected with their history, which werepreparing the way for their maritime enterprizes. So early as theyear 1250, the Portuguese had succeeded in driving the Moors out oftheir country; and, in order to prevent them from again disturbingthem, they in their turn invaded Fez and Morocco, and havingconquered Ceuta in 1415, fortified it, and several harbours near it,on the shores of the Atlantic. So zealous were the Portuguese intheir enterprizes against the Moors, that the ladies of Lisbonpartook in the general enthusiasm, and refused to bestow their handon 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 I., king of Portugal, who took up his residencenear Cape St. Vincent, in the year 1406. The sole passion and objectof his mind was to further the advancement of his country innavigation and discovery: his regard for religion led him toendeavour to destroy or diminish the power of the Mahometans; and hispatriotism to acquire for Portugal that Indian commerce, which hadenriched the maritime states of Italy. He sought every means andopportunity by which he could increase or render more accurate hisinformation 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, weighed strongly with him in theenterprizes which he planned, encouraged, and accomplished.

It is not true, however, that he was the inventor of the astrolobeand the compass, or the first that put these instruments into thehands of navigators, though he undoubtedly was an excellentmathematician, and procured the best charts and instruments of theage: the use and application of these, he taught in the best mannerto those he selected to command his ships.

With respect to the compass, we have already stated all that iscertainly known respecting its earliest application to the purposesof navigation. The sea astrolobe, which is an instrument for takingthe altitude of the sun, stars, &c., is described by Chaucer, in1391, in a treatise on it, addressed to his little son, Louis; andPurchas informs us, that it was formerly applied only to astronomicalpurposes, but was accommodated to the use of seamen by Martin Behaim,at the command of John II., king of Portugal, about the year1487.

About the year 1418, when Prince Henry first began his plan ofdiscovery, Cape Nun, in latitude 28° 40', was the limit ofEuropean knowledge on the coast of Africa. With this part of thecoast, the Portuguese had become acquainted in consequence of theirwars with the Moors of Barbary. In 1418, two of Henry's commandersreached Cape Boyada in latitute 26° 30'; but the Cape was notactually doubled till 1434. The Canary islands were visited duringthe same voyage that the Cape was discovered: Madeira was likewisevisited or discovered; it was first called St. Laurence, after thesaint of the day on which it was seen, and afterwards Madeira, onaccount of its woods. In 1420, the Portuguese set fire to thesewoods, and afterwards planted the sugar cane, which they brought fromSicily, and the vines which they brought from Cyprus. Saw mills werelikewise erected on it.

About the year 1432, Gonzalos was sent with two small vessels tothe coast of Africa on new discoveries. In 1434, Cape Boyada wasdoubled: in 1442, the Portuguese had advanced as far as Rio-do-Ouro,under the tropic of Cancer. On the return of the ships from thisvoyage, the inhabitants of Lisbon first saw, with astonishment,negroes of a jet black complexion, and woolly hair, quite differentfrom the slaves which had been hitherto brought from Africa; for,before this time, they had seized, and sold as slaves, the tawnyMoors, which they met with on the coast of Africa. In the year 1442,however, some of these had been redeemed by their friends, inexchange for negroes and gold dust. This last article stimulated theavarice of the Portuguese to greater exertions, than Prince Henry hadbeen able to excite, and an African company was immediately formed toobtain it, slaves, &c.; but their commerce was exclusivelyconfined to the coast of Africa, to the south of Sierra Leone. Dr.Vincent justly remarks, that Henry had stood alone for almost fortyyears, and had he fallen before these few ounces of gold reached hiscountry, the spirit of discovery might have perished with him, andhis designs might have been condemned as the dreams of a visionary.The importation of this gold, and the establishment of the Africancompany in Portugal, to continue the remark of the same author, isthe primary date, to which we may refer that turn for adventure whichsprung up in Europe, which pervaded all the ardent spirits in everycountry for the two succeeding centuries, and which never ceased tillit had united the four quarters of the globe in commercialintercourse.

In 1445, the Portuguese reached Senegal, where they first sawPagan negroes: in 1448 and 1449, their discoveries extended to CapeVerd. The islands of that name were discovered in 1456. The exactextent of their discoveries from this time till 1463, when PrinceHenry died, is not certainly known. According to some, Cape Verd, orRio Grande, was the limit; according to others, one navigator reachedas far as the coast of Guinea, and Cape Mesanado: some extend thelimit even as far south as the equator. Assuming, however, Rio Grandeas the limit of the discoveries made in Prince Henry's time, RioGrande is in latitude 11 north, and the straits of Gibraltar inlatitude 36 north; the Portuguese had therefore advanced 25 degreesto the south; that is 1500 geographical, or 1750 British miles,which, with the circuit of the coast, may be estimated at 2000miles.

For nearly 20 years after the death of Prince Henry, littleprogress was made by the Portuguese in advancing to the south. At thetime of the death of Alonzo, in 1481, they had passed the equator,and reached Cape St. Catherine; in latitude S. 2° 30'. The islandof St. Thomas under the line, which was discovered in 1471, wasimmediately planted with sugar cane; and a fort, which was built thesame year on the gold coast, enabled them to extend their knowledgeof this part of Africa to a little distance inland. Portugal nowbegan to reap the fruits of her discoveries: bees' wax, ostrichfeathers, negro slaves, and particularly gold, were imported, on allof which the profits were so great, that John II., who succeededAlonzo, immediately on his accession, sent out 12 ships to Guinea;and in 1483, two other vessels were sent, which in the following yearreached Congo, and penetrated to 22° south. The river Zaire inthis part of Africa was discovered, and many of the inhabitants ofthe country through which it flows embarked voluntarily for Portugal.Benin was discovered about the same time; here they found a speciesof spice, which was imported in great quantities into Europe, andsold as pepper: it was, however, nothing else but grains of paradise.The inhabitants of Benin must have had considerable traffic far intothe interior of Africa, for from them the Portuguese first receivedaccounts of Abyssinia. By the discovery and conquest of Benin andCongo, the Portuguese traffic in slaves was much extended, but at thesame time it took another character for a short time; for the love ofgold being stronger than the hope of gain they might derive from thesale of negroes, (for which, indeed, till the discovery of the WestIndies there was little demand,) the Portuguese used to exchange thenatives they captured for gold with the Moors, till John II. put anend to this traffic, under the pretence that by means of it, theopportunity of converting the negroes was lost, as they were thusdelivered into the hands of Infidels. About eighty years after PrinceHenry began his discoveries, John I. sent out Diaz with three ships:this was in 1486, and in the following year Covilham was sent by thesame monarch in search of India, by the route of Egypt and the RedSea.

The king displayed great judgment in the selection of both thesepersons. Diaz was of a family, several members of which had alreadysignalized themselves by the discoveries on the coast of Africa. Hismode of conducting the enterprize on which he was sent, proved atonce his confidence in himself, his courage, and his skill; afterreaching 24° south latitude, 120 leagues beyond any formernavigator, he stood right out to sea, and never came within sight ofthe coast again, till he had reached 40 degrees to the eastward ofthe Cape, which, however, he was much too far out at sea to discover.He persevered in stretching still farther east, after he made land,till at length he reached the river Del Infante, six degrees to theeastward of the most southern point of Africa, and almost a degreebeyond the Cape of Good Hope. He then resolved to return, for whatreason is not known; and on his return, he saw the Cape of Good Hope,to which, on account of the storms he encountered on his passageround it, he gave the appellation of Cabo Tormentoso. John II.,however, augured so well from the doubling of the extremity of Africahaving been accomplished, that he changed its name into that of theCape of Good Hope.

As soon as John II. ascended the throne, he sent two friars and alayman to Jerusalem, with instructions to gain whatever informationthey could respecting India and Prester John from the pilgrims whor*sorted to that city, and, if necessary, to proceed further to theeast. As, however, none of this party understood Arabic, they were oflittle use, and in fact did not go beyond Jerusalem. In 1487, theking sent Covilham and Paayva on the same mission: the former hadserved in Africa as a soldier, and was intimately acquainted withArabic. In order to facilitate this enterprise, Covilham wasentrusted with a map, drawn up by two Jews, which most probably was acopy of the map of Mauro, of which we have already spoken. On thismap, a passage round the south of Africa was laid down as having beenactually accomplished, and Covilham was directed to reach Abyssinia,if possible; and ascertain there or elsewhere, whether such a passagedid really exist. Covilham went from Naples to Alexandria, and thenceto Cairo. At this city he formed an acquaintance with some merchantsof Fez and Barbary, and in their company went to Aden. Here heembarked and visited Goa, Calicut, and other commercial cities ofIndia, where he saw pepper and ginger, and heard of cloves andcinnamon. From India he returned to the east coast of Africa, downwhich he went as low as Sofala, "the last residence of the Arabs, andthe limit of their knowledge in that age, as it had been in the ageof the Periplus." He visited the gold mines in the vicinity of thisplace: and here he also learnt all the Arabs knew respecting thesouthern part of Africa, viz. that the sea was navigable to thesouth-west (and this indeed their countrymen believed, when theauthor of the Periplus visited them); but they knew not where the seaterminated. At Sofala also Covilham gained some informationrespecting the island of the Moon, or Madagascar. He returned toCairo, by Zeila, Aden, and Tor. At Cairo, he sent an account of theintelligence to the king, and in the letter which contained it, headded, "that the ships which sailed down the coast of Guinea, mightbe sure of reaching the termination of the continent, by persistingin a course to the south, and that when they should arrive in theeastern ocean, their best direction must be to enquire for Sofala andthe island of the Moon."

"It is this letter," observes Dr. Vincent, "above all otherinformation, which, with equal justice and equal honour, assigns thetheoretical discovery to Covilham, as the practical to Diaz and Gama;for Diaz returned without hearing any thing of India, though he hadpassed the Cape, and Gama did not sail till after the intelligence ofCovilham had ratified the discovery of Diaz." One part of theinstructions given to Covilham required him to visit Abyssinia: inorder to accomplish this object, he returned to Aden, and there tookthe first opportunity of entering Abyssinia. The sovereign of hiscountry received and treated him with kindness, giving him a wife andland. He entered Abyssinia in 1488, and in 1521, that is, 33 yearsafterwards, the almoner to the embassy of John de Lima found him.Covilham, notwithstanding he was as much beloved by the inhabitantsas by their sovereign, was anxious to return to Portugal, and John deLima, at his request, solicited the king to grant him permission tothat effect, but he did not succeed. "I dwell," observes Dr. Vincent,"with a melancholy pleasure on the history of this man,--whomAlvarez, the almoner, describes still as a brave soldier and a devoutChristian;--when I reflect upon what must have been his sentiments onhearing the success of his countrymen, in consequence of thediscovery to which he so essentially contributed. They weresovereigns of the ocean from the Cape of Good Hope to the straits ofMalacca: he was still a prisoner in a country ofbarbarians."

It might have been supposed, that after it had been ascertained byDiaz that the southern promontory of Africa could be doubled, and byCovilham, that this was the only difficulty to a passage by sea toIndia, the court of Portugal would have lost no time in prosecutingtheir discoveries, and completing the grand object they had had inview for nearly a century: this, however, was not the case. Tenyears, and another reign, and great debates in the council ofPortugal were requisite before it was resolved that the attempt toprosecute the discovery of Diaz to its completion was expedient, orcould be of any advantage to the nation at large. At last, whenEmanuel, who was their sovereign, had determined on prosecuting thediscovery of India, his choice of a person to conduct the enterprisefell on Gama. As he had armorial bearings, we may justly suppose thathe was of a good family; and in all respects he appears to have beenwell qualified for the grand enterprise to which he was called, andto have resolved, from a sense of religion and loyalty, to havedevoted himself to death, if he should not succeed. Diaz wasappointed to a command under him, but he had not the satisfaction ofwitnessing the results of his own discovery; for he returned when thefleet had reached St. Jago, was employed in a secondary command underCabral, in the expedition in which Brazil was discovered, and in hispassage from that country to the Cape, four ships, one of which hecommanded, perished with all on board.

As soon as the fleet which Gama was to take with him was ready forsea, the king, attended by all his court, and a great body of thepeople, formed a solemn procession to the shore, where they were toembark, and Gama assumed the command, under the auspices of the mostimposing religious ceremonies. Nearly all who witnessed hisembarkation regarded him and those who accompanied him "rather asdevoted to destruction, than as sent to the acquisition ofrenown."

The fleet which was destined to accomplish one of the objects (thediscovery of America is the other)--which, as Dr. Robertson remarks,"finally established those commercial ideas and arrangements whichconstitute the chief distinction between the manners and policy ofancient and modern times,"--consisted only of three small ships, anda victualler, manned with no more than 160 souls: the principalofficers were Vasco de Gama, and Paul his brother: Diaz and DiegoDiaz, his brother, who acted as purser: and Pedro Alanquer, who hadbeen pilot to Diaz. Diaz was to accompany them only to a certainlatitude.

They sailed from Lisbon on the 18th of July, 1497: in the bay ofSt. Helena, which they reached on the 4th of November, they foundnatives, who were not understood by any of the negro interpretersthey had on board. From the description of the peculiarity in theirmode of utterance, which the journal of the voyage calls sighing, andfrom the circ*mstance that the same people were found in the bay ofSt. Blas, 60 leagues beyond the Cape, there can be no doubt that theywere Hottentots. In consequence of the ignorance or the obstinacy ofthe pilot, and of tempestuous weather, the voyage to the Cape waslong and dangerous: this promontory, however, was doubled on the 20thof November. After this the wind and weather proving favourable, thevoyage was more prosperous and rapid. On the 11th of January, 1498,they reached that part of the coast where the natives were no longerHottentots, but Caffres, who at that period displayed the same marksof superior civilization by which they are distinguished from theHottentots at present.

From the bay of St. Helena till they passed Cape Corrientes, therehad been no trace of navigation,--no symptom that the natives usedthe sea at all. But after they passed this cape, they were visited bythe natives in boats, the sails of which seem to have been made ofthe fibres of the cocoa-palm. A much more encouraging circ*mstance,however, occurred: some of the natives that came off in these boatswere clothed in cotton, silk, and sattin,--evident proofs thatintercourse, either direct or indirect, was practicable, and had infact been held between this country and India. The language of thesepeople was not understood; but from their signs it was inferred thatthey had seen ships as large as the Portuguese, and that they hadcome from the north.

This part of Africa lies between latitudes 19° and 18°south; and as Gama had the corrected chart of Covilham on board, inwhich Sofala was marked as the limit of his progress, and Sofala wastwo degrees to the south of where he then was, he must have knownthat he had now passed the barrier, and that the discovery wasascertained, his circumnavigation being now connected with the routeof Covilham. This point of Gama's progress is also interesting andimportant in another respect, for we are here approaching a junctionwith the discoveries of the Arabians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, andthe Romans.

At this place Gama remained till the 24th of February, repairinghis ships and recruiting his men. On the 1st of March, he arrived offMozambique; here evidences of a circumnavigation with India werestrong and numerous. The sovereign of Mozambique ruled over all thecountry from Sofala to Melinda. The vessels, which were fitted outentirely for coasting voyages, were large, undecked, the seamsfastened with cords made of the cocoa fibres, and the timbers in thesame manner. Gama, in going on board some of the largest of those,found that they were equipped with charts and compasses, and what arecalled æst harlab, probably the sea astrolabe, alreadydiscovered. At the town of Mozambique, the Moorish merchants from theRed Sea and India, met and exchanged the gold of Sofala for theircommodities, and in its warehouses, which, though meanly built, werenumerous, pepper, ginger, cottons, silver, pearls, rubies, velvet,and other Indian articles were exposed to sale. At Mombaça,the next place to which Gama sailed, all the commodities of Indiawere found, and likewise the citron, lemon, and orange; the houseswere built of stone, and the inhabitants, chiefly Mahomedans, seemedto have acquired wealth by commerce, as they lived in great splendourand luxury.

On the 17th of March, 1498, Gama reached Melinda, and wasconsequently completely within the boundary of the Greek and Romandiscovery and commerce in this part of the world. This city isrepresented as well built, and displaying in almost every respect,proofs of the extensive trade the inhabitants carried on with India,and of the wealth they derived from it. Here Gama saw, for the firsttime, Banians, or Indian merchants: from them he received muchimportant information respecting the commercial cities of the westcoast of India: and at Melinda he took on board pilots, who conductedhis fleet across the Indian Ocean to Calicut on the coast of Malabar,where he landed on the 22d of May, 1498, ten months and two daysafter his departure from Lisbon. He returned to Lisbon in 1499, andagain received the command of a squadron in 1502; he died at Cochinin 1525, after having lived to witness his country sovereign of theIndian seas from Malacca to the Cape of Good Hope. "The consequenceof his discovery was the subversion of the Turkish power, which atthat time kept all Europe in alarm. The East no longer paid tributefor her precious commodities, which passed through the Turkishprovinces; the revenues of that empire were diminished; the Othmansceased to be a terror to the western world, and Europe has risen to apower, which the three other continents may in vain endeavour tooppose."

The successful enterprize of Gama, and the return of his shipsladen not only with the commodities peculiar to the coast of Malabar,but with many of the richer and rarer productions of the easternparts of India, stimulated the Portuguese to enter on this new careerwith avidity and ardour, both military and commercial. It fortunatelyhappened that Emanuel, who was king of Portugal at this period, was aman of great intelligence and grasp of mind, capable of forming planswith prudence and judgment, and of executing them with method andperseverance; and it was equally fortunate that such a monarch wasenabled to select men to command in India, who from their enterprize,military skill, sagacity, integrity, and patriotism, were peculiarlyqualified to carry into full and successful execution all his viewsand plans.

The consequences were such as must always result from the steadyoperation of such causes: twenty-four years after the voyage of Gama,and before the termination of Emanuel's reign, the Portuguese hadreached, and made themselves masters of Malacca. This place was thegreat staple of the commerce carried on between the east of Asia,including China, and the islands and the western parts of India. Toit the merchants of China, Japan, the Moluccas, &c. came from theeast, and those of Malabar, Ceylon, Coromandel and Bengal, from thewest; and its situation, nearly at an equal distance from the easternand western parts of India, rendered it peculiarly favorable for thistrade, while by possessing the command of the straits through whichall ships must pass from the one extremity of Asia to the other, ithad the monopoly of the most extensive and lucrative commercecompletely within its power.

From Malacca the Portuguese sailed for the conquest of theMoluccas; and by achieving this, secured the monopoly of spices.Their attempt to open a communication and trade with China, which wasmade about the same time, was not then successful: but byperseverance they succeeded in their object, and before the middle ofthe sixteenth century, exchanged, at the island of Sancian, thespices of the Moluccas, and the precious stones and ivory of Ceylon,for the silks, porcelain, drugs, and tea of China. Soon afterwardsthe emperor of China allowed them to occupy the island of Macao. In1542 they succeeded in forming a commercial intercourse with Japan,trading with it for gold, silver and copper; this trade, however, wasnever extensive, and it ceased altogether in 1638, when they weredriven from the Japanese territories.

As the commodities of India could not be purchased except withlarge quantities of gold, the Portuguese, in order to obtain it, aswell as for other commercial advantages, prosecuted their discoverieson the east of Africa, at the same time that they were extendingtheir power and commerce in India. On the east of Africa, betweenSofala and the Red Sea, Arabian colonies had been settled for manycenturies: these the Portuguese navigators visited, and graduallyreduced to tribute; and the remains of the empire they established atthis period, may still be traced in the few and feeble settlementsthey possess between Sofala and Melinda. In 1506 they visited andexplored the island of Madagascar; in 1513, by the expulsion of theArabs from Aden, the Red Sea was opened to their ships; and theyquickly examined its shores and harbours, and made themselvesacquainted with its tedious and dangerous navigation. In 1520 theyvisited the ports of Abyssinia, but their ambition and the securityof their commerce were not yet completely attained; the Persian Gulf,as well as the Red Sea, was explored; stations were formed on thecoasts of both: and thus they were enabled to obstruct the ancientcommercial intercourse between Egypt and India, and to command theentrance of those rivers, by which Indian goods were conveyed notonly through the interior of Asia, but also to Constantinople. By theconquest of Ormus, the Portuguese monopolised that extensive trade tothe East, which had been in the hands of the Persians for severalcenturies. "In the hands of the Portuguese this island soon becamethe great mart from which the Persian empire, and all the provincesof Asia to the west of it, were supplied with the productions ofIndia: and a city which they built on that barren island, destituteof water, was rendered one of the chief seats of opulence, splendour,and luxury in the eastern world."

The Venetians, who foresaw the ruin of their oriental commerce inthe success of the Portuguese, in vain endeavoured to stop theprogress of their rivals in the middle of the sixteenth century: thelatter, masters of the east coast of Africa, of the coasts of Arabiaand Persia, of the two peninsulas of India, of the Molucca islands,and of the trade to China and Japan, supplied every part of Europewith the productions of the east, by the Cape of Good Hope; nor wastheir power and commerce subverted, till Portugal became a provinceof Spain.

We have purposely omitted, in this rapid sketch of theestablishment and progress of the Portuguese commerce in the East,any notice of the smaller discoveries which they made at the sametime. These, however, it will be proper to advert to before weproceed to another subject.

In the year 1512, a Portuguese navigator was shipwrecked on theMaldives: he found them already in the occasional possession of theArabians, who came thither for the cocoa fibres, of which they formedtheir cordage, and the cowries, which circulated as money from Bengalto Siam. The Portuguese derived from them immense quantities of thesecowries, with which they traded to Guinea, Congo, and Benin. On theirconquest, they obliged the sovereigns of this island to pay themtribute in cinnamon, pearls, precious stones, and elephants. Thediscovery and conquest of the Malaccas has already been noticed, andits importance in rendering them masters of the trade of both partsof India, which had been previously carried on principally by themerchants of Arabia, Persia from the West, and of China from theEast. In Siam, gum lac, porcelain, and aromatics enriched thePortuguese, who were the first Europeans who arrived in this and theadjacent parts of this peninsula.

In the year 1511 the Portuguese navigators began to explore theeastern archipelago of India, and to make a more complete andaccurate examination of some islands, which they had previouslybarely discovered. Sumatra was examined with great care, and from itthey exported tin, pepper, sandal, camphire, &c. In 1513, theyarrived at Borneo: of it, however, they saw and learned little,except that it also produced camphire. In the same year they had madethemselves well acquainted with Java: here they obtained rice,pepper, and other valuable articles. It is worthy of remark, thatBarros, the Portuguese historian of their discoveries and conquestsin the East, who died towards the close of the sixteenth century,already foresaw that the immense number of islands, some of them verylarge, which were scattered in the south-east of Asia, would justlyentitle this part, at some future period, to the appellation of thefifth division of the world. Couto, his continuator, comprehends allthese islands under five different groups. To the first belong theMoluccas. The second archipelago comprises Gilolo, Moratai, Celebes,or Macassar, &c. The third group contains the great isle ofMindinao, Soloo, and most of the southern Philippines. The fourtharchipelago was formed of the Banda isle, Amboyna, &c.; thelargest of these were discovered by the Portuguese in the year 1511:from Amboyna they drew their supplies of cloves.

The Portuguese knew little of the fifth archipelago, because theinhabitants were ignorant of commerce, and totally savage anduncultivated. From the description given of them by the earlyPortuguese writers, as totally unacquainted with any metal, makinguse of the teeth of fish in its stead, and as being as black as theCaffres of Africa, while among them there were some of an unhealthywhite colour, whose eyes were so weak that they could not bear thelight of the sun;--from these particulars there can be no doubt thatthe Portuguese had discovered New Guinea, and the adjacent isles, towhose inhabitants this description exactly applies. These islandswere the limit of the Portuguese discoveries to the East: theysuspected, however, that there were other islands beyond them, andthat these ranged along a great southern continent, which stretchedas far as the straits of Magellan. It is the opinion of somegeographers, and particularly of Malte Brun, that the Portuguese hadvisited the coasts of New Holland before the year 1540; but that theyregarded it as part of the great southern continent, the existence ofwhich Ptolemy had first imagined.

We have already alluded to the obstacles which opposed andretarded the commercial intercourse of the Portuguese with China.Notwithstanding these, they prosecuted their discoveries in theChinese seas. In the year 1518, they arrived at the isles of Liqueou,where they found gold in abundance: the inhabitants traded as far asthe Moluccas. Their intercourse with Japan has already beennoticed.

From these results of the grand project formed by Prince Henry,and carried on by men animated by his spirit, (results so importantto geography and commerce, and which mainly contributed to raiseEurope to its present high rank in knowledge, civilization, wealth,and power,) we must now turn to the discovery of America, the secondgrand cause in the production of the same effects.

For the discovery of the new world we are indebted to Columbus.This celebrated person was extremely well qualified for enterprizesthat required a combination of foresight, comprehension, decision,perseverance, and skill. From his earliest youth he had beenaccustomed to regard the sea as his peculiar and hereditary element;for the family, from which he was descended, had been navigators formany ages. And though, from all that is known respecting them, thisline of life had not been attended with much success or emolument,yet Columbus's zeal was not thereby damped; and his parents, stillanxious that their son should pursue the same line which hisancestors had done, strained every nerve to give him a suitableeducation. He was accordingly taught geometry, astronomy, geography,and drawing. As soon as his time of life and his education qualifiedhim for the business he had chosen, he went to sea; he was thenfourteen years old. His first voyages were from Genoa, of which cityhe was a native, to different ports in the Mediterranean, with whichthis republic traded. His ambition, however, was not long to beconfined to seas so well known. Scarcely had he attained the age oftwenty, when he sailed into the Atlantic; and steering to the north,ran along the coast of Iceland, and, according, to his own journal,penetrated within the arctic circle. In another voyage he sailed asfar south as the Portuguese fort of St. George del Mina, under theequator, on the coast of Africa. On his return from this voyage, heseems to have engaged in a piratical warfare with the Venetians andTurks, who, at this period, disputed with the Genoese the sovereigntyand commerce of the Mediterranean; and in this warfare he was greatlydistinguished for enterprize, as well as for cool and undauntedcourage.

At this period he was attracted to Lisbon by the fame which PrinceHenry had acquired, on account of the encouragement he afforded tomaritime discovery. In this city he married the daughter of a personwho had been employed in the earlier navigations of the prince; andfrom his father-in-law he is said to have obtained possession of anumber of journals, sea charts, and other valuable papers. As he hadascertained that the object of the Portuguese was to reach India bythe southern part of Africa, he concluded, that, unless he coulddevise or suggest some other route, little attention would be paid tohim. He, therefore, turned his thoughts to the practicability ofreaching India by sailing to the west. At this time the rotundity ofthe earth was generally admitted. The ancients, whose opinions on theextent and direction of the countries which formed the terrestrialglobe, still retained their hold on the minds even of scientific men,had believed that the ocean encompassed the whole earth; the naturaland unavoidable conclusion was, that by sailing to the west, Indiawould be reached. An error of Ptolemy's, to which we have alreadyadverted, contributed to the belief that this voyage could not bevery long; for, according to that geographer, (and his authority wasimplicitly acceded to,) the space to be sailed over was sixty degreesless than it actually proved to be,--a space equal to three-fourths,of the Pacific Ocean. From considering Marco Polo's account of histravels in the east of Asia, Columbus also derived greatencouragement; for, according to him, Cathay and Zepango stretchedout to a great extent in an easterly direction; of course they mustapproach so much the more towards the west of Europe. It is probable,also, that Columbus flattered himself, that if he did not reach Indiaby a western course, he would, perhaps, discover the Atlantis, whichwas placed by Plato and Aristotle in the ocean, to the west ofEurope.

Columbus, however, did not trust entirely to his own practicalknowledge of navigation, or to the arguments he drew from ascientific acquaintance with cosmography: he heard the reports ofskilful and experienced pilots, and corresponded with several men ofscience. He is said, in a particular manner to have been confirmed inhis belief that India might be reached by sailing to the west, by thecommunications which he had with Paul, a physician of Florence, a manwell known at this period for his acquaintance with geometry andcosmography, and who had paid particular attention to the discoveriesof the Portuguese. He stated several facts, and offered severalingenious conjectures, and moreover, sent a chart to Columbus, onwhich he pointed out the course which he thought would lead to thedesired object.

As Columbus was at the court of Lisbon, when he had resolved toundertake his great enterprise, and, in fact, regarded himself as insome degree a Portuguese subject, he naturally applied in the firstinstance to John II., requesting that monarch to let him have someships to carry him to Marco Polo's island of Zepango or Japan. Theking referred him to the Bishop of Ceuta and his two physicians; butthey having no faith in the existence of this island, rejected theservices of Columbus. For seven years afterwards he solicited thecourt of Spain to send him out, while, during the same period, hisbrother, Bartholomew, was soliciting the court of England: the latterwas unsuccessful, but Columbus himself at length persuaded Isabellato grant 40,000 crowns for the service of the expedition. Heaccordingly sailed from Palos, in Andalusia, on the 3d of August,1492; and in thirty-three days landed on one of the Bahamas. He hadalready 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 onthis voyage; but on his return home, he discovered Hispaniola. Thevariation of the compass was first observed in this voyage. In asecond voyage, in 1492, Columbus discovered Jamaica, and in a third,in 1494, he visited Trinidad and the continent of America, near themouth of the Orinoco. In 1502, he made a fourth and last voyage, inwhich he explored some part of the shores of the Gulph of Mexico. Theungrateful return he met with from his country is well known: wornout with fatigue, disappointment, and sorrow, he died at Valladolid,on the 20th of May, 1506, in the fifty-ninth year of his age.

In the mean time, the completion of the discovery of America wasrapidly advancing. In 1499, Ogeda, one of Columbus's companions,sailed for the new world: he was accompanied by Amerigo Vespucci:little was discovered on the voyage, except some part of the coast ofGuana and Terra Firma. But Amerigo, having, on his return to Spain,published the first account of the New World, the whole of thisextensive quarter of the globe was called after him. Some authors,however, contend that Amerigo visited the coasts of Guiana and TerraFirma before Columbus; the more probable account is, that he examinedthem more carefully two years after their discovery by Columbus.Amerigo was treated by the court of Spain with as little attentionand gratitude as Columbus had been: he therefore offered his servicesto Portugal, and in two voyages, between 1500 and 1504, he examinedthe coasts of that part of South America which was afterwards calledBrazil. This country had been discovered by Cabral, who commanded thesecond expedition of the Portuguese to India: on his voyage thither,a tempest drove him so far to the west, that he reached the shores ofAmerica. He called it the Land of the Holy Cross; but it wasafterwards called Brazil, from the quantity of red wood of that namefound on it.

For some time after the discovery of America it was supposed to bepart of India: and hence, the name of the West Indies, still retainedby the islands in the Gulph of Mexico, was given to all thosecountries. There were, however, circ*mstances which soon led thediscoverers to doubt of the truth of the first conceived opinion. ThePortuguese had visited no part of Asia, either continent or island,from the coast of Malabar to China, on which they had not foundnatives highly civilized, who had made considerable progress in theelegant as well as the useful arts of life, and who were evidentlyaccustomed to intercourse with strangers, and acquainted withcommerce. In all these respects, the New World formed a strikingcontrast: the islands were inhabited by savages, naked, unacquaintedwith the rudest arts of life, and indebted for their sustenance tothe spontaneous productions of a fertile soil and a fine climate. Thecontinent, for the most part, presented immense forests, and with theexception of Mexico and Peru, was thinly inhabited by savages asignorant and low in the scale of human nature as those who dwelt onthe islands.

The natural productions and the animals differed also mostessentially from those, not only of India, but also of Europe. Therewere no lemons, oranges, pomegranates, quinces, figs, olives, melons,vines, nor sugar canes: neither apples, pears, plumbs, cherries,currants, gooseberries, rice, nor any other corn but maize. There wasno poultry (except turkeys), oxen, sheep, goats, swine, horses,asses, camels, elephants, cats, nor dogs, except an animal resemblinga dog, but which did not bark. Even the inhabitants of Mexico andPeru were unacquainted with iron and the other useful metals, anddestitute of the address requisite for acquiring such command of theinferior animals, as to derive any considerable aid from theirlabour.

In addition to these most marked and decided points of differencebetween India and the newly discovered quarter of the globe, it wasnaturally inferred that a coast extending, as America was soonascertained to do, many hundred miles to the northward and to thesouthward of the equator, could not possibly be that of the Indies.At last, in the year 1513, a view of the Grand Ocean having beenattained from the mountains of Darien, the supposition that the NewWorld formed part of India was abandoned. To this ocean the name ofthe South Sea was given.

In the mean time, the Portuguese had visited all the islands ofthe Malay Archipelago, as far as the Moluccas. Portugal had receivedfrom the Pope a grant of all the countries she might discover: theSpaniards, after the third voyage of Columbus, obtained a similargrant. As, however, it was necessary to draw a line between thosegrants, the Pope fixed on 27-1/2° west of the meridian of theisland of Ferro. The sovereigns, for their mutual benefit, allowed itto 370 leagues west of the Cape Verd islands: all the countries tothe east of this line were to belong to Portugal, and all those tothe west of it to Spain. According to this line of demarcation,supposing the globe to be equally divided between the two powers, itis plain that the Moluccas were situated within the hemisphere whichbelonged to Spain. Portugal, however, would not yield them up,contending that she was entitled to the sovereignty of all thecountries she could discover by sailing eastward. This dispute gaverise to the first circumnavigation of the globe, and the firstpractical proof that India could be reached by sailing westward fromEurope, as well as to other results of the greatest importance togeography and commerce.

During the discussions which this unexpected and embarrassingdifficulty produced, Francis Magellan came to the court of Spain, tooffer his services as a navigator, suggesting a mode by which hemaintained that court would be able to decide the question in its ownfavour. Magellan had served under Albuquerque, and had visited theMoluccas: and he proposed, if the Spanish monarch would give himships, to sail to these islands by a westerly course, which would,even according to the Portuguese, establish the Spanish right totheir possession. The emperor Charles, who was at this period king ofSpain, joyfully embraced the proposal, although a short timeprevious, Solis, who had sailed in quest of a westerly passage toIndia, had, after discovering the Rio de la Plata, perished in theattempt.

It is maintained by some authors that Magellan's confidence in thesuccess of his own plan arose from the information he received from achart drawn up by Martin Behaim, in which the straits that wereafterwards explored by Magellan, and named after him, were laid down;and that he carried the information he derived from it to Spain, andby means of it obtained the protection of Cardinal Ximenes, and thecommand of the fleet, with which he was the first to circumnavigatethe world.

As this is a point which has been a good deal discussed, and as itis of importance, not only to the fame of Magellan, but to a rightunderstanding of the actual state of geographical knowledge, withrespect to the New World, at this era, it may be proper briefly toconsider it.

The claim of Behaim rests entirely on a passage in Pigafetta'sjournal of the voyage of Magellan, in which it is stated thatMagellan, as skilful as he was courageous, knew that he was to seekfor a passage through an obscure strait: this strait he had seen laiddown in a chart of Martin Behaim, a most excellent cosmographer,which was in the possession of the king of Portugal. In describingthe nature of the maps and charts which, during the whole of themiddle ages, were drawn up, we observed that it was very usual toinsert countries, &c. which were merely supposed to exist. Thequestion, therefore, is--allowing that a strait was laid down in achart drawn up by Behaim, whether it was a conjectural strait or onelaid down from good authority? That Behaim himself did not discoversuch a strait will be evident from the following circ*mstances: inthe Nuremberg globe, formed by Behaim, it does not appear: there isnothing between the Azores and Japan, except the fabulous islands ofAulitia and St. Brandon; no mention of it is made in the archives ofthat city or in his numerous letters, which are still preserved. Thedate of the Nuremberg globe is 1492, the very year in which Columbusfirst reached the West Indies: Behaim therefore cannot be supposed tohave contributed to this discovery. It is said, however, that he madea long voyage in 1483 and 1484: but this voyage was in an easterlydirection, for it is expressly stated to have been to Ethiopia;probably to Congo, and the cargo he brought home, which consisted ofan inferior kind of pepper, proves that he had not visited America.Besides, if he had visited any part of America in 1483 or 1484, hewould have laid it down in his globe in 1492, whereas, as we haveremarked, no country appears on it to the west of St. Brandon. Wemay, therefore, safely conclude that he did not himself discover anypassage round the south point of America.

But all the other great discoveries of the Portuguese andSpaniards (except that of Diaz in 1486) were made between 1492, thedate of the Nuremberg Globe, and 1506, the date of the death ofBehaim, and between these periods, he constantly resided at Fayal. Itis much more probable that he inserted this strait in his chart onsupposition, thinking it probable that, as Africa terminated in acape, so America would. That Magellan did not himself believe thestrait was laid down in Behaim's chart from any authority is evident,from a circ*mstance mentioned by Pigafetta, who expressly informs us,that Magellan was resolved to prosecute his search after it tolatitude 75°, had he not found it in latitude 52°. Now, asBehaim undoubtedly was the greatest cosmographer of the age, and hadbeen employed to fit the astrolobe as a sea instrument, it is not tobe supposed that, if he had good authority for the existence of apassage round South America, he would have left it in any chart hedrew, with an uncertainty of 23 degrees.

Magellan sailed from Spain in 1519, with five ships: he exploredthe river Plate a considerable way, thinking at first it was the sea,and would lead him to the west. He then continued his voyage to thesouth, and reached the entrance of the straits which afterwardsreceived his name, on the 21st October, 1520, but, in consequence ofstorms, and the scarcity of provisions, he did not clear them tillthe 28th of November. He now directed his course to the north-west:for three months and twenty days he saw no land. In 15 south, hediscovered a small island; and another in 9 south. Continuing hiscourse still in the same direction, he arrived at the Ladrones, andsoon afterwards at the Phillippines, where he lost his life in askirmish. His companions continued their voyage; and, on thetwenty-seventh month after their departure from Spain, arrived at oneof the Molucca islands. Here the Spaniards found plenty of spices,which they obtained in exchange for the cloth, glass, beads, &c.,which they had brought with them for that purpose. From the Moluccasthey returned home round the Cape of Good Hope, and reached Sevillein September, 1552. Only one ship returned, and she was drawn up inSeville, and long preserved as a monument of the firstcircumnavigation of the globe. The Spaniards were surprised, on theirreturn to their native country, to find that they had gained a day intheir reckoning--a proof of the scanty knowledge at that timepossessed, respecting one of the plainest and most obvious results ofthe diurnal motion of the earth.

The voyage of Magellan occupied 1124 days: Sir Francis Drake, whosailed round the world about half a century afterwards, accomplishedthe passage in 1051 days: the next circumnavigator sailed round theglobe in 769 days; and the first navigators who passed to the southof Terra del Fuego, accomplished the voyage in 749 days. In themiddle of the eighteenth century, a Scotch privateer sailed round theworld in 240 days.

In the meantime, several voyages had been performed to the eastcoast of North America. The first voyages to this part of the newworld were undertaken by the English: there is some doubt anduncertainty respecting the period when these were performed. Thefollowing seems the most probable account.

At the time when Columbus discovered America, there lived inLondon a Venetian merchant, John Cabot, who had three sons. Thefather was a man of science, and had paid particular attention to thedoctrine of the spheres: his studies, as well as his business as amerchant, induced him to feel much interest in the discoveries whichwere at that period making. He seems to have applied to Henry VII.;who accordingly empowered him to sail from England under the royalflag, to make discoveries in the east, the west, and the north, andto take possession of countries inhabited by Pagans, and notpreviously discovered by other European nations. The king gave himtwo ships, and the merchants of Bristol three or four small vessels,loaded with coarse cloth, caps, and other small goods. The doubtrespecting the precise date of this voyage seems to receive the mostsatisfactory solution from the following contemporary testimony ofAlderman Fabian, who says, in his Chronicle of England andFrance, that Cabot sailed in the beginning of May, in themayoralty of John Tate, that is, in 1497, and returned in thesubsequent mayoralty of William Purchase, bringing with him threesauvages from Newfoundland. This fixes the date of thisvoyage: the course he steered, and the limits of his voyage, arehowever liable to uncertainty. He himself informs us, that he reachedonly 56° north latitude, and that the coast of America, at thatpart, winded to the east: but there is no coast of North America thatanswers to this description. According to other accounts, he reached67-1/2° north latitude; but this is the coast of Greenland, andnot the coast of Labrador, as these accounts call it. It is mostprobable that he did not reach farther than Newfoundland, which hecertainly discovered. To this island he at first gave the names ofPrima Vista and Baccaloas; and it is worthy of notice, that a cape ofNewfoundland still retains the name of Bona Vista, and there is asmall island still called Bacalao, not far from hence.

From this land he sailed to the south-west till he reached thelatitude of Gibraltar, and the longitude of Cuba; if thesecirc*mstances be correct, he must have sailed nearly as far asChesapeak Bay: want of provisions now obliged him to return toEngland.

Portugal, jealous of the discoveries which Spain had made in thenew world, resolved to undertake similar enterprizes, with the doublehope of discovering some new part of America, and a new route toIndia. Influenced by these motives, Certireal, a man of birth andfamily, sailed from Lisbon in 1500 or 1501: he arrived at ConceptionBay, in Newfoundland, explored the east coast of that island, andafterwards discovered the river St. Lawrence. To the next countrywhich he discovered, he gave the name of Labrador, because, from itslatitude and appearance, it seemed to him better fitted for culturethan his other discoveries in this part of America. This country hecoasted till he came to a strait, which he called the Strait ofAnian. Through this strait he imagined a passage would be found toIndia, but not being able to explore it himself, he returned toPortugal, to communicate the important and interesting information.He soon afterwards went out on a second voyage, to prosecute hisdiscoveries in this strait; but in this he perished. The same voyagewas undertaken by another brother, but he also perished. As thesituation of the Strait of Anian was very imperfectly described, itwas long sought for in vain on both sides of America; it is nowgenerally supposed to have been Hudson's Strait, at the entrance ofHudson's Bay.

The Spaniards were naturally most alarmed at the prospect of thePortuguese finding a passage by this strait to India. Cortez, theconqueror of Mexico, undertook himself an expedition for thispurpose; but he returned without accomplishing any thing. After himthe viceroy, Mendoza, sent people, both by sea and land, to explorethe coast as far as 53° north latitude; but neither party reachedfarther than 36 degrees. The Spanish court itself now undertook theenterprize; and in the year 1542, Cabrillo, a Portuguese in theservice of that court, sailed from Spain. He went no farther than to44 degrees north latitude, where he found it very cold. He coastedthe countries which at present are called New California, as far asCape Blanco: he discovered, likewise, Cape Mendocino; andascertained, that from this place to the harbour De la Nadividad, theland continued without the intervention of any strait. In 1582,Gualle was directed by the king of Spain to examine if there was apassage to the east and north-east of Japan, that connected the seaof Asia with the South Sea. He accordingly steered from Japan to theE.N.E. about 300 leagues: here he found the current setting from thenorth and north-west, till he had sailed above 700 leagues, when hereckoned he was only 200 leagues from the coast of California. Inthis voyage he discovered those parts of the north-west coast ofAmerica which are called New Georgia and New Cornwall. At thebeginning of the seventeenth century, the Spaniards, alarmed at theachievements of Sir Francis Drake on this part of America, and stillanxious to discover, if possible, the Straits of Anian, sent outSebastian Viscaino from Acapulco: he examined the coasts as far asCape Mendocino, and discovered the harbour of Montery. One of hisships reached the latitude of 43 degrees, where the mouth of astrait, or a large river, was said to have been discovered.

The expedition of Sir Francis Drake, though expressly undertakenfor the purpose of distressing the Spaniards in their newsettlements, must be noticed here, on account of its havingcontributed also, in some degree, to the geographical knowledge ofthe north-west coast of America. He sailed from Plymouth on the 15thNovember, 1577, with five vessels, (the largest only 100 tons, andthe smallest 15,) and 164 men. On the 20th of August, 1578, heentered the Strait of Magellan, which he cleared on the 6th ofSeptember: "a most extraordinary short passage," observes CaptainTuckey, "for no navigator since, though aided by the immenseimprovements in navigation, has been able to accomplish it in lessthan 36 days." After coasting the whole of South America to theextremity of Mexico, he resolved to seek a northern passage into theAtlantic. With this intention, he sailed along the coast, to which,from its white cliffs, he gave the name of New Albion. When hearrived, however, at Cape Blanco, the cold was so intense, that heabandoned his intention of searching for a passage into the Atlantic,and crossed the Pacific to the Molucca islands. In this long passagehe discovered only a few islands in 20° north latitude: after anabsence of 1501 days, he arrived at Plymouth. The discoveries made bythis circumnavigator, will, however, be deemed much more important,if the opinion of Fleurien, in his remarks on the austral lands ofDrake, inserted in the Voyage of Marchand, in which opinion he isfollowed by Malte Brun, be correct; viz. that Drake discovered, underthe name of the Isles of Elizabeth, the western part of thearchipelago of Terra del Fuego; and that he reached even the southernextremity of America, which afterwards received, from the Dutchnavigators, the name of Cape Horn. These are all the wellauthenticated discoveries made in the sixteenth and seventeenthcenturies, on the north-west coast of America. Cape Mendocino, inabout 40-1/2 degrees north latitude, is the extreme limit of thecertain knowledge possessed at this period respecting this coast: theinformation possessed respecting New Georgia and New Cornwall wasvery vague and obscure.

In the beginning of the sixteenth century, the coasts of the eastside of North America, particularly those of Florida, Virginia,Acadia and Canada, were examined by navigators of differentcountries. Florida was discovered in the year 1512, by the Spanishnavigator, Ponce de Leon; but as it did not present any appearance ofcontaining the precious metals, the Spaniards entirely neglected it.In 1524, the French seem to have engaged in their first voyage ofdiscovery to America. Francis I. sent out a Florentine with fourships: three of these were left at Madeira; with the fourth hereached Florida. From this country he is said to have coasted till hearrived in fifty degrees of north latitude. To this part he gave thename of New France; but he returned home without having formed anycolony. Towards the end of the sixteenth and beginning of theseventeenth centuries, the English began to form settlements in theseparts of North America. Virginia was examined by the famous SirWalter Raleigh: this name was given to all the coast on which theEnglish formed settlements. That part of it now called Carolina,seems to have been first discovered by Raleigh.

The beginning of the seventeenth century was particularlydistinguished by the voyage of La Maire and Schouten. The StatesGeneral of Holland, who had formed an East India Company, in order tosecure to it the monopoly of the Indian trade, prohibited allindividuals from navigating to the Indian Ocean, either round theCape of Good Hope or through the Straits of Magellan. It wastherefore an object of great importance to discover, if practicable,any passage to India, which would enable the Dutch, without incurringthe penalties of the law, to reach India. This idea was firstsuggested by La Maire, a merchant of Amsterdam, and William Schouten,a merchant of Horn. They had also another object in view: in all themaps of the world of the sixteenth century, a great southerncontinent is laid down. In 1606, Quiros, a Spanish navigator, hadsearched in vain for this continent; and La Maire and Schouten, intheir voyage, resolved to look for it, as well as for a new passageto India. In 1615 they sailed from Holland with two ships: theycoasted Patagonia, discovered the strait which bears the name of LaMaire, and Staten Island, which joins it on the east. On the 31st ofJanuary next year, they doubled the southern point of America, havingsailed almost into the sixtieth degree of south latitude; this pointthey named Cape Horn, after the town of which Schouten was a native.From this cape they steered right across the great southern ocean tothe northwest. In their course they discovered several small islands;but finding no trace of a continent, they gave up the search for it,and steering to the south, passed to the east of the PapuaArchipelago. They then changed their course to the west; discoveredthe east coast of the island, afterwards called New Zealand, as wellas the north side of New Guinea. They afterwards reached Batavia,where they were seized by the president of the Dutch East IndiaCompany. This voyage was important, as it completed the navigation ofthe coast of South America from the Strait of Magellan to Cape Horn,and ascertained that the two great oceans, the Pacific and theAtlantic, joined each other to the south of America, by a greataustral sea. This voyage added also considerably to maritimegeography, "though many of the islands in the Pacific thus discoveredhave, from the errors in their estimated longitudes, been claimed asnew discoveries by more recent navigators." In the year 1623, theDutch found a shorter passage into the Pacific, by the Straits ofNassau, north-west of La Maire's Strait; and another still shorter,by Brewer's Straits, in the year 1643.

The success of the Portuguese and Spaniards in their discoveriesof a passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope, and of America,induced, as we have seen, the other maritime nations to turn theirattention to navigation and commerce. As, however, the riches derivedfrom the East India commerce were certain, and the commodities whichsupplied them had long been in regular demand in Europe, the attemptsto discover new routes to India raised greater energies than thosewhich were made to complete the discovery of America. In fact, as wehave seen, the east coast, both of South and North America, in allprobability would not have been visited so frequently, or so soon andcarefully examined, had it not been with the hope of finding somepassage to India in that direction. But it was also supposed, that apassage to India might be made by sailing round the north of Europeto the east. Hence arose the frequent attempts to find out what arecalled the north-west and north-east passages; the most important ofwhich, 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 theStraits of Anian; the idea that they existed on the northwest coastof America seems to have been abandoned for some time, unless wesuppose, that a voyage undertaken by the French in 1535 had for itsobject the discovery of these straits: it is undoubted, that one ofthe objects of this voyage was to find a passage to India. In thisvoyage, the river St. Lawrence was examined as far as Montreal. In1536, the English in vain endeavoured to find a north-west passage toIndia. The result of this voyage was, however, important in onerespect; as it gave vise to the very beneficial fishery of theEnglish on the banks of Newfoundland. The French had already engagedin this fishery.

In 1576, the idea of a north-west passage having been revived inEngland, Frobisher was sent in search of it, with two barks oftwenty-five tons each, and one pinnace of ten tons. He entered thestrait, leading into what was afterwards called Hudson's Bay: thisstrait he named after himself. He discovered the southern coast ofGreenland; and picking up there some stone or ore which resembledgold, he returned to England. The London goldsmiths having examinedthis, they reported that it contained a large proportion of gold.This induced the Russian Company to send him out a second time, in1577; but during this voyage, and a third in 1578, no discoveries ofconsequence were made. In the years 1585, 86, and 87, Captain Davis,who was in the service of an English company of adventurers, madethree voyages in search of a north-west passage. In the first heproceded as far north as sixty-six degrees forty minutes, visited thesouthwest coast of Greenland, and gave his own name to the straitsthat separate it from America. At this time the use of a kind ofharpoon was known, by which they were enabled to kill porpoises; butthough they saw many whales, they knew not the right manner ofkilling them. In his second voyage an unsuccessful attempt was madeto penetrate between Iceland and Greenland, but the ships were unableto penetrate beyond sixty-seven degrees north latitude. The westcoast of Greenland was examined; but not being able to sail along itsnorth coast, he stretched across to America, which he examined tolatitude fifty-four. In his last voyage, Davis reached the west coastof Greenland, as far as latitude seventy-two. All his endeavours,however, to find a north-west passage were ineffectual.

In 1607, Hudson, an experienced seaman of great knowledge andintrepidity, sailed in search of this passage. He directed his coursestraight north, and reached the eighty-second degree of latitude, andthe seventy-third degree of west longitude. During this voyage moreof the eastern coast of Greenland was discovered than had beenpreviously known. In his second voyage, which was undertaken in 1608,he endeavoured to sail between Nova Zembla and Spitzbergen, butunsuccessfully: of this and his first voyage we have very imperfectaccounts. His third voyage was undertaken for the Dutch: in this hediscovered the river in America which bears his name. His fourth andlast voyage, in which he perished, and to which he owes his principalfame as a navigator, was in the service of the Russia Company ofEngland. In this voyage he reached the strait which bears his name:his crew mutinied at this place, and setting him on shore, returnedto England. As soon as the Russia Company learned the fate of Hudson,they sent one Captain Button in search of him, and also to explorethe straits which he had discovered: in this voyage Hudson's Bay wasdiscovered. Button's journal was never published: it is said,however, to have contained some important observations on the tides,and other objects of natural philosophy.

The existence of such a bay as Hudson's was described to be,induced the merchants of England to believe that they had at lengthfound out the entrance to a passage which would lead them to the EastIndies: many voyages were therefore undertaken, in a very short timeafter this bay had been discovered. The most important was that ofBylot and Baffin: they advanced through Davis's Straits into anextensive sea, which they called Baffin's Bay: they proceeded,according to their account, as far north as the latitude 78°. Thenature and extent of this discovery was very much doubted at thetime, and subsequently, till the discoveries of Captains Ross andParry, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, proved that Baffinwas substantially accurate and faithful.

Baffin's voyage took place in the year 1616: after this there wasno voyage undertaken with the same object, till the year 1631, whenCaptain Fox sailed from Deptford. He had been used to the sea fromhis youth, and had employed his leisure time in collecting all theinformation he could possibly obtain, respecting voyages, to thenorth. He was besides well acquainted with some celebratedmathematicians and cosmographers, particularly Thomas Herne, who hadcarefully collected all the journals and charts of the formervoyages, with a view to his business, which was that of a maker ofglobes. When Fox was presented to Charles I, his majesty gave him amap, containing all the discoveries which had been made in the northseas. He discovered several islands during the voyage, but not thepassage he sought for; though he is of opinion, that if a passage isto be found, it must be in Sir Thomas Roe's Welcome,--a bay hediscovered near an island of that name, in north latitude 64°10', not far from the main land, on the west side of Hudson's Bay. Hepublished a small treatise on the voyage, called The North-west Fox,which contains many important facts and judicious observations on theice, the tides, compass, northern lights, &c. Captain Jamessailed on the same enterprise nearly at the same time that Fox did.His account was printed by King Charles's command, in 1633: itcontains some remarkable physical observations respecting theintenseness of the cold, and the accumulation of ice, in northernlatitudes; but no discovery of moment. He was of opinion, that nonorth-west passage existed.

The last voyage in the seventeenth century, in search of thispassage, was undertaken in consequence of the representations of aFrenchman to Charles II. From the same cause proceeded theestablishment of the Hudson's Bay Company by that monarch.

Canada was at this time colonized by the French; and a Frenchsettler there, De Gronsseliers, an enterprising and speculative man,after travelling in various directions, reached a country, where hereceived information respecting Hudson's Bay: he therefore resolvedto attempt to reach this bay by sea. In the course of thisundertaking he met with a few English, who had settled themselvesnear Port Nelson River: these he attacked, and by their defeat becamemaster of the country. He afterwards explored the whole district, andreturned to Quebec with a large quantity of valuable furs and Englishmerchandize; but meeting with ill-treatment in Quebec, and afterwardsat the court of France, he came to England, where he was introducedto the Count Palatine Rupert. The prince patronized all laudable anduseful enterprises; and persuaded the king to send out CaptainGillam, and the Frenchman with him. The ship was loaded with goods totraffic for furs. They passed through Hudson's Straits to Baffin'sBay, as far as 75 degrees north latitude: they afterwards sailed asfar to the south as 51 degrees, where, near the banks of a river,called after Prince Rupert, they built Charles Fort. This was thefirst attempt to carry on commerce in this part of America.

We must now return to the period of the first attempt to find outa north-east passage to India. A society of merchants had been formedin London for this purpose. Sebastian Cabot, either the son or thegrandson of John Cabot, and who held the situation of grand pilot ofEngland under Edward VI., was chosen governor of this society. Threevessels were fitted out: one of them is particularly noticed in thecontemporary accounts, as having been sheathed with thin plates oflead. Sir Hew Willoughby had the chief command: Captain RichardChanceller and Captain Durfovill commanded the other two vesselsunder him. Willoughby, having reached 72 degrees of north latitude,was obliged by the severity of the season to run his ship into asmall harbour, where he and his crew were frozen to death. CaptainDurfovill returned to England. Chanceller was more fortunate; for hereached the White Sea, and wintered in the Dwina, near the site ofArchangel. While his ship lay up frozen, Chanceller proceeded toMoscow, where he obtained from the Czar privileges for the Englishmerchants, and letters to King Edward: as the Czar was at this periodengaged in the Livonian war, which greatly interrupted andembarrassed the trade of the Baltic, he was the more disposed toencourage the English to trade to the White Sea. We have alreadyremarked, in giving an account of the voyage of Ohter, in KingAlfred's time, that he had penetrated as far as the White Sea. Thispart of Europe, however, seems afterwards to have been entirely lostsight of, till the voyage of Chanceller; for in a map of the mostnorthern parts of Europe, given in Munster's Geographia, which wasprinted in 1540, Greenland is laid down as joined to the north partof Lapland; and, consequently, the northern ocean appears merely as agreat bay, enclosed by these countries. Three years afterwards, theEnglish reached the coasts of Nova Zembla, and heard of, if they didnot arrive at, the Straits of Waygats. The next attempts were made bythe Dutch, who were desirous of reaching India by a route, in thecourse of which they would not be liable to meet with the Spaniardsor Portuguese. They accordingly made four attempts between 1594 and1596, but unsuccessfully. In the last voyage they reachedSpitzbergen; but after striving in vain to penetrate to thenorth-east, they were obliged to winter on the north coast of NovaZembla, in 76° latitude. Here they built a smaller vessel out ofthe remains of the one they had brought from Holland, and arrived thefollowing summer at Kola, in Lapland.

In 1653, Frederic III, king of Denmark, sent three vessels todiscover a north-east passage: it is said that they actually passedthrough Waygats' Straits; but that in the bay beyond these straitsthey found insurmountable obstacles from the ice and cold, andconsequently were obliged to return.

The last attempt made in the seventeenth century, was by theEnglish: it was proposed and undertaken by John Wood, an experiencedseaman, who had paid particular attention to the voyages that hadbeen made to the north. His arguments in favour of a north-eastpassage were, that whales had been found near Japan, with English andDutch harpoons in them; and that the Dutch had found temperateweather near the Pole, and had sailed 300 leagues to the east of NovaZembla. The first argument only proved, that there was sea betweenNova Zembla and Japan; but not that it was navigable, though passablefor whales: the other two positions were unfounded. Wood, however,persuaded the Duke of York to send him out in 1676. He doubled theNorth Cape, and reached 76 degrees of north latitude. One of theships was wrecked off the coast of Nova Zembla, and Wood returned inthe other, with an opinion that a north-east passage isimpracticable, and that Nova Zembla is a part of the continent ofGreenland.

But we must turn from these attempts to discover a northwest ornorth-east passage to India, which, from the accounts given of them,it will be evident, contributed very little to the progress ofgeographical knowledge, though they necessarily increased the skill,confidence, and experience of navigators.

While these unprofitable voyages were undertaken in the north,discoveries of consequence were making in the southern ocean. Thesemay be divided into two classes; viz., such as relate to what is nowcalled Australasia; and those which relate to the islands which arescattered in the southern ocean.

We have already stated that there is reason to believe some partof New Holland was first discovered by the Portuguese: two ancientmaps in the British Museum are supposed to confirm this opinion; butthe date of one is uncertain; the other is dated 1542, and certainlycontains a country, which, in form and position, resembles NewHolland, as it was laid down prior to the voyage of Tasman. Butallowing this to be New Holland, it only proves, that at the date ofthis map it was known, not that it had been discovered by thePortuguese.

The Dutch, however, certainly made several voyages to it between1616 and 1644: the western extremity was explored in 1616. The sameyear Van Dieman's Land was discovered. In the course of the tenfollowing years, the western and northern coasts were visited. Thesouthern coast was first discovered in 1627, but we have noparticulars respecting the voyage in which it was discovered. In1642, Tasman, a celebrated Dutch navigator, sailed from Batavia, anddiscovered the southern part of Van Dieman's Land and New Zealand.From this time to the beginning of the eighteenth century, littleprogress was made in exploring the coast of New Holland. Dampier,however, a man of wonderful talents, considering his education andmode of life, collected, during his voyage, some important detailsrespecting the west coast. And among the numerous voyages undertakenby the Dutch East India Company towards the close of the seventeenthand beginning of the eighteenth century, to examine this vastcountry, which the Dutch regarded as belonging to them, there was oneby Van Vlaming deserving of notice: this navigator examined withgreat care and attention many bays and harbours on the west side; andhe is the first who mentions the black swans of this country.

Papua, or New Guinea, another part of Australasia, was discoveredby the Portuguese in 1528. The passage that divides this country fromNew Britain was discovered by Dampier, who was also the first thatexplored and named the latter country in 1683. The discovery ofSolomon Islands by the Spaniards took place in 1575: Mendana, aSpanish captain, sailed from Lima, to the westward, and in steeringacross the Pacific, he fell in with these islands. On a second voyagehe extended his discoveries, and he sailed a third time to conquerand convert the natives. His death, which took place in one of theseislands, put an end to these projects. They are supposed to be theeasternmost of the Papua Archipelago, afterwards visited by Carteret,Bougainville, and other navigators. Mendana, during his last voyage,discovered a group of islands to which he gave the name of Marquesasde Mendoza.

This group properly belongs to Polynesia: of the other islands inthis quarter of the globe, which were discovered prior to theeighteenth century, Otaheite is supposed to have been discovered byQuiros in 1606. His object was to discover the imagined australcontinent; but his discoveries were confined to Otaheite, which henamed Sagittaria, and an island which he named Terra del EsperituSancto, which is supposed to be the principal of the New Hebrides.The Ladrones were discovered by Magellan in 1521. The NewPhilippines, or Carolinas, were first made known by the accidentalarrival of a family of their natives at the Philippines in 1686.Easter island, a detached and remote country, which, however, isinhabited by the Polynesian race, was discovered by Roggewein in1686.

Having thus exhibited a brief and general sketch of the progressof discovery, from the period when the Portuguese first passed theCape of Good Hope to the beginning of the eighteenth century, weshall next, before we give an account of the state and progress ofcommerce during the same period, direct our attention to the state ofgeographical science in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

We have already stated that the astrolobe, which had beenpreviously applied only to astronomical purposes, was accommodated tothe use of mariners by Martin Behaim, towards the end of thefifteenth century. He was a scholar of Muller, of Koningsberg, betterknown under the name of Regiomontanus, who published the Almagest ofPtolemy. The Germans were at this time the best mathematicians ofEurope. Walther, who was of that nation, and the friend and discipleof Regiomontanus, was the first who made use of clocks in hisastronomical observations. He was succeeded by Werner, of Nuremberg,who published a translation of Ptolemy's Geography, with acommentary, in which he explains the method of finding the longitudeat sea by the distance of a fixed star from the moon. Theastronomical instruments hitherto used were, with the exception ofthe astrolobe, those which had been employed by Ptolemy and theArabians. The quadrant of Ptolemy resembled the mural quadrant oflater times; which, however, was improved by the Arabians, who, atthe end of the tenth century, employed a quadrant twenty-one feet andeight inches radius, and a sextant fifty-seven feet nine inchesradius, and divided into seconds. The use of the sextant seems tohave been forgotten after this time; for Tycho Brahe is said to havere-invented it, and to have employed it for measuring the distancesof the planets from the stars. The quadrant was about the same timeimproved by a method of subdividing its limbs by the diagonal scale,and by the Vernier. The telescope was invented in the year 1609, andtelescopic sights were added to the quadrant in the year 1668.Picard, who was one of the first astronomers who applied telescopesto quadrants, determined the earth's diameter in 1669, by measuring adegree of the meridian in France. The observation made at Cayenne,that a pendulum which beat seconds there, must be shorter than onewhich beat seconds at Paris, was explained by Huygens, to arise fromthe diminution of gravity at the equator, and from this fact heinferred the spheroidal form of the earth. The application of thependulum to clocks, one of the most beautiful and useful acquisitionswhich astronomy, and consequently navigation and geography have made,was owing to the ingenuity of Huygens. These are the principaldiscoveries and inventions, relating to astronomy, which were madeprior to the eighteenth century, so far as they are connected withthe advancement of the art of navigation and the science ofgeography.

The discoveries of Columbus and Gama necessarily overturned thesystems of Ptolemy, Strabo, and the other geographers of antiquity.The opinion that the earth was a globe, which had been conjectured orinferred prior to the voyage of Magellan, was placed beyond a doubtby that voyage. The heavenly bodies were subjected to thecalculations of man by the labours of Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, andGalileo. Under these circ*mstances it was necessary, and it was easy,to make great improvements in the construction of maps, in layingdown the real form of the earth, and the relative situations of thecountries of which it is formed, together with their latitudes andlongitudes. The first maps which displayed the new world were thoseof the brothers Appian, and of Ribeiro: soon afterwards a morecomplete and accurate one was published by Gemma Frisius. Among thegeographers of the sixteenth century, who are most distinguished fortheir science, may be reckoned Sebastian Munster; for though, as wehave already mentioned, he joins Greenland to the north of Lapland inhis map, yet his research, labour, and accuracy were such, that he iscompared by his contemporaries to Strabo. Ortelius directed hisstudies and his learning to the elucidation of ancient geography; andaccording to Malte Bran, no incompetent judge, he may yet beconsulted on this subject with advantage.

But modern geography may most probably be dated from the time ofMercator: he published an edition of Ptolemy, in which he pointed outthe imperfection of the system of the ancients. The great object atthis time, was to contrive such a chart in plano, with short lines,that all places might be truly laid down according to theirrespective longitudes and latitudes. A method of this kind had beenobscurely pointed at by Ptolemy; but the first map on this plan wasmade by Mercator, about the year 1550. The principles, however, onwhich it was constructed, were not demonstrated till the year 1559,when Wright, an Englishman, pointed them out, as well as a ready andeasy way of making such a map. This was a great help to navigators;since by enlarging, the meridian line, as Wright suggested andexplained, so that all the degrees of longitude might be proportionalto those of latitude, a chart on Mercator's projection shews thecourse and distance from place to place, in all cases of sailing; andis therefore in several respects more convenient to navigators thanthe globe itself. Mercator, in his maps and charts, chose Corvo, oneof the Azores, for his first meridian, because at that time it wasthe line of no variation of the compass.

We have already alluded to Regiomontanus, as a celebratedmathematician, and as having published the Almagest of Ptolemy. Heseems, likewise, to have written notes on Ptolemy's Geography. In1525, a later translation of Ptolemy was published, which containedthese annotations. To Ptolemy's maps, tables, &c., are added anew set of maps on wooden plates, according to the new discoveries:from these we find, that in consequence of the voyages of thePortuguese, the charts of the coasts of Arabia, Africa, Persia, andIndia, are laid down with tolerable accuracy. Nothing is noticedregarding China, except that it may be reached by sea from India.America is called Terra Nova inventa per Christ. Columbus: this seemsto be all the editor knew of it. That part of the work which relatesto the north of Europe, is most grossly erroneous: Denmark, Norway,Sweden, and the Baltic, seem to have been little known. A great bayis laid down between Greenland and Lapland, which bay is bounded onthe north by a ridge of mountains, thus retaining the error ofPtolemy with respect to this part of Europe. There are two maps ofEngland and Scotland: in one they are represented as one island; inthe other as different islands. These maps and charts must have beenthe work of the editor or translator, as Regiomontanus, whoseannotations are subjoined, died before the discovery of America.

We have been thus particular in describing the principal maps ofthis work, as they prove how imperfect geography was, prior to thetime of Mercator, and with how much justice it may be said that he isthe father of modern geography. There were, however, some maps ofparticular countries, drawn up in the sixteenth century withtolerable accuracy, considering the imperfection of those sciencesand instruments, by which alone perfect accuracy can be attained.George Lilly, son of William, the famous grammarian, published,according to Nicholson, (English Historical Library,) "the firstexact map that ever was, till then, drawn of this island." Thispraise must, however, be taken with great qualification; for even solate as the beginning of the nineteenth century, the distance fromthe South Foreland to the Lands-end was laid down, in all the maps ofEngland, half a degree more than it actually is. We may here remark,that Nicholson represents Thomas Sulmo, a Guernsey man, who died in1545, as our oldest general geographer.

In some of the MSS. of Harding's Chronicle, written in the reignof Edward IV., there is a rude map of Scotland. In 1539, AlexanderLindsey, an excellent navigator and hydrographer, published a chartof Scotland and its isles, drawn up from his own observations, whichwere made when he accompanied James V. in 1539, on his voyage to thehighlands and islands. This chart is very accurate for the age; andis much superior to that published by Bishop Lesley, with hishistory, in 1578.

The first map of Russia, known to the other nations of Europe, waspublished in 1558 by Mr. Anthony Jenkinson, agent to the EnglishRussia Company, from the result of his enquiries and observationsduring his long residence in that kingdom.

These are the most important maps, either general or of particularcountries, with which the sixteenth century supplies us.

The seventeenth century continued the impulse which was given tothe science of geography by Mercator. As new discoveries wereconstantly in progress, errors in maps were corrected, vacant spacesfilled up, more accurate positions assigned, and greater attentionpaid to the actual and relative sizes of different countries. MalteBrun justly reckons Cluverius, Riccioli, and Varenius, as amongst themost celebrated geographers of this century. Cluverius was a man ofextensive and accurate erudition, which he applied to theillustration of ancient geography. Riccioli, an Italian Jesuit,devoted his abilities and leisure to the study of mathematics, andthe sciences dependent upon it, particularly astronomy; and was thusenabled to render important service to the higher parts of geography.Varenius is a still more celebrated name in geographical science: heexcelled in mathematical geography; and such was his fame and meritin the higher branches of physics, and his ingenuity in applying themto geography, that a system of universal geography, which hepublished in Latin, was deemed worthy by Newton, to be republishedand commented upon. Cellarius bestowed much pains on ancientgeography. That branch of the science which pays more especial regardto the distances of places, was much advanced by Sanson, in France;Blew, in Holland; and Buraeus, in Sweden.

We must now turn to the progress of commerce during the sixteenthand seventeenth centuries.

The discovery of a passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope, gaveimmediately a great impulse to commerce; whereas, it was a long timeafter the discovery of America before commerce was benefited by thatevent. This arose from the different state and circ*mstances of thetwo countries. The Portuguese found in India, and the other parts ofthe East, a race of people acquainted with commerce, and accustomedto it; fully aware of those natural productions of their countrywhich were in demand, and who had long been in the habit ofincreasing the exportable commodities by various kinds ofmanufactures. Most of these native productions and manufactures hadbeen in high estimation and value in Europe for centuries prior tothe discovery of the Cape. The monarchs of the East, as well as theirsubjects, were desirous of extending their trade. There was,therefore, no difficulty, as soon as the Portuguese arrived at anypart of the East; they found spices, precious stones, pearls,&c., or silk and cotton stuffs, porcelaine, &c., andmerchants willing to sell them. Their only business was to settle afew skilful agents, to select and purchase proper cargoes for theirships. Even before they reached the remote countries of the East,which they afterwards did, they found depôts of the goods ofthose parts, in intermediate and convenient situations, between themand the middle and western parts of Asia and Europe.

It was very different in America: the natives here, ignorant andsavage, had no commerce. "Even the natural productions of the soil,when not cherished and multiplied by the fostering and active hand ofman, were of little account." Above half a century elapsed before theSpaniards reaped any benefit from their conquests, except some smallquantities of gold, chiefly obtained from plundering the persons, thehouses, and temples of the Mexicans and Peruvians. In 1545, the minesof Potosi were discovered; these, and the principal Mexican mine,discovered soon afterwards, first brought a permanent and valuablerevenue to Spain. But it was long after this before the Spaniards, orthe other nations of Europe, could be convinced that Americacontained other treasures besides those of gold and silver, orinduced to apply that time, labour, and capital, which were requisiteto unfold all the additions to the comforts, the luxuries, and thehealth of man, which the New World was capable of bestowing. When,however, European skill and labour were expended on the soil ofAmerica, the real and best wealth of this quarter of the world wasdisplayed in all its importance and extent. In addition to the nativeproductions of tobacco, indigo, cochineal, cotton, ginger, cocoa,pimento, drugs, woods for dying, the Europeans cultivated the sugarcane, and several other productions of the Old World. The onlyarticles of commerce supplied by the natives, were furs and skins;every thing else imported from the New World consists at present, andhas always consisted of the produce, of the industry of Europeanssettled there.

But though it was long before Europe derived much direct benefitfrom the discovery of America, yet in one important respect thisdiscovery gave a great stimulus to East India commerce. Gold andsilver, especially the latter, have always been in great demand inthe East, and consequently the most advantageous articles to exportfrom Europe in exchange for Indian commodities. It was thereforeabsolutely necessary for the continuance of a commerce so muchextended as this to India was, in consequence of the Portuguesediscoveries, that increased means of purchasing Indian commoditiesshould be given; and these were supplied by the gold and silver minesof America.

If these mines had not been discovered about the time when tradeto India was more easy, expeditious, and frequent, it could not longhave been in the power of Europe to have availed herself of theadvantages of the Portuguese discoveries; gold and silver would havebecome, from their extreme scarcity, more valuable in Europe than inIndia, and consequently would no longer have been exported. But thesupply of the precious metals and of Indian commodities increasing atthe same time, Europe, by means of America, was enabled to reap allpossible advantage from the Portuguese discoveries. The gold andsilver of Mexico and Peru traversed the world, in spite of allobstacles, and reached that part of it where it was most wanted, andpurchased the productions of China and Hindostan.

Yet, notwithstanding the effectual demand for East Indiacommodities was necessarily increased by the increased supply of theprecious metals, yet the supply of these commodities being increasedin a much greater proportion, their price was much lowered. Thislowering of price naturally arose from two circ*mstances: after thepassage to India by the Cape, the productions and manufactures of theEast were purchased immediately from the natives; and they werebrought to Europe directly, and all the way, by sea. Whereas, beforethe discovery of the Cape, they were purchased and repurchasedfrequently; consequently, repeated additions were made to theiroriginal price; and these additions were made, in almost everyinstance, by persons who had the monopoly of them. Their conveyanceto Europe was long, tedious, and mostly by land carriage, andconsequently very expensive. There are no data by which it can beascertained in what proportion the Portuguese lowered the price ofIndian commodities; but Dr. Robertson's supposition appears wellfounded,--that they might afford to reduce the commodities of theEast, in every part of Europe, one half. This supposition is foundedon a table of prices of goods in India, the same sold at Aleppo, andwhat they might be sold for in England,--drawn up, towards the end ofthe seventeenth century, by Mr. Munn: from this it appears, that theprice at Aleppo was three times that in India, and that the goodsmight be sold in England at half the Aleppo price. But as the expenseof conveying goods to Aleppo from India, may, as Dr. Robertsonobserves, be reckoned nearly the same as that which was incurred bybringing them to Alexandria, he draws the inference alreadystated,--that the discovery of the Cape reduced the price of Indiancommodities one half. The obvious and necessary result would follow,that they would be in greater demand, and more common use. Theprincipal eastern commodities used by the Romans were spices andaromatics,--precious stones and pearls; and in the later periods oftheir power, silk; these, however, were almost exclusively confinedto rare and solemn occasions, or to the use of the most wealthy andmagnificent of the conquerors of the world. On the subversion of theRoman empire, the commodities of the East were for a short time inlittle request among the barbarians who subverted it: as soon,however, as they advanced from their ignorance and rudeness, thesecommodities seem strongly to have attracted their notice, and theywere especially fond of spices and aromatics. These were used veryprofusely in their cookery, and formed the principal ingredients intheir medicines. As, however, the price of all Indian commodities wasnecessarily high, so long as they were obliged to be brought toEurope by a circuitous route, and loaded with accumulated profits, itwas impossible that they could be purchased, except by the morewealthy classes. The Portuguese, enabled to sell them in greaterabundance, and at a much cheaper rate, introduced them into much moregeneral use; and, as they every year extended their knowledge of theEast, and their commerce with it, the number of ships fitted out atLisbon every year, for India, became necessarily more numerous, inorder to supply the increased demand.

Commerce in this case, as in every other, while it is acted uponby an extension of geographical knowledge, in its turn has an obvioustendency to extend that knowledge; this was the case with respect toIndia. The ancients had indeed made but small advances in theiracquaintance with this country, notwithstanding they were stimulatedby the large profits they derived from their eastern commerce; butthis was owing to their comparative ignorance of navigation and thesciences on which it depends. As soon as the moderns had improvedthis art, especially by the use of the compass, and the Cape of GoodHope was discovered, commerce gave the stimulus, which in a very fewyears led the Portuguese from Calicut to the furthest extremity ofAsia.

It is remarkable that the Portuguese were allowed to monopolizeIndian commerce for so long a time as they did; this, however, as Dr.Robertson observes, may be accounted for, "from the politicalcirc*mstances in the state of all those nations in Europe, whoseintrusion as rivals the Portuguese had any reason to dread. From theaccession of Charles V. to the throne, Spain was either so muchoccupied in a multiplicity of operations in which it was engaged bythe ambition of that monarch, and of his son Philip II., or so intenton prosecuting its own discoveries and conquests in the New World,that although by the successful enterprize of Magellan, its fleetswere unexpectedly conducted by a new course to that remote region ofAsia, which was the seat of the most gainful and alluring branch oftrade carried on by the Portuguese, it could make no considerableeffect to avail itself of the commercial advantages which it mighthave derived from that event. By the acquisition of the crown ofPortugal, in the year 1580, the kings of Spain, instead of therivals, became the protectors of the Portuguese trade, and theguardians of all its exclusive rights. Throughout the sixteenthcentury, the strength and resources of France were so much wasted bythe fruitless expeditions of their monarchs to Italy; by theirunequal contest with the power and policy of Charles V., and by thecalamities of the civil wars which desolated the kingdom upwards offorty years, that it could neither bestow much attention on commerce,nor engage in any scheme of distant enterprize. The Venetians, howsensibly soever they might feel the mortifying reverse of beingexcluded almost entirely from the Indian trade, of which theircapital had been formerly the chief seat, were so debilitated andhumbled by the league of Cambray, that they were no longer capable ofengaging in any undertaking of magnitude. England, weakened by thelong contests between the houses of York and Lancaster, and justbeginning to recover its proper vigour, was restrained from activeexertions during one part of the sixteenth century, by the cautiousmaxims of Henry VII., and wasted its strength, during another part ofit, by engaging inconsiderately in the wars between the princes onthe continent. The nation, though destined to acquire territories inIndia more extensive and valuable than were ever possessed by anyEuropean power, had no such presentiment of its future eminencethere, as to take an early part in the commerce or transactions ofthat country, and a great part of the century elapsed before it beganto turn its attention to the East.

"While the most considerable nations in Europe found it necessary,from the circ*mstances which I have mentioned, to remain inactivespectators of what passed in the East, the seven United Provinces ofthe Low Countries, recently formed into a small state, stillstruggling for political existence, and yet in the infancy of itspower, ventured to appear in the Indian Ocean as the rivals of thePortuguese; and, despising their pretensions to an exclusive right ofcommerce with the extensive countries to the eastward of the Cape ofGood Hope, invaded that monopoly which they had hitherto guarded withsuch jealous attention. The English soon followed the example of theDutch, and both nations, at first by the enterprizing industry ofprivate adventurers, and afterwards by the more powerful efforts oftrading companies, under the protection of public authority, advancedwith astonishing ardour and success in this new career opened tothem. The vast fabric of power which the Portuguese had opened in theEast, (a superstructure much too large for the basis on which it hadto rest) was almost entirely overturned in as short time, and with asmuch facility, as it had been raised. England and Holland, by drivingthem from their most valuable settlements, and seizing the mostlucrative branches of their trade, have attained to that pre-eminenceof naval power and commercial opulence by which they aredistinguished 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 circ*mstances which gave acommercial direction to the people of the Netherlands, both beforetheir struggle with Spain, and while the result of that struggle wasuncertain. The early celebrity of Bruges as a commercial city hasalready been noticed; its regular fairs in the middle of the tenthcentury; its being made the entrepôt of the Hanse Associationtowards the end of the thirteenth. It naturally partook of the wealthand commercial improvement which Flanders derived from her woollenmanufactures, and was in fact made the emporium of that country atthe beginning of the fourteenth century; and within 100 yearsafterwards, the staple for English and Scotch goods. When theincreased industry of the north of Europe induced and enabled itsinhabitants to exchange the produce of their soil, fisheries, andmanufactures, for the produce of the south of Europe, and of India,Bruges was made the great entrepôt of the trade of Europe. Inthe beginning of the sixteenth century its commercial importancebegan to decline, but the trade which left it, did not pass beyondthe limits of the Netherlands; it settled in a great measure atAntwerp, which, as being accessible by sea, was more convenient forcommerce than Bruges. This city, however, would not have fallen soeasily or rapidly before its rival, had it not been distracted bycivil commotions. From it the commerce of the Netherlands, and withit of the north of Europe, and the interchange of its commoditieswith those of the south of Europe and of Asia, gradually passed toAntwerp; and about the year 1516, most of the trade of Bruges wasfixed here, the Portuguese making it their entrepôt for thesupply of the northern kingdoms.

Even before this time the ships of the Netherlands seem to havebeen the carriers of the north of Europe; for in 1503, two Zealandships arrived at Campveer, laden with sugars, the produce of theCanary Islands. Antwerp, however, continued till it was taken by theSpaniards, and its port destroyed by the blocking up of the Scheldt,to be most distinguished for its commerce, and its consequentwealth:--its situation, its easy access by sea, joined to thecirc*mstance of its being made the Portuguese entrepôt forspices, drugs, and other rich productions of India, mainlycontributed to its commerce. Merchants from every part of the northof Europe settled here, and even many of the merchants of Brugesremoved to it, after the decline of their own city. Its free fairsfor commerce, two of which lasted each time six weeks, attractedmerchants from all parts, as they could bring their merchandize intoit duty free, and were here certain of finding a market for it. In italso bills of exchange on all parts of Europe could be easily andsafely negotiated. We have already mentioned the most wealthymerchants of England and France, in the fifteenth century: thereexisted at Antwerp, in the sixteenth, a firm of the name of Fugger,whose wealth was very great, and indicates the extent of theircommercial dealings. From this firm the Emperor Charles V. hadborrowed a very large sum, in order to carry on an expedition againstTunis. In the year 1534, Charles, being at Antwerp, Fugger invitedhim to an entertainment at his house, made a fire in his hall withcinnamon, and threw all the emperor's bonds into that fire. Abouteleven years afterwards, the same merchant gave an acquittance toHenry VIII. of England, for the sum of 152,180 l. Flemish,which the king had borrowed of him. The Fuggers had a licence fromthe king of Portugal to trade to India; and they used to send theirown factor in every ship that sailed thither, and were the owners ofpart of every cargo of pepper imported.

In the year 1541, it contained 100,000 inhabitants: soonafterwards the persecutions on account of religion in Germany,England, and France, drove many people thither, and of courseincreased both its population and wealth. If we may believe Huet, inhis History of Dutch Commerce, it was, at this time, not uncommon tosee 2500 ships at once lying in the Scheldt.

The picture, however, which Guicciardini draws of Antwerp in 1560,when it had reached the zenith of its prosperity and wealth,--beingthat of a contemporary author, and entering into detail,--is at oncemuch more curious and interesting, and may be depended on asauthentic. It is also valuable, as exhibiting the state of themanufactures, commerce, &c. of most of the nations of Europe atthis period.

"Besides the natives and the French, who are here very numerous,there are six principal foreign nations, who reside at Antwerp, bothin war and peace, making above 1000 merchants, including factors andservants, viz. Germans, Danes, and Easterlings--that is, people fromthe ports in the south shores of the Baltic, from Denmark toLivonia--Italians, Spaniards, English, and Portuguese of these sixnations; the Spaniards are the most numerous. One of those foreignmerchants, Fugger, of Augsburg, died worth above six millions ofcrowns; there are many natives there with from 200,000 to 400,000crowns."

"They meet twice a day, in the mornings and evenings, one houreach time, at the English bourse, where, by their interpreters andbrokers, they buy and sell all kinds of merchandize. Thence they goto the new bourse, or principal exchange, where, for another houreach time, they transact all matters relating to bills of exchange,with the above six nations, and with France; and also to deposit atinterest, 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; andbring in return such spices and drugs as the merchants of Anconaprocure in the Levant, and likewise silks, cotton, Turkey carpets,and leather. To Bologne 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. ToVenice they send jewels and pearls, English cloth and wool, Flemishdrapery, cochineal, &c. and a little sugar and pepper: thus, withrespect to these two latter articles, sending to Venice what theyformerly obtained from her. For, prior to the Portuguese discovery ofthe Cape, the merchants of Antwerp brought from Venice all sorts ofIndia spices and drugs: and even so late as the year 1518, therearrived in the Scheldt, five Venetian ships, laden with spices anddrugs, for the fair at Antwerp. In 1560, however, the imports fromVenice 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 Englishcloths and stuffs, tapestry, linens, small wares of metal, and othermaterials: and bring back raw, thrown and wrought silk, fine furs andskins, saffron and manna. The exports to Sicily are similar to thoseof the other parts of Italy: the imports from it are galls in greatquantity, cinnamon, oranges, cotton, silk, and sometimes wine. ToMilan, Antwerp exports pepper, sugar, jewels, musk, and otherperfumes, English and Flemish woollen manufactures, English andSpanish woollinens, and cochineal. The imports are gold and silver,thread, silks, gold stuffs, dimities, rich and curious draperies,rice, muskets and other arms, high priced toys and small goods; andParmesian cheese. The exports to Florence are nearly the same as tothe other parts of Italy, but in addition, fans are specified.Besides the usual imports of silks and gold stuffs, there are alsofine furs. Household furniture is exported to Genoa, besides theusual articles: velvets, which were then the best in the world;satins, the best coral, mithridate, and treacle, are the principal orthe peculiar imports. Genoa, is the port through which Antwerp tradeswith Mantua, Verona, Modena, Lucca, &c."

"Besides all these articles, Antwerp imports from Italy by sea,alum, oil, gums, leaf senna, sulphur, &c. and exported to it bysea, tin, lead, madder, Brazil wood, wax, leather, flax, tallow, saltfish, timber, and sometimes corn. The imports from Italy, includingonly silks, gold and silver, stuffs, and thread camblets and otherstuffs, amount to three millions of crowns, or 600,000 l.yearly.

"Antwerp exports to Germany precious stones and pearls, spices,drugs, saffron, sugars, English cloths, as a rare and curiousarticle, bearing a high price: Flemish cloth, more common and not sovaluable as English, serges, tapestry, a very large quantity of linenand mercery, or small wares of all sorts: from Germany, Antwerpreceives by land carriage, silver, bullion, quicksilver, immensequantities of copper, Hessian wool, very fine, glass, fustians of ahigh 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 ofall sorts, to a great amount; arms; Rhenish wine, of whichGuicciardini speaks in the highest terms, as good for the health, andnot affecting either the head or the stomach, though drunk in verylarge quantities:--of this wine 40,000 tuns were brought to Antwerpannually, which, at thirty-six crowns per tun, amounted to 1,444,000crowns."

"To Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Eastland, Livonia, and Poland,Antwerp exports vast quantities of spices, drugs, saffron, sugar,salt, English and Flemish cloths, fustians, linens, wrought silks,gold stuffs, tapestries, precious stones, Spanish and other wines,alum, Brazil wood, merceries, and household goods. From thesecountries, particularly from Eastland and Poland, that is, thecountries on the south shore of the Baltic, Antwerp receives wheatand rye to a large amount; iron, copper, brass, saltpetre, dye-woods,vitriol, flax, honey, wax, pitch, tar, sulphur, pot-ashes, skins andfurs, leather, timber for ship building, and other purposes; beer, inhigh repute; salt meat; salted, dryed, and smoked fish; amber ingreat quantities, &c."

"To France, Antwerp sends precious stones, quicksilver, silverbullion, copper and brass, wrought and unwrought, lead, tin,vermillion; azure, blue, and crimson colours, sulphur; saltpetre,vitriol, camblets, and Turkey grograms, English and Flemish cloths,great quantities of fine linen, tapestry, leather, peltry, wax,madder, cotton, dried fish, salt fish, &c. Antwerp receives herreturns from France, partly by land and partly by sea. By sea, saltto the annual value of 180,000 crowns; fine woad of Thoulouse, to thevalue annually of 300,000 crowns; immense quantities of canvass andstrong linen, from Bretagne and Normandy; about 40,000 tuns ofexcellent red and white wines, at about twenty-five crowns per tun;saffron; syrup, or sugar, or perhaps capillaire; turpentine, pitch,paper of all kinds in great quantities, prunes, Brazil wood, &c.&c. By land, Antwerp receives many curious and valuable gilt andgold articles, and trinkets; very fine cloth, the manufacture ofRouen, Peris, Tours, Champagne, &c.; the threads of Lyons, inhigh repute; excellent verdigrise from Montpelier, merceries,&c."

"To England, Antwerp exports jewels and precious stones, silverbullion, quicksilver, wrought silks, cloth of gold and silver, goldand silver thread, camblets, grograms, spices, drugs, sugar, cotton,cinnamon, galls, linens, serges, tapestry, madder, hops in greatquantities, glass, salt fish, small wares made of metal and wood,arms, ammunition, and household furniture. From England, Antwerpimports immense quantities of fine and coarse woollen goods; thefinest wool; excellent saffron, but in small quantities; a greatquantity of lead and tin; sheep and rabbit skins, and other kinds offine peltry and leather; beer, cheese, and other sorts of provisions,in great quantities; also Malmsey wines, which the English importfrom Candia."

Guicciardini observes, that Antwerp exported but little toScotland, as that country was principally supplied from England andFrance: some spiceries, sugars, madder, wrought silks, camblets,serges, linen, and merceries, are exported. In return, Antwerpreceived from Scotland vast quantities of peltry of various kinds,leather, wool, cloth of coarse quality, fine large pearls, but not ofquite so good a water as the oriental pearls.

The exports to Ireland were nearly the same as to Scotland: thereturns were skins and leather, some low-priced cloths, and othercoarse and common articles of little value.

The exports to Spain consisted chiefly of copper, brass, andlatten, wrought and unwrought; tin, lead; much woollen cloth, bothFlemish and English; serges, tapestry, linens, flax-thread, wax,pitch, madder, tallow, sulphur, wheat, rye, salted meat and fish,butter, cheese, merceries, silver bullion and wrought, arms,ammunition, furniture, tools; and every thing also, he adds, producedby human industry and labour, to which the lower classes in Spainhave 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,taffeties, salt, alum, orchil, fine wool, iron, cordovan leather,wines, oils, vinegar, honey, molasses, Arabian gums, soap; fruits,both moist and dried, in vast quantities, and sugar from theCanaries.

The exports to Portugal were silver bullion, quicksilver,vermilion, copper, brass, and latten; lead, tin, arms, artillery andammunition; gold and silver thread, and most of the other articlessent to Spain. From Portugal, Antwerp received pearls and preciousstones, gold, spices, to the value of above a million of crownsannually; drugs, amber, musk, civet, great quantities of ivory,aloes, rhubarb, cotton, China root, (then and even lately much usedin 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 islandsbelonging to the Portuguese on the African coast; Brazil wood, Guineagrains, and other drugs from the west coast of Africa; Madeira sugarand 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, merceries,metals, &c.; and received from it sugar, azure or anil, gums,coloquintida, leather, peltry, and fine feathers.

From this sketch of the commerce of Antwerp, when it was at itsheight, we see, that it embraced the whole commerce of the world: andthat in it centered all the commodities supplied by Asia, America,Africa, and the south of Europe on the one hand, and England, theBaltic countries, Germany, and France on the other. The account givenby Guicciardini is confirmed by Wheeler, who wrote in 1601. Heobserves, that a little before the troubles in the Low Countries, thepeople of Antwerp were the greatest traders to Italy in English andother foreign merchandize; and also to Alexandria, Cyprus, andTripoli in Syria; "beating the Italians, English, and Germans, almostentirely out of that trade, as they also soon did the Germans in thefairs of their own country." He adds, that the Antwerp merchants,being men of immense wealth, and consequently able to supply Spainfor the Indies at long credit, set their own prices on theirmerchandize. Antwerp also supplied Germany, Spain, Portugal, andEastland with the wares, which France was wont to supply them. Headds, "It is not past eighty years ago, (that would be about 1520,)since there were not, in London, above twelve or sixteen Low Countrymerchants, who imported only stone pots, brushes, toys for children,and other pedlar's wares; but in less than forty years after, therewere, in London, at least one hundred Netherland merchants, whobrought thither all the commodities which the merchants of Italy,Germany, Spain, France, and Eastland, (of all which nations therewere, before that time, divers famous and notable rich merchants andcompanies,) used to bring into England out of their own countrydirectly, to the great damage of the said strangers, and of thenatural born English merchants."

Guicciardini informs us, that in his time the port of Armuyden, inthe island of Walcheren, was the place of rendezvous for the shippingof Antwerp: in it have often been seen 500 large ships lying at onetime, bound to, or returning from distant parts of the world. Headds, that it was no uncommon thing for 500 ships to come and go inone day; that 10,000 carts were constantly employed in carryingmerchandize to and from the neighbouring countries, besides hundredsof waggons daily coming and going with passengers; and 500 coachesused by people of distinction. In his enumeration of the principaltrades, it is curious that there were ninety-two fishmongers, andonly seventy-eight butchers; there were 124 goldsmiths, who, it mustbe recollected, at that time acted as bankers, or rather exchangersof money. The number of houses was 13,500. With respect to theshipping, which, according to this author, were so numerous at theport of Antwerp, comparatively few of them belonged to this city, asmost of its commerce was carried on by ships of foreign nations.

This circ*mstance, of its having but few ships of its own, may beregarded as one cause why, when it was taken and plundered by theSpaniards in the year 1585, it could not recover its former commerce,as the shipping removed with the nations they belonged to. The fortswhich the Dutch built in the Scheldt were, however, another and avery powerful cause. The trade of Holland rose on the fall ofAntwerp, and settled principally at Amsterdam; this city had indeedbecome considerable after the decline of the Hanseatic confederacy;but was not renowned for its commerce till the destruction ofAntwerp. The commerce of Holland was extended and supported by itsfisheries, and the manufactures of Flanders and the adjoiningprovinces, which in their turn received support from its commerce.Guicciardini informs us, that there were in the Netherlands, in timeof peace, 700 busses and boats employed in the herring fishery: eachmade three voyages in the season, and on an average during thatperiod, caught seventy lasts of herring, each last containing twelvebarrels of 9OO or 1000 herrings each barrel; the price of a last wasusually about 6£. sterling: the total amount of one year'sfishery, was about 294,000£. sterling. About sixty years afterthis time, according to Sir Walter Raleigh, the cod and ling fisheryof Friesland, Holland, Zealand, and Flanders, (the provinces includedby Guicciardini in the maritime Netherlands) brought in100,000£. annually: and the salmon-fishing of Holland andZealand nearly half that sum.

The woollen manufactures of the Netherlands had, about the timethat Guicciardini wrote, been rivalled by those of England: yet hesays, that, though their wool was very coarse, above 12,000 pieces ofcloth were made at each of the following places; Amsterdam,Bois-le-duc, Delft, Haarlem, and Leyden. Woollen manufactures werecarried on also at other places, besides taffeties and tapestries.Lisle is particularised by him as next in commercial importance toAntwerp and Amsterdam. Bois-le-duc seems to have been the seat of agreat variety of manufactures; for besides woollen cloth, 20,000pieces of linen, worth, on an average, ten crowns each, were annuallymade; and likewise great quantities of knives, fine pins, mercery,&c. By the taking of Antwerp, the Spanish or Catholic Netherlandslost their trade and manufactures, great part of which, as we havealready observed, settled in the United Provinces, while theremainder passed into England and other foreign countries.

The destruction of the Hanseatic league, which benefitedAmsterdam, seems also to have been of service to the other northernprovinces of the Netherlands: for in 1510, we are informed byMeursius, in his History of Denmark, there was at one time a fleet of250 Dutch merchant ships in the Baltic: if this be correct, the Dutchtrade to the countries on this sea must have been very great. Thecirc*mstance of the Dutch, even before their revolt from Spain,carrying on a great trade, especially to the Baltic, is confirmed byGuicciardini; according to him, about the year 1559, they broughtannually from Denmark, Eastland, Livonia, and Poland, 60,000 lasts ofgrain, chiefly rye, worth 560,000 l. Flemish. They had above800 ships from 200 to 700 tons burden: fleets of 300 ships arrivedtwice a year from Dantzic and Livonia at Amsterdam, where there wereoften seeing lying at the same time 500 vessels, most of thembelonging to it. He mentions Veer in Zealand (Campveer) as at thattime being the staple port for all the Scotch shipping, and owing itsprincipal commerce to that circ*mstance.

The destruction of Antwerp brought to Amsterdam, along with otherbranches of commerce, the valuable trade which the former city hadwith Portugal for the produce and manufactures of India; these theDutch merchants resold to all the nations of the north. As soon,however, as Philip II. had obtained possession of the throne ofPortugal in 1580, he put a stop to all further commerce betweenLisbon and the Dutch. The latter, having tasted the sweets of thiscommerce, resolved to attempt a direct trade to India. We havealready mentioned the voyages of Barentz in search of a north-eastpassage; these proving unsuccessful, the Dutch began to despair ofreaching India, except by the Cape of Good Hope; and this voyage theywere afraid to undertake, having, at this time, neither experiencedseamen nor persons acquainted with Indian commerce. A circ*mstance,however, occurred while Barentz was in search of a north-westpassage, which determined them to sail to India by the Cape. OneHoulman, a Dutchman, who had been in the Portuguese Indian service,but was then confined in Lisbon for debt, proposed to the merchantsof Rotterdam, if they could liberate him, to put them in possessionof all he knew respecting Indian commerce; his offer was accepted,and four ships were sent to India in 1594 under his command. Theadventurers met with much opposition from the Portuguese in India, sothat their voyage was not very successful or lucrative: theyreturned, however, in twenty-nine months with a small quantity ofpepper from Java, where they had formed a friendly communication withthe natives. The arrival of the Dutch in India,--the subjugation ofPortugal by Spain, which circ*mstance dispirited and weakened thePortuguese, and the greater attention which the Spaniards weredisposed to pay to their American than their Indian commerce, seem tohave been the causes which produced the ruin of the Portuguese inIndia, and the establishment of the Dutch.

The Dutch pushed their new commerce with great vigour and zeal. Inthe 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 thenatives, who had driven out the Portuguese, to establishfactories.

In consequence of a wild and ruinous spirit of speculation havingseized the Dutch merchants, the government, in 1602, formed all theseparate companies who traded to India, into one; and granted to thisextensive sovereignty over all the establishments that might beformed in that part of the world. Their charter was for twenty-oneyears: their capital was 6,600,000 guilders (or about600,000 l.) Amsterdam subscribed one half of the capital, andselected twenty directors out of sixty, to whom the whole managementof the trade was entrusted.

From this period, the Dutch Indian commerce flourished extremely:and the company, not content with having drawn away a large portionof the Portuguese trade, resolved to expel them entirely from thispart of the world. Ships fitted, either to trade or to fight, andhaving on board a great number of soldiers, were sent out within avery few years after the establishment of the company. Amboyna andthe Moluccas were first entirely wrested from the Portuguese:factories and settlements were in process of time established fromBalsora, at the mouth of the Tigris in the Persian Gulf; along thecoasts and islands of India, as far as Japan. Alliances were formedwith many of the Indian princes: and in many parts, particularly onthe coasts of Ceylon, and at Pulicat, Masulipatam, Negapatam, andother places along the coasts of Coromandel and Malabar, they werethemselves, in fact, the sovereigns. The centre of all their Indiancommerce was fixed at Batavia in Java, the greatest part of thisisland belonging to them. From this general sketch of the extent ofcountry, which was embraced, either by their power or their commerce,it is evident that the Indian trade was almost monopolized by them;and as they wisely employed part of the wealth which it produced, toestablish and defend their possessions, they soon became mostformidable in this part of the world, sending out a fleet of 40 or 50large ships, and an army of 30,000 men.

They were not, however, content, but aimed at wresting from thePortuguese almost the only trade which remained to them; viz. theirtrade with China. In this attempt they did not succeed; but in theyear 1624, they established themselves at Formosa. Soon after this,the conquest of China by the Tartars, induced or compelled an immensenumber of Chinese to leave their native country and settle inFormosa. Here they carried on a very extensive and lucrative trade;and Formosa became the principal mart of this part of Asia. Vesselsfrom China, Japan, Siam, Java, and the Philippines, filled itsharbours. Of this commerce the Dutch availed themselves, and derivedgreat wealth from it, for about forty years, when they were drivenout of the island. In 1601, the Dutch received permission to trade toJapan, but this privilege was granted under several very strictconditions, which were, however, relaxed in 1637, when theydiscovered a conspiracy of the Spaniards, the object of which was todethrone the emperor, and seize the government. The jealousy of theJapanese, however, soon revived; so that by the end of theseventeenth century, the lucrative commerce which the Dutch carriedon with this island for fine tea, porcelaine, lacquered or Japanware, silk, cotton, drugs, coral, ivory, diamonds, pearls, and otherprecious stones, gold, silver, fine copper, iron, lead, and tin; andin exchange for linen, and woollen cloths, looking-glasses, and otherglass ware; and the merchandize of India, Persia, and Arabia, wasalmost annihilated.

Before proceeding to narrate the events which arose from thearrival of the English in the East Indies, and the effects producedon the Dutch power and commerce there, by their arrival, it will beproper to take a short notice of the commerce of the Dutch to theother parts of the world. As their territories in Europe were smalland extremely populous, they were in a great measure dependent onforeign nations for the means of subsistence: in exchange for these,they had few products of their manufactures to give. The sources oftheir wealth, therefore, as well as of the means of their existence,were derived from the exchange of their India commodities, and fromtheir acting as the great carriers of Europe. From these twocirc*mstances, their cities, and especially Amsterdam, became thegreat mart of Europe: its merchants had commercial transactions to animmense amount with all parts of the world. In consequence of thevastness and extent of their commerce, they found great payments inspecie very inconvenient. Hence arose the bank of Amsterdam. It isforeign to our purpose, either to describe the nature of this bank,or to give a history of it; but its establishment, at once a proof,and the result of the immense commerce of Amsterdam, and the cause ofthat commerce becoming still more flourishing, and moreover, as theprincipal of those establishments, which have changed the characterof the commerce of Europe, could not be passed over without notice.It was formed in the year 1609.

In this year, the Dutch had extended their trade to the west coastof Africa so much, that they had about 100 ships employed in the goldcoast trade. About the same time, they formed a colony in NorthAmerica, in that province now called New York. In 1611, having formeda truce with Spain, they resolved to venture into the Mediterranean,and endeavour to partake in the lucrative trade with the Levant: forthis purpose, they sent an ambassador to Constantinople, where heconcluded a favourable treaty of commerce. But by far the mostextensive and lucrative commerce which the Dutch possessed in Europe,was in the Baltic: there they had gradually supplanted the HanseaticLeague, and by the middle of the seventeenth century, nearly all thecommodities of the countries lying on, or communicating with thissea, were supplied to the rest of Europe by the Dutch. In the year1612, they first engaged in the whale fishery at Greenland. In 1648,taking advantage of the civil troubles in England, and having by thistime acquired a powerful influence at the Russian court, theyinterfered with the trade of the English Russian Company atArchangel; and this new branch of trade they pushed with theirnational industry and perseverance, so that in 1689 they had 200factors in this place.

In the year 1621 the Dutch formed a West India Company: theirfirst objects were to reduce Brazil and Peru: in the latter they wereutterly unsuccessful. By the year 1636 they had conquered the greaterpart of the coast of Brazil: they lost no time in reaping the fruitsof this conquest: for in the space of thirteen years, they had sentthither 800 ships of war and commerce, which were valued at 4-1/2millions sterling; and had in that time taken from Spain, thensovereign of Portugal, 545 ships. In the year 1640 the Portugueseshook off the Spanish yoke, and from this event may be dated thedecline of the Dutch power in Brazil: in 1654 they were entirelyexpelled from this country.

In the year 1651, they colonized the Cape of Good Hope; and in thesame year, began the obstinate and bloody maritime, war betweenHolland and England. This arose principally from the navigation act,which was passed in England in 1650: its object and effect was tocurtail the commerce between England and Holland, which consistedprincipally of foreign merchandize imported into, and Englishmerchandize exported from, England in Dutch vessels. In this war, theDutch lost 700 merchant ships in the years 1652 and 1653. In 1654,peace was made. The object of the navigation act, at least so far asregarded the Dutch acting as the carriers of the English trade, seemsto have been completely answered, for in 1674, after a great frost,when the ports were open, there sailed out of the harbour ofRotterdam above 300 sail of English, Scotch, and Irish ships at onetime. The example of the English being followed by the nations of thenorth, the Dutch carrying trade was very much reduced. Between theyears 1651 and 1672, when Holland was overrun by the French, theircommerce seems to have reached the greatest extent, which it attainedin the seventeenth century; and perhaps, at no subsequent period, didit flourish so much. De Witt estimates the increase of their commerceand navigation from the peace with Spain in 1648 to the year 1669, tobe fully one-half. He adds, that during the war with Holland, Spainlost the greater part of her naval power: that since the peace withSpain, the Dutch had obtained most of the trade to that country,which had been previously carried on by the Easterlings and theEnglish;--that all the coasts of Spain were chiefly navigated byDutch shipping: that Spain had even been forced to hire Dutch shipsto sail to her American possessions; and that so great was theexportation of goods from Holland to Spain, that all the merchandizebrought from the Spanish West Indies, was not sufficient to makereturns for them.

The same author informs us, that in the province of Holland alone,in 1669, the herring and cod fisheries employed above one thousandbusses, from twenty-four to thirty lasts each; and above 170 smallerones: that the whale fishery was increased from one to ten; that thecod and herring, when caught, were transported by the Hollanders intheir own vessels throughout the world; thus obtaining, by means ofthe sea alone, through their own industry, above 300,000 lasts ofsalt fish.

As the Dutch commerce was decidedly and undoubtedly more extensivethan that of all the rest of Europe, about the middle of theseventeenth century, it may be proper, before we conclude our noticeof it at this time, to consider briefly the causes which cherished itinto such full growth and vigour. These causes are explained in avery judicious and satisfactory manner by Sir William Temple, in hisobservations on the Netherlands. He remarks, that though theterritory of the Dutch was very small, and though they laboured undermany natural disadvantages, yet their commerce was immense; and itwas generally esteemed that they had more shipping belonging to themthan there did to all the rest of Europe.

They had no native commodities towards the building or equippingtheir ships; their flax, hemp, pitch, wood, and iron, coming all fromabroad, as wool does for clothing their men, and corn for feedingthem. The only productions or manufactures of their own, which theyexported, were butter, cheese, and earthern wares. They have no goodharbours in all their coast; even Amsterdam is difficult of approach,from the dangerous entrance of the Texel, and the shallowness of theZuider Zee.

What then were the causes which, in spite of these disadvantages,rendered Holland so commercial? In the first place, great multitudesin small compass, who were forced to industry and labour, or else towant. In the second place, the emigration of men of industry, skill,and capital, driven into Holland from Germany, France, and England,by persecution and civil wars. In the third place, the security toproperty established by the government of the United States; and akinto this, general liberty of conscience in religious matters. Thegreat fairs in the Netherlands may be regarded as another cause.These Sir W. Temple regards as the principal causes of the foundationof their trade. He next enquires into the chief advancers andencouragers of trade in that country.

These he considers to have been low interest, which caused moneyto be easily obtained, not only for the purposes of commerce, butalso to make canals, bridges, &c. and to drain marshes. The useof their banks, which secures money, and makes all payments easy andtrade quick,--the sale by registry, which makes all purchasessafe,--the severity of justice, especially with regard to forgingbills,--the convoys of merchant ships, which gives trade security,the nation credit abroad, and breeds up seamen,--the lowness of theircustom duties and freedom of their ports, which rendered their citiesmagazines as well as markets,--order and exactness in managing theirtrade,--each town affecting some particular commerce or staple, andso improving it to the greatest height; as Flushing, the West Indiatrade; Middleburgh, French wines; Terveer, the Scotch staple; Dort,the English staple and Rhenish wines; Rotterdam, the English andScotch trade at large, and French wines; Leyden, the manufacture ofall sorts of stuffs, silk, hair, gold, and silver; Haerlem, linen,mixed stuffs, and flowers; Delft, beer and earthen ware; Swaardam,ship building; Sluys, herring fishery; Friezeland, the Greenlandtrade; and Amsterdam, the East India, Spanish, and Mediterraneantrade. Sir W. Temple mentions other two causes, the great applicationof the whole province to the fishing trade, and the mighty advancethe Dutch made towards engrossing the whole commerce of the EastIndies. "The stock of this trade," he observes, "besides what itturns to in France, Spain, Italy, the Straits, and Germany, makesthem so great masters in the trade of the northern parts of Europe,as Muscovy, Poland, Pomerania, and all the Baltic, where the spices,that are an Indian drug and European luxury, command all thecommodities of those countries which are so necessary to life, astheir corn; and to navigation, as hemp, pitch, masts, planks, andiron."

The next question that Sir William Temple discusses is, what arethe causes which made the trade of Holland enrich it? for, as heremarks, "it is no constant rule that trade makes riches. The onlyand certain scale of riches arising from trade in a nation is, theproportion of what is exported for the consumption of others, to whatis imported for their own. The true ground of this proportion lies inthe general industry and parsimony of a people, or in the contrary ofboth." But the Dutch being industrious, and consequently producingmuch,--and parsimonious, and consequently consuming little, have muchleft for exportation. Hence, never any country traded so much andconsumed so little. "They buy infinitely, but it is to sell again.They are the great masters of the Indian spices, and of the Persiansilks, but wear plain woollen, and feed upon their own fish androots. Nay, they sell the finest of their own cloth to France, andbuy coarse out of England for their own wear. They send abroad thebest of their own butter into all parts, and buy the cheapest out ofIreland or the north of England for their own use. In short, theyfurnish infinite luxury which they never practise, and traffic inpleasures which they never taste." "The whole body of the civilmagistrates, the merchants, the rich traders, citizens, seamen andboors in general, never change the fashion of their cloaths; so thatmen leave off their cloaths only because they are worn out, and notbecause they are out of fashion. Their great consumption is Frenchwine and brandy; but what they spend in wine they save in corn, tomake other drinks, which is brought from foreign parts. Thus ithappens, that much going constantly out, either in commodity or inthe labour of seafaring men, and little coming in to be consumed athome, the rest returns in coin, and fills the country to that degree,that more silver is seen in Holland, among the common hands andpurses, than brass either in Spain or in France; though one be sorich in the best native commodities, and the other drain all thetreasures of the West Indies." (Sir W. Temple's Observations on theNetherlands, Chapter VI.)

Having thus sketched the progress and nature of Dutch commerce,during that period when it was at its greatest height, and broughtour account of it down to the commencement of the eighteenth century,we shall next proceed to consider the English commerce from the timeof the discovery of the Cape and America, till the beginning of thesame century.

From the sketch we have already given of English commerce prior tothe end of the fifteenth century, it is evident that it was of verytrifling extent and amount, being confined chiefly to a few articlesof raw produce, and to some woollen goods. The improvement of thewoollen manufacture, the establishment of corporations, and thesettlement of foreign merchants, as well as the gradual advancementof the English in the civilization, skill, and industry of theage,--in the wants which the first occasions, and in the means tosupply those wants afforded by the two latter,--these are the obviousand natural causes which tended to improve English commerce. But itsprogress was slow and gradual, and confined for a long time tocountries near at hand; it afterwards ventured to a greater distance.Companies of merchant adventurers were formed, who could command agreater capital than any individual merchant. Of the nature andextent of their foreign commerce at the close of the fifteenthcentury we are informed by an act of parliament, passed in the 12Hen. VII. (1497.)

From this act it appears, that England traded at this time withSpain, Portugal, Bretagne, Ireland, Normandy, France, Seville,Venice, Dantzic, Eastland, Friesland, and many other parts. Thewoollen cloth of England is particularly specified as one of thegreatest articles of commerce. In a licence granted by Henry VII. tothe Venetians, to buy and sell at London, and elsewhere in England,Ireland, and Calais, woollen cloth, lead, tin, and leather, areenumerated as the chief exports. From this document it also appears,that there resided in or traded to England, the following foreignmerchants: Genoese, Florentines, Luccans, Spaniards, Portuguese,Flemings, Hollanders, Brabanters, Burgundians, German, Hanseatic,Lombards, and Easterlings.

From these two documents, the nature and extent of Englishcommerce at this period may be inferred: its exports were sent as farnorth as the southern countries of the Baltic, and to all the rest ofEurope, as far south and east as Venice; but this export trade, aswell as the import, seems to have been almost entirely carried on byforeign capital and ships; the merchant adventurers having yetventured very little from home.

In 1511, English commerce, in English ships, extended into theLevant, chiefly from London, Bristol, and Southampton. Chios, whichwas still in the possession of the Genoese, was the port to whichthey traded. This branch of trade flourished so much in a few years,that in 1513 a consul, or protector of all the merchants and otherEnglish subjects in Chios, was appointed. The voyages were graduallylengthened, and reached Cyprus, and Tripoli, in Syria. The exportswere woollen goods, calf-skins, &c.; and the imports were silks,camblets, rhubarb, malmsey, muscadel, and other wines: oils, cottonwool, Turkey carpets, galls, and Indian spices. The commerce was in asmall degree carried on by English ships, but chiefly by those ofCandia, Ragusa, Sicily, Genoa, Venice, Spain, and Portugal. Thevoyages to and from England occupied a year, and were deemed verydifficult and dangerous. So long as Chios remained in the possessionof the Genoese, and Candia in that of the Venetians, England tradedwith these islands; but ceased to trade when the Turks conqueredthem. From 1553, to 1575, the Levant commerce was quite discontinuedby England, though during that period, the French, Genoese,Venetians, and Florentines, continued it, and had consuls atConstantinople.

The small and temporary trade with the Genoese and Venetianpossessions in the Levant, seems to have been attended with suchprofit, and to have opened up such further prospects of advantage, asto have given rise to a direct trade with Turkey, and the formationof the Turkey Company. The enlightened ministers of Elizabetheffected these objects: they first sent out an English merchant tothe Sultan, who obtained for his countrymen all the commercialadvantages enjoyed by the Venetians, French, Germans, and Poles. Twoyears afterwards, in 1581, the Turkey Company was established. SirWilliam Monson, in his Naval Tracts, assigns the following as thecauses and reasons why England did not sooner embark in the Turkeytrade for Persian and Indian merchandize: 1. That there was notsufficient shipping; 2. the hostility of the Turks; and, lastly,England was supplied with Levant goods by the Venetian ships, whichcame annually to Southampton. He adds, "the last argosser that camethus from Venice was unfortunately lost near the isle of Wight, witha rich cargo, and many passengers, in the year 1587." The TurkeyCompany carried on their concern with so much spirit, that the queenpublicly thanked them, with many encouragements to go forward for thekingdom's sake: she particularly commended them for the ships theythen built of so great burden. The commodities of Greece, Syria,Egypt, Persia, and India, were now brought into England in greaterabundance, and sold much cheaper than formerly, and yet the returnsof this trade are said to have been, at its commencement, three toone.

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 variousdirections; and any special causes which may have given vigour to itsgrowth, or have retarded it. In conformity with this plan, we shallonly notice some of the more marked and important eras of our Levanttrade, prior to the commencement of the eighteenth century. The tradeto the Levant, in its infancy, like all other trades, at a time whenthere was little capital and commercial knowledge, required theformation of a company which should possess exclusive privileges.Charters were granted to such a company for a term of years, andrenewed by Elizabeth. In 1605 king James gave a perpetual charter tothe Levant Company: the trade was carried on with encreasing vigourand success: our woollen manufactures found a more extensive market:the Venetians, who had for many years supplied Constantinople andother ports of the Levant, were driven from their markets by theEnglish, who could afford to sell them cloths cheaper; and Englishships began to be preferred to those of Venice and other nations, forthe carrying trade in the Mediterranean. According to Sir W. Monson,England exported broad cloth, tin, &c. enough to purchase all thewares we wanted in Turkey; and, in particular, 300 great bales ofPersian raw silk yearly: "whereas a balance of money is paid by theother nations trading thither. Marseilles sends yearly to Aleppo andAlexandria at least 500,000 l. sterling, and little or nowares. Venice sends about 400,000 l. in money, and a greatvalue in wares besides: the Low Countries send about 50,000 l.,and but little wares; and Messina 25,000 l. in ready money:besides great quantities of gold and dollars from Germany, Poland,Hungary, &c.; and all these nations take of the Turks in returngreat quantities of camblets, grograms, raw silk, cotton wool andyarn, galls, flax, hemp, rice, hides, sheep's wool, wax, corn,&c."

The first check which the Levant trade received was given by theEast India Company: about the year 1670 the Levant Company complainedthat their trade in raw silk was much diminished; they had formerlyimported it solely from Turkey, whereas then it was imported in greatquantities direct from India. In 1681, the complaints of the onecompany, and the defence of the other, were heard before the PrivyCouncil. The Levant Company alleged, that for upwards of one hundredyears they had exported to Turkey and other parts of the Levant,great qualities of woollen manufactures, and other English wares, anddid then, more especially, carry out thither to the value of500,000 l; in return for which they imported raw silks, galls,grograms, drugs, cotton, &c.; whereas the East India Companyexported principally gold and silver bullion, with an inconsiderablequantity of cloth; and imported calicoes, pepper, wrought silks, anda deceitful sort of raw silk; if the latter supplants Turkey rawsilk, the Turkey demand for English cloth must fail, as Turkey doesnot yield a sufficient quantity of other merchandize to return forone fourth part of our manufactures carried thither.

The East India Company, on the other hand, alleged that the cloththey exported was finer and more valuable than that exported by theTurkey Company, and that, if they were rightly informed, the mediumof cloths exported by that company, for the last three years, wasonly 19,000 cloths yearly: it is admitted, however, that before therewas any trade to China and Japan, the Turkey Company's exportation ofcloth did much exceed that of the East India Company. With respect tothe charge of exporting bullion, it was alleged that the TurkeyCompany also export it to purchase the raw silk in Turkey. The EastIndia Company further contended, that since their importation of rawsilk, the English silk manufacturers had much encreased, and that theplain wrought silks from India were the strongest, most durable, andcheapest of any, and were generally re-exported from England toforeign parts.

We have been thus particular in detailing this dispute betweenthese companies, partly because it points out the state of the LevantCompany and their commerce, at the close of the seventeenth century,but principally because it unfolds one of the principal causes oftheir decline; for, though some little notice of it will afterwardsoccur, yet its efforts were feeble, and its success diminished,chiefly by the rivalry of the East India Company.

The Levant trade, as we have seen, was gradually obtained by theEnglish from the hands of the Venetians and other foreign powers. Thetrade we are next to notice was purely of English origin andgrowth;--we allude to the trade between England and Russia, whichbegan about the middle of the sixteenth century. The discovery ofArchangel took place, as we have already related, in 1553.Chanceller, who discovered it, obtained considerable commercialprivileges from the Czar for his countrymen. In 1554, a RussianCompany was established; but before their charter, the Britishmerchants had engaged in the Russian trade. The first efforts of thecompany seem to have been confined to attempts to discover anorth-east passage. Finding these unsuccessful, they turned theirattention to commerce: they fortunately possessed a very enterprisingman, peculiarly calculated to foster and strengthen an infant trade,who acted as their agent. He first set on foot, in 1558, a newchannel of trade through Russia into Persia, for raw silk, &c. Inthe course of his commercial enquiries and transactions, he saileddown the Volga to Nisi, Novogorod, Casan, and Astracan, and thenceacross the Caspian Sea to Persia. He mentions that, at Boghar, whichhe describes as a good city, he found merchants from India, Persia,Russia, and Cathay,--from which last country it was a nine monthsjourney to Boghar. He performed his journey seven different times. Itappears, however, that this channel of trade was soon afterwardsabandoned, till 1741, when it was resumed for a very short time,during which considerable quantities of raw silk were brought toEngland by the route followed by the Russian agent in the sixteenthcentury. The cause of this abandonment during the sixteenth centuryseems to have been the length and danger of the route; for we areinformed that one of the adventures would have proved exceedinglyprofitable, had not their ships, on their return across the Caspian,with Persian raw silk, wrought silks of many kinds, galls, carpets,Indian spices, turquois stones, &c., been plundered by Corsairpirates, to the value of about 40,000 l. The final abandonmentof this route, in the eighteenth century, arose partly from the warsin Persia, but principally from the extension of India commerce,which being direct and by sea, would, of course supply England muchmore cheaply with all eastern goods than any land trade. Beside thedelay, difficulty, and danger of the route from the Volga, alreadydescribed, the route followed in the sixteenth century, till themerchants reached the Volga, was attended with great difficulty. Thepractice was to transport the English goods, which were to beexchanged, in canoes, up the Dwina, from Archangel to Vologda, thenceover land, in seven days, to Jeroslau, and thence down the Volga, inthirty days, to Astracan.

The Russians having conquered Narva, in Livonia in 1558, the firstplace they possessed in the Baltic, and having established it as astaple port, the following year, according to Milton, in his briefhistory of Muscovia, the English began to trade to it, "the Lubeckersand Dantzickers having till then concealed that trade from othernations." The other branches of the Baltic trade also encreased; forit appears by a charter granted by Elizabeth, in 1579, to an EastlandCompany, that trade was carried on between England and Norway,Sweden, Poland, Lithuania, Prussia, Pomerania, Dantzic, Elbing,Konigsberg, Copenhagen, Elsinore, and Finland. This company wasestablished in opposition to the Hanseatic merchants; and it seems tohave attained its object; for these merchants complained to the Dietof the Empire against England, alleging, that of the 200,000 clothsyearly exported thence, three-fourths went into Denmark, Sweden,Poland, and Germany; the other fourth being sent to the Netherlandsand France.

It was not to be supposed that our commerce with Archangel andNarva would long remain without a rival. The Dutch, aware of itsimportance, prevented by their influence or presents, the Czar fromrenewing the Russian Company's privileges. As this trade was becomemore extensive, and carried off, besides woollen goods, silks,velvets, coarse linen cloth, old silver plate, all kinds of mercerywares, serving for the apparel of both sexes, purses, knives, &c.Elizabeth used her efforts to re-establish the company on its formerfooting; and a new Czar mounting the throne, she was successful.

The frequent voyages of the English to the White Sea made themacquainted with Cherry Island, of which they took possession, andwhere they carried on for a short time the capture of morses: theteeth of these were regarded as nearly equal in quality and value toivory, and consequently afforded a lucrative trade; oil was alsoobtained from these animals. Lead ore is said to have been discoveredin this island, of which thirty tons were brought to England in 1606.The Russian Company, however, soon gave up the morse fishery for thatof whales. They also carried on a considerable trade with Kola, atown in Russian Lapland, for fish oil and salmon: of the latter theysometimes brought to England 10,000 at one time. But in this tradethe Dutch likewise interfered.

The fishery for whales near Spitzbergen was first undertaken bythe company in 1597. In 1613, they obtained from King James anexclusive charter for this fishery; and under this, fitting out armedships, they expelled fifteen sail of French, Dutch, and Biscayners,besides some private English ships. But the Dutch persevered, so thatnext year, while the Russian Company had only thirteen ships at thewhale fishery, the former had eighteen. The success of their whalefishery seems to have led to the neglect of their Russian trade, for,in 1615, only two vessels were employed in it, instead of seventeengreat ships formerly employed. From this period, the commerce carriedon between Russia and England, by the Russian Company, seemsgradually to have declined.

The commerce between England and the other parts of Europe, duringthe sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, presents little that callsfor notice; as the manufactures and capital of England encreased, itgradually encreased, and was transferred from foreign to Englishvessels. The exports consisted principally of woollen goods, preparedskins, earthen-ware, and metals. The imports of linens, silks, paper,wines, brandy, fruits, dye-stuffs, and drugs. The woollen cloths ofEngland were indeed the staple export to all parts of England duringthe whole of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: as our cotton,earthen-ware, and iron manufactures sprung up and encreased, theysupplied other articles of export;--our imports, at first confined toa few articles, afterwards encreased in number and value, inproportion as our encreased industry, capital, and skill, enlargedour produce and manufactures, and thus enabled us to purchase andconsume more. A very remarkable instance of the effect of skill,capital, and industry, is mentioned by Mr. Lewis, a merchant, whopublished a work entitled, The Merchant's Map of Commerce, in1641. "The town of Manchester," he says, "buys the linen yarn of theIrish in great quantity, and, weaving it, returns the same again, inlinen, into Ireland to sell. Neither doth her industry rest here, forthey buy cotton wool in London, that comes first from Cyprus andSmyrna, and work the same into fustians, vermilions, dimities,&c., which they return to London, where they are sold, and fromthence not seldom are sent into such foreign parts where the firstmaterials may be more easily had for that manufacture." How similarare these two instances to that which has occurred in our own days,when the cotton-wool, brought from the East Indies, has been returnedthither after having been manufactured, and sold there cheaper thanthe native manufactures.

But though there are no particulars relative to the commercebetween England and Europe, which call for our notice, as exhibitingany thing beyond the gradual extension of commercial intercoursealready established; yet in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,there were other commercial intercourses into which England entered,that deserve attention. These may be classed under three heads: thetrade to Africa, to America, and India.

I. The trade to Africa.--The first notice of any trade betweenEngland and Africa occurs in the year 1526, when some merchants ofBristol, which, at this period, was undoubtedly one of our mostenterprising cities, traded by means of Spanish ships to theCanaries. Their exports were cloth, soap, for the manufacture ofwhich, even at this early period, Bristol was celebrated, and someother articles. They imported drugs for dyeing, sugar, and kid skins.This branch of commerce answering, the Bristol merchants sent theirfactors thither from Spain. The coast of Africa was, at this period,monopolized by the Portuguese. In 1530, however, an English ship madea voyage to Guinea for elephants' teeth: the voyage was repeated; andin 1536, above one hundred pounds weight of gold dust, besideselephants' teeth, was imported in one ship. A few years afterwards, atrade was opened with the Mediterranean coast of Africa, three shipssailing from Bristol to Barbary with linens, woollen cloth, coral,amber, and jet; and bringing back sugar, dates, almonds, andmolasses. The voyages to Guinea from the ports of the south andsouthwest of England, particularly Portsmouth, Plymouth, and Bristol,were frequently repeated: the returns were uniformly gold dust andelephants' teeth. But it does not appear that other ports followedthe example of these, that these sent many ships, or that thecommerce became very regular and lucrative, till the west coast ofAfrica was resorted to for slaves.

This infamous trade was first entered upon by the English in theyear 1562. Mr. John Hawkins, with several other merchants, havinglearnt that negroes were a good commodity in Hispaniola, fitted outthree ships, the largest 120, the smallest forty tons, for the coastof Guinea. Here they bought slaves, which they sold in Hispaniola forhides, sugar, ginger, and pearls. The other branches of the Africantrade continued to flourish. In 1577, English merchants were settledin Morocco; Spanish, Portuguese, and French merchants had beensettled there before. In this year, Elizabeth, always attentive towhatever would benefit commerce, sent an ambassador to the Emperor ofMorocco, who obtained some commercial privileges for the English. In1588, the first voyage to Benin was made from London, by a ship and apinnace: in 1590, a second voyage was made from the same port withthe same vessels. Their exports were linen, woollen cloths, ironmanufactures, 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 oftrees.

An African Company had been formed in Elizabeth's reign; butneither this, nor two others succeeded; their ruin was occasioned bywar, misconduct, and the interference of what were calledinterlopers. In 1672, a fourth company was established, whose effortsat first seem to have been great and successful. They bought theforts the former companies had erected on the west coast: instead ofmaking up their assortments of goods for export in Holland, as theformer companies had been obliged to do, they introduced into Englandthe making of sundry kinds of woollen goods not previouslymanufactured. They imported large quantities of gold dust, out ofwhich 50,000 guineas were first coined in one year, 1673. Their otherimports were red wood for dyes, elephants' teeth, wax, honey, &c.The value of the English goods exported to them averaged annually70,000 l. This company was broken up at the Revolution.

II. Though the Portuguese and Spaniards were very jealous of theinterference of any nation with their East India commerce; yet theywere comparatively easy and relaxed with regard to their Americanpossessions. Accordingly, we find that, in 1530, there was somelittle trade between England and Brazil: this is the first notice wecan trace of any commercial intercourse between this country and theNew World. The first voyage was from Plymouth: in 1540 and 1542 themerchants of Southampton and London also traded to Brazil. We are notinformed what were the goods imported; but most probably they wereBrazil wood, sugar, and cotton. The trade continued till 1580, whenSpain, 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. Lawrencefor morse and whale fishing. This is the first mention of the latterfishery, or of whale fins, or whale bones by the English. They couldnot 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 wreckedhere.

In 1602, the English had suspended all intercourse with Americafor sixteen years, in consequence of the unsuccessful attempts ofRaleigh. But, at this time, the intercourse was renewed: a shipsailed to Virginia, the name then given to the greater part of theeast coast of North America; and a traffic was carried on with theIndians for peltry, sassafras, cedar wood, &c. Captain Gosnol,who commanded this vessel, was a man of considerable skill in hisprofession, and he is said to have been the first Englishman whosailed directly to North America, and not, as before, by thecircuitous course of the West Indies and the Gulf of Florida. In thesubsequent year there was some traffic carried on with the Indians ofthe continent, and some of the uncolonized West India islands.

Prior to the year 1606 several attempts had been made to colonizedifferent parts of the new world by the English, but they all provedabortive. In this year, however, a permanent settlement wasestablished near James River, within the Chesapeake. It is not ourplan to detail all the particular settlements, or their progress tomaturity; but merely to point out the beginnings of them, as evidenceof our extending commerce, and to state such proofs as moststrikingly display their improvement and the advantages the mothercountry derived from them. In conformity with this plan, we maymention that sugar plantations were first formed in Barbadoes in1641: this, as Mr. Anderson, in his History of Commerce, justlyobserves, "greatly hastened the improvement of our other islands,which soon afterwards followed it in planting sugar to very greatadvantage. And, as it was impossible to manage the planting of thatcommodity by white people in so hot a climate, so neither couldsufficient numbers of such be had at any rate. Necessity, therefore,and the example of Portugal gave birth to the negro slave trade tothe coast of Guinea and it is almost needless to add, that such greatnumbers of slaves, and also the increase of white people in thoseislands, soon created a vast demand for all necessaries from England,and also a new and considerable trade to Madeira for wines to supplythose islands." The immediate consequence of the spread of the sugarculture in our West India islands was, that the ports of London andBristol became the great magazines for this commodity, and suppliedall the north and middle parts of Europe; and the price of thePortuguese-Brazil sugars was reduced from 8 l. to 2 l.10s. per cwt.

The rapid growth of the English colonies on the continent and inthe islands of America, during the seventeenth century, is justlyascribed by Sir Josiah Child, to the emigration thither, occasionedby the persecution of the Puritans by James I. and Charles I.; to thedefeat of the Royalists and Scotch by Cromwell; and, lastly, to theRestoration, and the consequent disbanding of the army, and fears ofthe partizans of Cromwell. It may be added, that most of the men whowere driven to America from these causes, were admirably fitted toform new settlements, being of industrious habits, and accustomed toplain fare and hard work.

The American plantations, as they were called, increased sorapidly in commerce that, according to the last author referred to,they did, even in the year 1670, employ nearly two-thirds of all ourEnglish shipping, "and therefore gave constant sustenance, it may be,to 200,000 persons here at home." At this period New England seems tohave directed its chief attention and industry to the cod andmackerel fisheries, which had increased their ships and seamen somuch as to excite the jealousy of Sir Josiah Child, who, however,admits that what that colony took from England amounted to ten timesmore than what England took from it. The Newfoundland fishery, hesays, had declined from 250 ships in 1605, to eighty in 1670: this heascribes to the practice of eating fish alone on fast days, not beingso strictly kept by the Catholics as formerly. From Carolina, duringthe seventeenth century, England obtained vast quantities of navalstores, staves, lumber, hemp, flax, and Indian corn. About the end ofthis century, or at the very commencement of the next, the culture ofrice was introduced by the accident of a vessel from Madagascarhappening to put into Carolina, which had a little rice left; thisthe captain gave to a gentleman, who sowed it.

The colony of Virginia seems to have flourished at an earlierperiod than any of the other English colonies. In the year 1618,considerable quantities of tobacco were raised there; and it appears,by proclamations of James I. and Charles I., that no tobacco wasallowed to be imported into England, but what came from Virginia orthe Bermudas.

The colony of Pennsylvania was not settled by Pen till the year1680: he found there, however, many English families, and aconsiderable number of Dutch and Swedes. The wise regulations of Pensoon drew to him industrious settlers; but the commerce in which theyengaged did not become so considerable as to demand our notice.

III. The commercial intercourse of England with India, which hasnow grown to such extent and importance, and from which has sprungthe anomaly of merchant-sovereigns over one of the richest and mostpopulous districts of the globe, began in the reign of Elizabeth. TheEnglish Levant Company, in their attempts to extend their trade withthe East, seem first to have reached Hindostan, in 1584, with Englishmerchandize. About the same time the queen granted introductoryletters to some adventurers to the king of Cambaya; these mentravelled through Bengal to Pegu and Malacca, but do not seem to havereached China. They, however, obtained much useful informationrespecting 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 objectbeing to attack the Portuguese; and even in this respect it was veryunfortunate. A similar enterprize, undertaken in 1593, seems, by itssuccess, to have contributed very materially to the commercialintercourse between England and India; for a fleet of the queen'sships and some merchant ships having captured a very large East Indiacarrack belonging to the Spaniards or Portuguese, brought her intoDartmouth: if she excited astonishment at her size, being of theburthen of 1600 tons, with 700 men, and 36 brass cannon, she in anequal degree stimulated and enlarged the commercial desires and hopesof the English by her cargo. This consisted of the richest spices,calicoes, silks, gold, pearls, drugs, China ware, ebony wood,&c., and was valued at 150,000 l.

The increasing commercial spirit of the nation, which led it tolook forward to a regular intercourse with India, was gratified inthe first year of the seventeenth century, when the queen granted thefirst charter to an East India Company. She seems to have beendirectly led to grant this in consequence of the complaints among hersubjects of the scarcity and high price of pepper; this wasoccasioned by the monopoly of it being in the power of the Turkeymerchants and the Dutch, and from the circ*mstance that by our warwith Portugal, we could not procure any from Lisbon. The immediateand principal object of this Company, therefore, was to obtain pepperand other spices; accordingly their ships, on their first voyage,sailed to Bantam, where they took in pepper, to the Banda isles;where they took in nutmeg and mace, and to Amboyna, where they tookin cloves. On this expedition the English established a factory atBantam. In 1610, this Company having obtained a new charter fromJames I., built the largest merchant ship that had ever been built inEngland, of the burthen of 1100 tons, which with three others theysent to India. In 1612 the English factory of Surat was establishedwith the permission of the Great Mogul; this was soon regarded astheir chief station on the west coast of India. Their first factoryon the coast of Coromandel, which they formed a few years afterwards,was at Masulipatam: their great object in establishing this was toobtain more readily the cloths of Coromandel, which they found to bethe most advantageous article to exchange for pepper and otherspices. For at this time their trade with the East seems to have beenalmost entirely confined to these latter commodities. In 1613, thefirst English ship reached a part of the Japan territories, and afactory was established, through which trade was carried on with theJapanese, till the Dutch persuaded the emperor to expel all Europeansbut themselves.

The year 1614 forms an important era in the history of ourcommercial intercourse with India; for Sir Thomas Roe, whom Jamessent ambassador to the Mogul, and who remained several years at hiscourt, obtained from him important privileges for the East IndiaCompany. At this time, the following European commodities werechiefly in repute in India; knives of all kinds, toys, especiallythose of the figures of beasts, rich velvets and satins, fowlingpieces, polished ambers and beads, saddles with rich furniture,swords with fine hilts inlaid, hats, pictures, Spanish wines, clothof gold and silver, French shaggs, fine Norwich stuffs, light armour,emeralds, and other precious stones set in enamel, fine arrashangings, large looking glasses, bows and arrows, figures in brassand stone, fine cabinets, embroidered purses, needlework, Frenchtweezer cases, perfumed gloves, belts, girdles, bone lace, dogs,plumes of feathers, comb cases richly set, prints of kings, cases ofstrong waters, drinking and perspective glasses, fine basons andewers, &c. &c. In consequence of the privileges granted theEast India Company by the Mogul, and by the Zamorine of Calicut,their factories were now numerous, and spread over a large extent ofcoast.

If we may trust the controversial pamphlets on the East IndiaCompany which were published in 1615, it appears that up to this yearthey had employed only twenty-four ships; four of which had beenlost; the largest was 1293 tons, and the smallest 150. Theirprincipal imports were still pepper, cloves, mace, and nutmegs, ofwhich 615,000 lbs. were consumed in England, and the value of218,000 l. exported: the saving in the home consumption ofthese articles was estimated at 70,000 l. The other importswere indigo, calicoes, China silks, benzoin, aloes, &c. Porcelainwas first imported this year from Bantam. The exports consisted ofbays, kersies, and broad cloths, dyed and dressed, to the value of14,000 l.; lead, iron, and foreign merchandize, to the value of10,000 l.; and coin and bullion, to the value of12,000 l.; the outfit, provisions, &c. of their ships cost64,000 l.

The Dutch, who were very jealous of the successful interference ofthe English in their eastern trade, attacked them in every part ofIndia; and though a treaty was concluded between the English and theDutch East India Company, yet the treachery and cruelty of the Dutch,especially at Amboyna, and the civil wars into which England wasplunged, so injured the affairs of the English East India Company,that at the death of Charles I. its trade was almost annihilated. Onebeneficial consequence, however, resulted from the hostility of theDutch; the English, driven from their old factories, established newones at Madras and in Bengal.

Before, however, this decline of the English trade to India, wehave some curious and interesting documents relating to itparticularly, and to the effects produced on the cost of East Indiancommodities in Europe generally, by the discovery of the Cape of GoodHope. These are supplied by Mr. Munn, in a treatise he published in1621; in favour of the East India trade. We have already given thesubstance of his remarks so far as they relate to the lowering theprice of Indian commodities, but as his work is more particularlyapplicable to, and illustrative of the state of English commerce withIndia, at this time, we shall here enter into some of hisdetails.

According to them, there were six million pounds of pepperannually consumed in Europe, which used to cost, when purchased atAleppo, brought over land thither from India, at the rate of twoshillings per lb.; whereas it now cost, purchased in India, onlytwo-pence halfpenny per lb.: the consumption of cloves was 450,000lbs.; cost at Aleppo four shillings and nine-pence per lb., in Indianine-pence: the consumption of mace was 150,000 lbs.; cost at Aleppothe same per lb. as the cloves; in India it was bought at eight-penceper lb.: the consumption of nutmegs was 400,000 lbs.; the price atAleppo, two shillings and four-pence per lb.; in India onlyfour-pence; the consumption of indigo was 350,000 lbs.; the price atAleppo four shillings and four-pence per lb.; in India one andtwo-pence, and the consumption of raw silk was one million lbs., theprice of which at Aleppo was twelve shillings per lb., and in Indiaeight shillings. It will be remarked that this last article waspurchased in India, at a rate not nearly so much below its Aleppoprice as any of the other articles; pepper, on the other hand, wasmore reduced in price than any of the other articles. The total costof all the articles, when purchased at Aleppo, was 1,465,000l.; when purchased in India, 511,458 l.; the price inthe latter market, therefore, was little more than one-third of theirAleppo price. As, however, the voyage from India is longer than thatfrom Aleppo, it added, according to Mr. Munn's calculation, one-sixthto the cost of the articles beyond that of the Turkey voyage. Evenafter making this addition, Mr. Munn comes to the conclusion we haveformerly stated, "that the said wares by the Cape of Good Hope costus but about half the price which they will cost from Turkey."

Mr. Munn also gives the annual importation of the principal Indiangoods into England, by the East India Company, and the price eacharticle sold for in England; according to this table, the quantity ofpepper was 250,000 lbs., which, bought in India for twopencehalfpenny, sold in England for one shilling and eightpence:--150,000lbs. of cloves, which bought in India for ninepence, sold in Englandfor six shillings:--150,000 lbs. of nutmegs, bought for four-pence,sold for two shillings and sixpence:--50,000 lbs. of mace, bought foreightpence, sold for six shillings:--200,000 lbs. of indigo, boughtfor one shilling and twopence, sold for five shillings:--107,140 lbs.of China raw silk, bought for seven shillings, sold for twentyshillings:--and 50,000 pieces of calico, bought for seven shillings apiece, sold for twenty-six shillings.

In a third table he gives the annual consumption of the followingIndia goods, and the lowest prices at which they used to be sold,when procured from Turkey or Lisbon, before England traded directlyto India. There was consumed of pepper, 400,000 lbs., which used tobe sold at three shillings and sixpence per lb.; of cloves, 40,000,at eight shillings; of mace, 20,000, at nine shillings; of nutmegs,160,000, at four shillings and sixpence; and of indigo, 150,000, atseven shillings. The result is, that when England paid the lowestancient prices, it cost her 183,500 l. for these commodities;whereas, at the common modern prices, it costs her only108,333 l. The actual saving therefore to the people ofEngland, was not near so great as might have been expected, or as itought to have been, from a comparison of the prices at Aleppo and inIndia.

There are some other particulars in Mr. Munn's Treatise relatingto the European Trade to the East at this period, which we shallselect. Speaking of the exportation of bullion to India, he says thatthe Turks sent annually 500,000 l. merely for Persian raw silk;and 600,000 l. more for calicoes, drugs, sugar, rice, &c.:their maritime commerce was carried on from Mocha; their inland tradefrom Aleppo and Constantinople. They exported very little merchandizeto Persia or India. Marseilles supplied Turkey with a considerablepart of the bullion and money which the latter used in her trade withthe East,--sending annually to Aleppo and Alexandria, at least500,000 l. and little or no merchandize. Venice sent about400,000 l. and a great value in wares besides. Messina about25,000 l., and the low countries about 50,000 l., besidesgreat quantities of gold and dollars from Germany, Poland, Hungary,&c. With these sums were purchased either native Turkish produceand manufactures, or such goods as Turkey obtained from Persia andother parts of the East: the principal were camblets, grograms, rawsilk, cotton wool and yarn, galls, flax, hemp, rice, hides, sheeps'wool, wax, corn, &c. England, according to Mr. Munn, did notemploy much bullion, either in her Turkey or her India trade; in theformer she exported vast quantities of broad cloth, tin, &c.enough to purchase nearly all the wares she wanted in Turkey, besidesthree hundred great bales of Persian raw silk annually. In the courseof nineteen years, viz. from their establishment in 1601 to 1620, theEast India Company had exported, in woollen cloths, tin, lead, andother English and foreign wares, at an average of 15,383 l. perannum, and in the whole, 292,286 l. During the same period theyhad exported 548,090 l. in Spanish silver. The East IndiaCompany employed in 1621, according to this author, 10,000 tons ofshipping, 2500 mariners, 500 ship carpenters, and 120 factors. Theprincipal places to which, at this period, we re-exported Indiangoods, were Turkey, Genoa, Marseilles, the Netherlands, &c.; there-exportations were calculated to employ 2000 more tons of shipping,and 500 more mariners.

From a proclamation issued in 1631, against clandestine trade toand from India, we learn the different articles which might belegally exported and imported: the first were the following:perpalicanos and drapery, pewter, saffron, woollen stockings, silkstockings and garters, ribband, roses edged with silver lace, beaverhats with gold and silver bands, felt hats, strong waters, knives,Spanish leather shoes, iron, and looking glasses. There might beimported, long pepper, white pepper, white powder sugar, preservednutmegs and ginger preserved, merabolans, bezoar stones, drugs of allsorts, agate heads, blood stones, musk, aloes socratrina, ambergris,rich carpets of Persia and of Cambaya, quilts of satin taffety,painted calicoes, Benjamin, damasks, satins and taffeties of China,quilts of China embroidered with silk, galls, sugar candy, Chinadishes, and porcelain of all sorts.

Though several articles of Chinese manufacture are specified inthe proclamation, yet we have no notice of any direct trade to Chinatill nearly fifty years after this time, viz. in the year 1680. Inthis year the East India Company sent out eleven ships, including twoto China and the Moluccas; their general burden was between 500 and600 tons: in these ships there was a stock of nearly 500,000 l.Besides the articles imported from India enumerated in theproclamation of 1631, there now appear cowries, saltpetre, muslins,diamonds, &c.

In 1689 the East India Company published a state of their trade,from which it appeared that in the last seven years they had builtsixteen ships from 900 to 1300 tons each,--that they had coming fromIndia eleven ships and four permission ships, the value of theircargoes being above 360,000 l.: that they had on their outwardvoyage to Coast and Bay, seven ships and six permission ships, theircargoes valued at 570,000 l.: that they had seven ships forChina and the South Seas, whose cargoes amounted to 100,000 l.That they had goods in India unsold, to the amount of700,000 l. About this period, Sir John Child, being what wouldnow be called governor general of India, and his brother, Sir Jonah,leading member of the Court of Committees, the policy was introducedthrough their means, on which the sovereign power, as well as theimmense empire of the East India Company was founded; this policyconsisted of the enlargement of the authority of the Company overBritish subjects in India, and in attaining political strength anddominion, by retaliating by force of arms, on those Indian princeswho oppressed their settlements.

In the year 1698, in consequence of complaints against the EastIndia Company, and their inability to make any dividend, they thoughtit necessary to give in a statement of their property in India. Inthis they asserted that they had acquired, solely at their ownexpence, revenues at Fort St. George, Fort St. David, and Bombay, aswell as in Persia, and elsewhere, to the amount of 44,000 l.per annum, arising from customs and licenses, besides a large extentof land in these places; they had also erected forts and settlementsin Sumatra, and on the coast of Malabar, which were absolutelynecessary to carry on the pepper trade; they had a strongfort inBengal, and many factories, settlements, &c. in other places. Theresult of the complaints against the Company was, that a new companywas established this year; the two companies, however, united in thebeginning of the eighteenth century.

We shall conclude our account of the state of English commerceduring the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with some moregeneral and miscellaneous topics.

I. Exports. In the year 1534, the total value of our exports didnot exceed 900,000 l. of the present value of our money: thebalance of trade was estimated at 700,000 l.: this aroseprincipally from the very great exportation of woollen goods, tin,leather, &c., on which an export duty was laid, bringing in246,000 l.; whereas, the duty on imports did not produce morethan 1700 l. In the year 1612, according to Missenden, in hisCircle of Commerce, the exports to all the world amounted to2,090,640 l., and the imports to 2,141,151 l.; on thelatter, however, the custom duties are charged; the custom duties onthe exports were 86,794 l.; the impost paid outwards on woollengoods, tin, lead, pewter, &c. 10,000 l.; and the merchants'gains, freight, and other charges, to 300,000 l.:--if these beadded to the value of the exports, the total amount will be2,487,435 l,-- from which the imports, including custom duty onthem, being deducted, leaves 346,283 l.,--which Missendenregards as the balance gained that year by the nation. The principalarticles of export have been enumerated: the principal articles ofimport were silks, Venice gold and silver stuffs, Spanish wines,linen, &c. At this time, London paid nearly three times as muchfor custom duties as all the rest of England together. In the year1662, according to D'Avenant, the inspector general of the customs,our imports amounted to 4,016,019 l., and our exports only to2,022,812 l.; the balance against the nation being nearly twomillions. In the last year of the seventeenth century, according tothe same official authority, there was exported to England from allparts, 6,788,166 l.: of this sum, our woollen manufactures wereto the value of 2,932,292 l.; so that there was an increase ofour exports since 1662, of 4,765,534 l. The yearly average ofall the merchandize imported from, and exported to the north ofEurope, from Michaelmas, 1697, to Christmas, 1701, is exhibited inthe following table:

Annual Countries. Imported from. Exported to. LossDenmark and Sweden 76,215 l 39,543 l. 36,672 l.East Country 181,296 149,893 31,403Russia 112,252 58,884 53,568Sweden 212,094 57,555 154,539 ---------Total annual average loss 275,982 l.

II. Ships. In the year 1530, the ship which first sailed on atrading voyage to Guinea, and thence to the Brazils, was regarded asremarkably large; her burden amounted to 250 tons. And in Wheeler'sTreatise of Commerce, published in 1601, we are informed, that about60 years before he wrote (which would be about 1541), there were notabove four ships (besides those of the royal navy) that were above120 tons each, in the river Thames; and we learn from Monson, in hisNaval Tracts, that about 20 years later, most of our ships of burdenwere purchased from the east countrymen, or inhabitants of the southshores of the Baltic, who likewise carried on the greatest trade ofour merchants in their own vessels. He adds, to bid adieu to thattrade and those ships, the Jesus of Lubec. a vessel then esteemed ofgreat burden and strength, was the last ship bought by the queen. In1582, there were 135 merchant vessels in England, many of them of 500tons each: and in the beginning of King James's reign, there were400, but these were not so large, not above four of these being of400 tons. In 1615, it appears, that the East India Company, from thebeginning of their charter, had employed only 24 ships, four of whichhad been lost. The largest was 1293 tons; one 1100, one 1060, one900, one 800, and the remainder from 600 to 150. In the same year, 20ships sailed to Naples, Genoa, Leghorn, and other parts of theMediterranean, chiefly laden with herrings; and 30 from Ireland, tothe same ports, laden with pipe staves: to Portugal and Amsterdam, 20ships for wines, sugar, fruit, and West India drugs: to Bourdeaux, 60ships for wines: to Hamburgh and Middleburgh, 35 ships: to Dantzic,Koningsberg, 30 ships: to Norway 5;--while the Dutch sent above 40large ships. The Newcastle coal trade employed 400 sail;--200 forLondon, and 200 for the rest of England. It appears, that at thistime many foreign ships resorted to Newcastle for coals: whole fleetsof 50 sail together from France, besides many from Bremen, Holland,&c. The Greenland fishery employed 14 ships.

The following calculation of the shipping of Europe in 1690, isgiven by Sir William Petty. England, 500,000 tons; the UnitedProvinces, 900,000; France, 100,000; Hamburgh, Denmark, Sweden,Dantzic, 250,000; Spain, Portugal, Italy, 250,000: total 2,000,000.But that this calculation is exceeding loose, so far as regardsEngland at least, is evident from the returns made to circularletters of the commissioners of customs: according to these returns,there belonged to all the ports of England, in January 1701-2., 3281vessels, measuring 261,222 tons, and carrying 27,196 men, and 5660guns. As we wish to be minute and enter into detail, while ourcommerce and shipping were yet in their infancy, in order to markmore decidedly its progress, we shall subjoin the particulars of thisreturn.

Ports. Vessels. Tons. Men.

London 560 84,882 10,065 Bristol 165 17,338 2,359 Yarmouth 1439,914 668 Exeter 121 7,107 978 Hull 115 7,564 187 Whitby 110 8,292571 Liverpool 102 8,619 1,101 Scarborough 100 6,860 606

None of the other ports had 100 vessels: Newcastle hadsixty-three, measuring 11,000 tons; and Ipswich thirty-nine,measuring 11,170; but there certainly is some mistake in these twoinstances, either in the number of the ships, or the tonnage. Thesmall number of men employed at Hull arose from eighty of their shipsbeing at that time laid up.

III. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the greatrivals of the English in their commerce were the Dutch: they hadpreceded the English to most countries; and, even where the latterhad preceded them, they soon insinuated themselves and becameformidable rivals: this was the case particularly with respect to thetrade to Archangel. Some curious and interesting particulars of thisrivalry are given by Sir Walter Raleigh, in his Observationsconcerning the Trade and Commerce of England with the Dutch and otherforeign Nations, which he had laid before King James. In this work hemaintains that the Dutch have the advantage over the English byreason of the privileges they gave to foreigners, by making theircountry the storehouse of all foreign commodities; by the lowness oftheir customs; by the structure of their ships, which hold more, andrequire fewer hands than the English; and by their fishery. Hecontends that England is better situated for a general storehouse forthe rest of Europe than Holland: yet no sooner does a dearth of corn,wine, fish, &c. happen in England, than forthwith the Hollanders,Embedners, or Humburghers, load 50 or 100 ships, and bring theirarticles to England. Amsterdam, he observes, is never without 700,000quarters of corn, none of it the growth of Holland; and a dearth ofonly one year in any other part of Europe enriches Holland for sevenyears. In the course of a year and a half, during a scarcity inEngland, there was carried away from the ports of Southampton,Bristol, and Exeter alone, nearly 200,000 l.: and if London andthe rest of England were included, there must have been 2,000,000more. The Dutch, he adds, have a regular trade to England with 500 or600 vessels annually, whereas we trade, not with fifty to theircountry. After entering into details respecting the Dutch fishery, bymeans of which, he says, they sell herrings annually to the value ofupwards of one million and a half sterling, whereas England scarcelyany, he reverts to the other branches of Dutch commerce, as comparedwith ours. The great stores of wines and salt, brought from Franceand Spain, are in the Low Countries: they send nearly 1,000 shipsyearly with these commodities into the east countries alone; whereaswe send not one ship. The native country of timber for ships, &c.is within the Baltic; but the storehouse for it is in Holland; theyhave 500 or 600 large ships employed in exporting it to England andother parts: we not one. The Dutch even interfere with our owncommodities; for our wool and woollen cloth, which goes out rough,undressed, and undyed, they manufacture and serve themselves andother nations with it. We send into the east countries yearly but 100ships, and our trade chiefly depends upon three towns, Elbing,Koningsberg, and Dantzic; but the Low Countries send thither about3,000 ships: they send into France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, about2,000 ships yearly with those east country commodities, and we, nonein that course. They trade into all cities and port towns of France,and we chiefly to five or six.

The Low Countries have as many ships and vessels as elevenkingdoms of Christendom have; let England be one. For seventy yearstogether, we had a great trade to Russia (Narva), and even aboutfourteen years ago, we sent stores of goodly ships thither; but threeyears past we sent out four thither, and last year but two or threeships; whereas the Hollanders are now increased to about thirty orforty ships, each as large as two of ours, chiefly laden with Englishcloth, herrings, taken in our seas, English lead, and pewter made ofour tin. He adds, that a great loss is suffered by the kingdom fromthe undressed and undyed cloths being sent out of the kingdom, to theamount of 80,000 pieces annually; and that there had been annuallyexported, during the last fifty-three years, in baizes, northern andDevonshire kersies, all white, about 50,000 cloths, counting threekersies to one cloth.

Although there is undoubtedly much exaggeration in the comparativestatement of the Dutch and English commerce and shipping in thedetails, yet it is a curious and interesting document, as exhibitinga general view of them. Indeed, through the whole of the seventeenthcentury, the most celebrated and best informed writers on thecommerce of England dwell strongly on the superior trade of theDutch, and on their being able, by the superior advantages theyenjoyed from greater capital, industry, and perseverance, aided bythe greater encouragement they gave to foreigners as well as theirown people, to supply the greatest part of Europe with all theirwants, though their own country was small and unfertile. A similarcomparative statement to that of Raleigh is given by Child in 1655;he asserts that in the preceding year the Dutch had twenty-two sailof great ships in the Russia trade,--England but one: that in theGreenland whale fishery, Holland and Hamburgh had annually 400 or 500sail,--and England but one last year: that the Dutch have a greattrade for salt to France and Portugal, with which they salt fishcaught on our coasts; that in the Baltic trade, the English havefallen off, and the Dutch increased tenfold. England has no share inthe trade to China and Japan: the Dutch a great trade to bothcountries. A great part of the plate trade from Cadiz has passed fromEngland to Holland. They have even bereaved us of the trade toScotland and Ireland. He concludes with pointing out some advantagesEngland possesses over Holland: In the Turkey, Italian, Spanish, andPortuguese trades, we have the natural advantage of our wool:--ourprovisions and fuel, in country places, are cheaper than with theDutch;--our native commodities of lead and tin are greatadvantages:--of these, he says, as well as of our manufactures, weship off one-third more than we did twenty years ago; and he adds,that we have now more than double the number of merchants andshipping that we had twenty years ago. He mentions a circ*mstance,which seems to indicate a retrograde motion of commerce, viz., thatwhen he wrote most payments were in ready money; whereas, formerly,there were credit payments at three, six, nine, twelve, and eveneighteen months. From another part of his work, it appears that thetax-money was brought up in waggons from the country.

The gradual advancement of a nation in knowledge and civilization,which is in part the result of commerce, is also in part the cause ofit. But besides this advancement, in which England participated withthe rest of Europe, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,there were other circ*mstances peculiar to this country, some ofwhich were favourable, and others unfavourable to the increase of itscommerce.

Among the favourable circ*mstances may be reckoned the taking awayof the exclusive privileges of the steelyard merchants by Edward VI.,by which native merchants were encouraged, private companies of themformed, and the benefits of commerce more extensively diffused:--theencouragement given by Elizabeth, particularly by her minister Cecil,to commerce; this was so great and well directed, that the customswhich had been farmed, at the beginning of the reign, for14,000 l. a year, towards its close were fanned for50,000 l.;--the pacific character of James I., and theconsequent tranquillity enjoyed by England during his reign;--thestrong and general stimulus which was given to individual industry,by the feeling of their own importance, which the struggle betweenCharles I. and the Parliament naturally infused into the great massof the people;--the increased skill in maritime affairs, which wasproduced by our naval victories under Cromwell;--the great vigour ofhis government in his relations with foreign powers; and the passingof the navigation act. The Restoration, bringing a great fondness forluxury and expence, naturally produced also exertions to gratify thatfondness. If to these and other causes of a similar nature, we addthe introduction of East India commodities direct to England, and theimport trade to the West Indies and America, the emigration of theindustrious Flemings during the Spanish wars in the Low Countries,and of the French after the revocation of the edict of Nantz, weshall have specified most of the efficient circ*mstances, which, inconjunction with the progress of mankind in industry andcivilization, were beneficial to our commerce.

The causes and circ*mstances which were unfavourable to it duringthe same period are much fewer in number; and though some of themwere powerful, yet, even these, for the most part, when they ceasedto operate, gave birth to a reaction favourable to commerce. The moregeneral causes may be sought for in the erroneous notions entertainedrespecting commerce, in consequence of which monopolies were granted,especially in the reign of James I.; and laws were made to regulatewhat would have gone on best, if it had been left to itself. Thecivil wars, and the emigration occasioned by them, and the religiouspersecutions in the time of Mary, Elizabeth, and Charles, may beregarded as the most remarkable particular causes and circ*mstances,which were injurious to commerce.

We must again lay down the position, that in what respects theimprovement of a country in industry and wealth, whether agriculturalmanufacturing, or commercial, the same circ*mstances may often beviewed in the light both of effect and cause. This position will beclearly illustrated by a very common and plain case. The trade in acertain district improves, and of course requires more easy andexpeditious communication among different parts of this district: theroads are consequently made better, and the waggons, &c. arebuilt on a better construction; these are the effects of an improvedtrade: but it is plain that as by the communication being thusrendered quicker, the commodities interchanged can be sold cheaper, agreater quantity of them will be sold; and thus better roads, whichin the first instance proceeded from an improvement in trade, will,when made, improve the trade still more.

We have introduced these observations as preparatory to our noticeof the establishment of the Bank of England. This undoubtedly was theeffect of our increased commercial habits, but it was as undoubtedlythe cause of those habits becoming stronger and more general: itsupposed the pre-existence of a certain degree of commercialconfidence and credit, but it increased these in a much greater ratiothan they existed before: and if England owes its very superiorwealth to any other causes besides its free government, its superiorindustry, and improvements in machinery, those causes must be soughtfor in the very extensive diffusion of commercial confidence andcredit. The funding system, which took place about the same, timethat the Bank of England was established, may be regarded as anotherpowerful cause of the increase of our commerce: we do not mean tocontend that the national debt is a national blessing, but it iscertain that the necessity of paying the interest of that debtproduced exertions of industry, and improvements in manufactures,which would not otherwise, have been called forth; while, on theother 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 toother countries; and the interest, which so many individuals felt inthe stability of the funds, induced them most steadily and stronglyto support government.

The commerce of Scotland and Ireland during the sixteenth andseventeenth centuries, supplies us with very few materials. In theyear 1544, Scotland must have had no inconsiderable foreign trade, asin the war which took place at this time between that country andEngland, twenty-eight of the principal ships of Scotland, laden withall kinds of rich merchandize, were captured by the English, on theirvoyage from France, Flanders, Denmark, &c.; and in the same year,when the English took Leith, they found more riches in it than theyhad reason to expect. While Scotland and England were at peace,however, the former was principally supplied through the latter withthe commodities which Antwerp, during the sixteenth century,dispersed over all Europe. The exports of Scotland to Antwerp,&c. were indeed direct, and consisted principally, as we havealready remarked from Guicciardini, of peltry, leather, wool,indifferent cloth, and pearls.

The earliest account which occurs of the Scotch carrying oncommerce to any port out of Europe, is in the year 1589, when threeor four Scotch ships were found at the Azores by the earl ofCumberland. In the year 1598, it appears, from a letter of king Jamesto Queen Elizabeth, that some Scotch merchants traded to theCanaries. There is evidence that the Scotch had some commerce in theMediterranean in the beginning of the seventeenth century; for in the"Cabala," under the year 1624, the confiscation of three Scotch shipsat Malaga is noticed, for importing Dutch commodities. The principalarticles of export from Scotland to foreign countries consisted ofcoarse woollen stuffs and stockings, linen goods, peltry, leather,wool, pearls, &c. The principal imports were wine and fruits fromFrance, wine from Spain and Portugal, the finer woollen goods fromEngland, timber, iron, &c. from the Baltic, and sugars, spices,silks, &c. from Antwerp, Portugal, &c.

The following statement, with which we shall conclude our accountof Scotch commerce, is interesting, as exhibiting a view of thecommercial intercourse by sea between England and Scotland, from thecommencement of the inspector general's accounts in 1697, to theUnion in 1707.

England received from Scotland Scotland received from EnglandMerchandize to the value of merchandize to the value of

1697. £91,302 £73,203 1698. 124,835 58,043 1699.86,309 66,303 1700. 130,087 85,194 1701. 73,988 56,802 1702. 71,42858,688 1703. 76,448 57,338 1704. 54,379 87,536 1705. 57,902 50,0351706. 50,309 60,313 1707. 6,733 17,779

The earliest notices of Irish trade, to which we have alreadyadverted, particularly mention linen and woollen cloth, as two of themost considerable articles of export from that country. Hides, wool,fish of different kinds, particularly salmon, and the skins ofmartins, otters, rabbits, sheep, kids, &c. are also specified, asforming part of her early export. From Antwerp in the middle of thesixteenth century she received spices, sugar, silks, madder,camblets, &c. Pipe staves were a considerable article of exportin the beginning of the seventeenth century; they were principallysent to the Mediterranean. In 1627 Charles issued a proclamationrespecting Ireland, from which we learn that the principal foreigntrade of Ireland was to Spain and Portugal, and consisted in fish,butter, skins, wool, rugs, blankets, wax, cattle, and horses; pipestaves, and corn; timber fit for ship-building, as well as pipestaves, seem at this period to have formed most extensive andvaluable articles of export from Ireland. In the middle of thiscentury, Irish linen yarn was used in considerable quantities in theManchester manufactures, as we have already noticed. The importationinto England of fat cattle from Ireland seems to have beenconsiderable, and to have been regarded as so prejudicial to thepasture farmers of the former country, that in 1666 a law was passedlaying a heavy duty on their importation. This statute provingineffectual, another was passed in 1663, enacting the forfeiture ofall great cattle, sheep, swine, and also beef, pork, or bacon,imported from Ireland. Sir W. Petty remarks, that before this law waspassed, three-fourths of the trade of Ireland was with England, butnot one-fourth of it since that time. Sir Jonah Child, in hisDiscourse on Trade, describes the state of Ireland as having beenmuch improved by the soldiers of the Commonwealth settling there;through their own industry, and that which they infused into thenatives, he adds, that Ireland was able to supply foreign markets, aswell as our plantations in America, with beef, pork, hides, tallow,bread, beer, wood, and corn, at a cheaper rate than England couldafford to do. Though this country, as we have seen, exported linengoods at a very early period, yet this manufacture cannot be regardedas the staple one of Ireland, or as having contributed very much toher foreign commerce, till it flourished among the Scotch colonistsin Ulster towards the middle of the seventeenth century. As soon asthey entered on it with spirit, linen yarn was no longer exported toManchester and other parts of England, but manufactured into cloth inIreland, and in that state it formed the chief article of itscommerce. The woollen manufactures of Ireland, which were alwaysviewed with jealousy by England, and were checked in every possiblemanner, gradually gave way to the restraints laid on them, and to therising and unchecked linen manufacture, and of course ceased to enterinto the exports.

The commerce of Scotland during the sixteenth and seventeenthcenturies was kept low, by ignorance and want of industry, by thedisturbed state of the country, by disputes between the king andnobility, and, till the union of the crowns, by wars with England.The commerce of Ireland had still greater difficulties to strugglewith; among which may be mentioned the ignorant oppression of theEnglish government in every thing that related to its manufactures ortrade.

The commerce of France, during the sixteenth century, presents fewparticulars worthy of notice; that, which was carried on between itand England, was principally confined to the exportation of wines,fruit, silk and linen, from France; and woollen goods, and tin andlead, from England. There seems to have been a great exchange betweenthe woollens of England and the linens of Bretagne. The French,however, like all the other nations of Europe at this period, wereignorant of the principles, as well as destitute of the enterprizeand capital essential to steady and lucrative commerce; and amplydeserve the character given of them by Voltaire, that in the reign ofFrancis I., though possessed of harbours both on the ocean andMediterranean, they were yet without a navy; and though immersed inluxury, they had only a few coarse manufactures. The Jews, Genoese,Venetians, Portuguese, Flemings, Dutch, and English, tradedsuccessively for them. At the very close of this century we have avery summary account of the commerce of France by Giovani Bolero.France, says he, possesses four magnets, which attract the wealth ofother countries;--corn, which is exported to Spain andPortugal;--wine, which is sent to Flanders, England, and theBaltic;--salt, made by the heat of the sun on the Mediterraneancoast, and also on that of the ocean, as far north as Saintoigne; andhemp and cloth, of which and of cordage great quantities are exportedto Lisbon and Seville:--the exportation of the articles of thisfourth class, he adds, is incredibly great.

In the middle of the seventeenth century, the finer manufacturesof woollen and silken goods having been carried to great perfectionin France, her exports in these articles were greatly increased. Inthe political testament of Richelieu, we are informed that aconsiderable and lucrative trade in these articles was carried onwith Turkey, Spain, Italy, &c., and that France had driven, in agreat measure, out of those markets the serges of Milan, the velvetsof Genoa, and the cloth of gold of Italy.

Early in the reign of Louis XIV., Colbert directed his attentionto the improvement of manufactures and commerce; and though many ofhis plans were frustrated from the operation of causes over which hehad no control, and principally because he went before the age inwhich he lived, yet there can be no doubt that to him France wasindebted for the consolidation, extension, and firm footing of hercommerce. Immediately before the revocation of the edict of Nantes,her commerce was at its greatest heighth, as the following estimatesof that she carried on with England and Holland will prove. To theformer country the exportation of manufactured silks of all sorts issaid to have been to the value of 600,000 l.;--of linen,sail-cloth, and canvass, about 700,000 l.;--in beaver hats,watches, clocks, and glass, about 220,000 l.;--in paper, about90,000 l.;--in iron ware, the manufacture of Auvergne, chiefly,about 40,000 l.;--in shalloons, tammies, &c. from Picardyand Champagne, about 150,000 l.;--in wines, about200,000 l.; and brandies, about 80,000 l. The exports toHolland, shortly before the revocation of the edict of Nantes, insilks, velvets, linen, and paper, are estimated at 600,000 l.;--in hats, about 200,000 l.;--in glass, clocks, watches, andhousehold furniture, about 160,000 l.;--in small articles, suchas fringes, gloves, &c., about 200,000 l.;--in linen,canvass, and sail cloth, about 160,000 l.; and in saffron,dye-wood, woollen yarn, &c., about 300,000 l.

In the year 1700 a council of commerce was constituted in France,consisting of the principal ministers of state and finance, and oftwelve of the principal merchants of the kingdom, chosen annuallyfrom Paris, Rouen, Bourdeaux, Lyons, Marseilles, Rochelle, Nantes,St. Maloe, Lisle, Bayonne, and Dunkirk.

From the first report of this board, we gain some information ofthe state of French commerce at this time; according to it, theFrench employed in their West India and Guinea trade only 100vessels, whereas the English employed 500. The principal articlesthey drew from these islands were sugar, indigo, cotton, cocoa,ginger, &c. The exclusive trades formed in 1661, when France waslittle versed in commerce and navigation, are deprecated: the chiefof them were, that granted to Marseilles for the sole trade to theLevant;--the East India Company;--the prohibiting foreign raw silk tobe carried to Paris, Nismes, Tours, &c., till it had passedthrough Lyons;--the Canada and Guinea Companies, besides variousfarms or monopolies of certain merchandize in trade: the principal ofthese last was lead from England, with which, made into shot, thepersons who had the monopoly supplied not only France, but, throughFrance, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, the Levant, and the French WestIndies.

The report contains some information respecting the comparativecommerce of France, and the other nations of Europe. The Spaniards,it is observed, though they possess within their own country wool,silk, oil, wine, &c., and are in no want of good ports, both onthe ocean and Mediterranean, nevertheless neglect all theseadvantages. Hence it happens that the raw silk of Valencia, Murcia,and Grenada, is exported to France: the wool of Castile, Arragon,Navarre, and Leon, to England, Holland, France, and Italy; and theseraw articles, when manufactured, are sent back to Spain, andexchanged for the gold and silver of the American mines. France alsosupplies Peru and Mexico, through Spain, receiving in return,cochineal, indigo, hides, &c., besides a balance of eighteen ortwenty million of livres, and by the flotas, seven or eight millionmore. The report adds, on this head, that latterly the English andDutch have interfered with some branches of this trade with Spain;and it also complains that the former nation carry on the Levanttrade to much more advantage than the French, their woollen clothsbeing better and cheaper. The English also carry to the Levant, lead,pewter, copperas, and logwood, together with a great deal ofpepper;--with these, and the money received on the coasts ofPortugal, Spain and Italy, for the dry fish and sugar they sell thereon their outward voyage, they purchase their homeward cargoes. Thissuperiority of England over France in the Levant trade, is ascribedin the report to the monopoly enjoyed by Marseilles.

The report, in relation to the commerce of France with thenorthern nations of Europe, observes, that it appears from the custombooks, that the Dutch had possession of almost the whole of it. TheDutch also are accused of having, in a great measure, made themselvesmasters of the inland trade of France. In order to secure to thislatter country the direct trade with the north of Europe, certainplans are suggested in the report; all of which were objected to bythe deputies from Nantes, principally, it would seem, on the ground,that the Dutch trade to the Baltic was so well settled, that itgoverned the prices of all the exports and imports there, and thatthe Dutch gave higher prices for French goods than could be obtainedin the Baltic for them, while, on the other hand, they sold atAmsterdam Baltic produce cheaper than it could be bought in theBaltic. One objection to a direct trade between France and the Balticaffords a curious and instructive proof of the imperfect state ofnavigation at this time, that is, at the beginning of the eighteenthcentury. The deputy from Marseilles urged that the voyage fromDantzic, or even from Copenhagen to Marseilles, was too long for aship to go and come with certainty in one season, considering the iceand the long nights; and that therefore, there is no avoiding the useof entrepots for the trade of Marseilles. Mr. Anderson, in hisHistory of Commerce, very justly observes, "that the dread of a longvoyage from the north to the south parts of Europe, contributed, in agreat measure, to make Antwerp, in former times, the general magazineof Europe."

The decline of the commerce of the Italian states, in consequenceof the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, has been alreadymentioned; their efforts however to preserve it were vigorous, and wecan trace, even in the middle of the sixteenth century, some Indiancommerce passing through Venice. Indeed in the year 1518,Guicciardini informs us that there arrived at Antwerp, five Venetianships laden with the spices and drugs of the East: and 1565, when theEnglish Russia Company sent their agents into Persia, they found thatthe Venetians carried on a considerable trade there; they seem tohave travelled from Aleppo, and to have brought with them woollencloths, &c. which they exchanged for raw silks, spices, drugs,&c. The agents remarked, that much Venetian cloth was worn inPersia: in 1581, Sir William Monson complains that the Venetiansengrossed the trade between Turkey and Persia, for Persian and Indianmerchandize. In 1591, when the English Levant Company endeavoured toestablish a trade over land to India, and for that purpose carriedsome of their goods from Aleppo to Bagdat, and thence down the Tigristo Ormus and to Goa, they found that the Venetians had factories inall these places, and carried on an extensive and lucrative trade. Itis difficult to perceive how Indian commodities brought by land toEurope, could compete with those which the Portuguese brought by sea.The larger capital, more numerous connexions, greater credit, andskill of the Venetians, must however have been much in their favourin this competition.

We have noticed that, even so late as the beginning of theeighteenth century, a voyage from Marseilles to the Baltic and backagain, was thought by French navigators an impracticable undertakingin the course of one year; and yet a century earlier, viz. in 1699,Venice sent at least one ship annually for Archangel: the firstinstance we believe of a direct commercial intercourse between thenorthern and southern extreme seas of Europe.

We must turn to the northern nations of Europe, Sweden, Denmarkand Russia, and glean what few important materials we can respectingtheir commerce during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Wehave already seen that the commerce of the Scandinavian nations ofthe middle ages was by no means despicable, though it was chieflyconfined to Britain and Iceland, and among themselves: theestablishment of the Hanseatic League, some of the cities composingwhich lay in the Baltic, gradually made the Scandinavian nationsbetter known, and by creating a demand for their produce, stimulatedthem to industry and commerce. In a poor country, however, with asterile soil and ungenial climate; where winter prevented intercourseby sea, for several months every year, capital must increase veryslowly, and commerce, reciprocally the cause and effect of capital,equally slow. Besides the piratical habits of the earlyScandinavians, were adverse to trade; and these habits shed theirinfluence even after they were discontinued. But though theScandinavian nations were long in entering into any commercialtransactions of importance, yet they contributed indirectly to itsadvancement by the improvements they made in ship-building, as wellas by the ample materials for this purpose which their countrysupplied. Their ships indeed were constructed for warfare, butimprovements in this description of ships naturally, and almostunavoidably, led to improvements in vessels designed for trade. In1449, a considerable commerce was carried on between Bristol, andIceland, and Finmark, in vessels of 400, 500, and even 900 tonsburden, all of which, there is reason to believe, were built in theBaltic; and, about six years afterwards, the king of Sweden was theowner of a ship of nearly 1000 tons burden, which he sent to England,with a request that she might be permitted to trade.

Gustavus I. who reigned about the beginning of the sixteenthcentury, seems to have been the first Swedish king who directed theattention and industry of his subjects to manufactures and commerce;but, in the early part of his reign, the inhabitants of Lubec had themonopoly of the foreign trade of Stockholm. This sovereign, in 1540,entered into a commercial treaty with Francis I., King of France; theprincipal article of which was, that the Swedes should import theirwine, salt, &c. directly from France, instead of obtaining themindirectly from the Dutch. The conquest of Revel by Sweden, and theconsequent footing obtained in Livonia, in 1560, greatly increasedits commerce and wealth; while important improvements were introducedinto its manufactures of iron a few years afterwards by the Flemings,who fled there on the destruction of Antwerp. Prior to their arrival,most of the Swedish iron was forged in Dantzic and Prussia; but theynot only taught the Swedes how to forge it, but also how to make ironcannon, and other iron, copper, and brass articles. The Swedes hadfrom an early period, been sensible of the real riches of theirterritory, and how much their timber, iron, pitch, and tar, wereconverted for maritime and other purposes. The pitch and tarmanufacture especially had long constituted a very considerable partof their commerce. In 1647, Queen Christiana very unwisely granted amonopoly of these articles, which was productive of the usualeffects, injury to commerce, without a correspondent benefit to thosewho held it. In the beginning of the eighteenth century, the tarcompany in Sweden not only put a very high price on their goods, butrefused to sell them, even for ready money, unless they were exportedin Swedish vessels. In consequence of this, England began at thisperiod to encourage the importation of tar, pitch, hemp, and navaltimber, from her American colonies.

The commerce of Denmark, besides its common origin with that ofthe rest of Scandinavia, seems, in the middle ages, to have beenchiefly nourished by two circ*mstances:--The trade which Icelandcarried on, and the establishment of Bergen, first as the staple ofthe German merchants, and afterwards as the chief factory of theHanse merchants. In 1429, it was also established by the king ofDenmark, as the sole staple for the fish trade. In 1553, its tradebegan to decline, in consequence, it is said, of its being desertedby the Hanseatics. The historian of the Hanseatic League adds, that"whereas the ancient toll of the Sound had been only a goldenrose-noble on every sail, which was always understood to be meant onevery ship; the court of Denmark had for some time past put a new andarbitrary construction on the word sail, by obliging all ships to paya rose-noble for every sail on, or belonging to each ship". Inconsequence of this, the Vandalic-Hanse Towns, or those on the southshores of the Baltic, deserted the Bergen trade.

The same sovereign, however, who increased the tolls of the Sound,counterpoised the bad effects of this measure, by the encouragementhe gave to manufactures and commerce; in this he was seconded by theDanish gentry, who began to carry on merchandize and factoragethemselves, and also established manufactories. Copenhagen at thistime was the staple for all Danish merchandize, especially corn,butter, fish, &c.

The commercial history of this country, towards the close of thesixteenth century, is remarkable for having given rise to theearliest dispute, of which we have any notice, respecting, thecarrying of naval stores, of contraband of war, in neutral bottoms,to any enemy. It seems that the English merchants endeavoured toevade the custom duties in the Danish ports, particularly on theirskins, woollen goods, and tin; on which they were siezed. On aremonstrance however from Elizabeth, they were restored, when theking of Denmark, on his part, complained that the English committedpiracies on his subjects; for now, says Camden, there began to growcontroversies about such matters, that is, the carrying naval stores,&c. to the Spaniards.

The commercial history of Denmark, during the period to which weare at present confined, presents no other circ*mstance sufficientlystriking or interesting to detain us; for the establishments of thiscountry in the East Indies are too trifling to deserve or requirenotice in a work whose limits and objects equally confine it to thosepoints which are of primary importance.

The locality of Russia, cut off from the sea till a comparativelylate period, except the almost inaccessible sea on which Archangelstands; the ignorance and barbarism of its inhabitants, and its warswith the Tartars, necessarily prevented and incapacitated thisimmense empire from engaging in any commercial intercourse with therest of Europe till the beginning of the sixteenth century, when itbecame independent, and began to be powerful. Novogorod, indeed,which was in fact a republic under the jurisdiction of a nominalsovereign, enjoyed in the fifteenth century, a great trade, beingthen the mart between Russia and the Hanseatic cities. On itsconquest by the Russians in the beginning of the next century, theHanseatic merchants deserted it, though it continued for aconsiderable period afterward the largest and most commercial city inRussia. In 1509, Basilicus IV. conquered the city and territory ofPleskow and Smolensko, and consolidated the Russian empire, byreducing all the petty principalities into which it had beenpreviously divided. Pleskow, situated near the head of the lakeCzudskoc, soon became a celebrated emporium, and before the end ofthis century was frequented by merchants from Persia, Tartary,Sarmatia, Livonia, Germany, Britain, and other countries.

The accidental discovery of the White Sea by the English, in 1553,has been already narrated: this led to the first intercourse by seabetween Russia and the rest of Europe, for previously, whatever oftheir produce was exported, was carried in Livonian ships. In thefollowing year, the facilities of Russia with Asia were encreased bythe conquest of the city and kingdom of Astracan: by this conquestthe entire navigation of the Wolga became theirs, and by crossing theCaspian, they carried their commercial transactions into Persia. Thespirit of conquest was now alive among them, and exerting itself bothto the east and west; for in 1558 they conquered Narva, in Livonia,and by means of it formed a communication with the rest of Europe bythe Baltic sea. To this city the Hanseatic merchants removed theirmart from Revel. The conquest of Samoieda and Siberia near the closeof the sixteenth century, contributed to encrease the exportablecommodities of Russia by their furs, salmon, sturgeon, &c.

In the mean time the Russian commerce in the Caspian wasincreasing: the Persian vessels brought into Astracan dyed silks,calicoes, and Persian stuffs, and returned with cloth, sables,martens, red leather, and old Russia money. The trade from Archangelalso increased in a still more rapid manner, principally, as we havealready seen, with the English and Dutch. In the year 1655, theexports were valued at the 660,000 rubles, two rubles at that periodbeing equal to one pound sterling. The principal articles werepotash, caviare, tallow, hides, sables, and cable yarn; the otherarticles of less importance, and in smaller quantities, were coarselinen, feathers for beds, tar, linen yarn, beet, rhubarb, Persiansilk, 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 beganto execute his vast plans of conquest, naval power, and commerce. Hegained for his country a passage into the Black Sea, by reducingAsoph, at the mouth of the Don, and he soon established a navy onthis sea. His personal exertions in Holland and England, to makehimself acquainted with ship-building, are well known. The event ofhis reign, however, which most completely changed the relativesituation of Russia, and established her as a commercial nation, wasthe conquest from Sweden of Livonia, Ingria, and Carelia. Scarcelywere these provinces secured to him, when he built, first Cronstadt,and then St. Petersburgh. The erection of this city, and the canalshe constructed in the interior for the purpose of facilitating thetransportation of merchandize from the more southerly and fertiledistricts of his empire to the new capital, soon drew to it thegreater portion of Russian commerce. Archangel, to which there hadpreviously resorted annually upwards of one hundred ships fromEngland, Holland, Hamburgh, &c. declined; and early in theeighteenth century Petersburgh, then scarcely ten years old, behelditself a commercial city of great importance.

Having now brought the historical sketch of the progress ofdiscovery and of commercial enterprise down to the commencement ofthe eighteenth century, it will be necessary, as well as proper, tocontract the scale on which the remainder of this volume is to beconstructed. For, during nearly the whole of the period whichintervenes between the commencement of the eighteenth century and thepresent time, the materials are either so abundant or so minute, thatto insert them all without discrimination and selection, would be togive bulk, without corresponding interest and value, to the work.

So far as discovery is concerned, it is evident, from the sketchof it already given, that nearly the entire outline of the globe hadbeen traced before the period at which we are arrived: what remainedwas to fill up this outline. In Asia, to gain a more completeknowledge of Hither and Farther India, of China, of the countries tothe north of Hindostan, of the north and north-east of Asia, and ofsome of the Asiatic islands. In Africa, little besides the shoreswere known; but the nature of the interior, with its burning sandsand climate, uninhabitable, or inhabited by inhospitable andbarbarous tribes, held out little expectation that another centurywould add much to our knowledge of that quarter of the world; andthough the perseverance and enterprise of the eighteenth century, andwhat has passed of the nineteenth, have done more than mightreasonably have been anticipated, yet, comparatively speaking, howlittle do we yet know of Africa! America held out the most promisingas well as extensive views to future discovery; the form anddirection of her north-west coast was to be traced. In South America,the Spaniards had already gained a considerable knowledge of thecountries lying between the Atlantic and the Pacific, but in NorthAmerica, the British colonists had penetrated to a very shortdistance from the shores on which they were first settled; and fromtheir most western habitations to the Pacific, the country was almostentirely unknown.

The immense extent of the Pacific Ocean, which presented tonavigators at the beginning of the eighteenth century but fewislands, seemed to promise a more abundant harvest to repeated andmore minute examination, and this promise has been fulfilled. NewHolland, however, was the only portion of the world of great extentwhich could be said to be almost entirely unknown at the beginning ofthe eighteenth century; and the completion of our knowledge of itsform and extent may justly be regarded as one of the greatest andmost important occurrences to geography contributed by the eighteenthcentury.

The truth and justice of these observations will, we trust,convince our readers, that, in determining to be more general andconcise in what remains of the geographical portion of our works, weshall not be destroying its consistency or altering the nature of itsplan, but in fact preserving both; for its great object and designwas to trace geographical knowledge from its infancy till it hadreached that maturity and vigour, by which, in connection with thecorresponding increased civilization, general information andcommerce of the world, it was able to advance with rapid strides, andno longer confining itself to geography, strictly so called, toembrace the natural history of those countries, the existence,extent, and form of which it had first ascertained.

The great object and design of the commercial part of this workwas similar; to trace the progress of commercial enterprises from therudest ages of mankind, the changes and transfers it had undergonefrom one country to another, the causes and effects of these, as wellas of its general gradual increase, till, having the whole of Europeunder its influence, and aided by that knowledge and civilizationwith which it had mainly contributed to bless Europe, it had gainedits maturity and vigour, and by its own expansive force pushed itselfinto every part of the globe, in which there existed any thing toattract it.

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, commerce had notindeed assumed those features, or reached that form and dimensions bywhich it was distinguished at the end of this century; but as itsdimensions gradually enlarge, it will be necessary to be lessparticular and more condensed.

Our plan indeed of being more minute in the early history ofgeographical science and commercial enterprise, is founded on anobvious as well as a just and important principle. In the infancy ofgeography and commerce, every fact is important, as reflecting lighton the knowledge and state of mankind at that period, and as bearingon and conducing to their future progress; whereas when geography andcommerce have been carried so far as to proceed in their course as itwere by their own internal impulse, derived from the motion they havebeen acquiring for ages, their interest and importance is muchdiminished from this cause, as well as from the minuteness of theobjects to which,--all the great ones having been previously occupiedby them,--they must necessarily be confined.

Several circ*mstances co-operated to direct geographicaldiscovery, during the eighteenth century, principally towards thenorth and north-east of Asia, and the north-west of America. Thetendency and interest of the Russian empire to stretch itself to theeast, and the hope still cherished by the more commercial andmaritime nations of Europe, that a passage to the East Indies mightbe discovered, either by the north-east round Asia, or by thenorth-west, in the direction of Hudson's Bay, were among the mostpowerful of the causes which directed discovery towards those partsof the globe to which we have just alluded.

The extent of the Russian discoveries and conquests in the northand north-east of Asia, added much to geographical knowledge, thoughfrom the nature of the countries discovered and conquered, theimportance of this knowledge is comparatively trifling. About themiddle of the seventeenth century, they ascertained that the FrozenOcean washed and bounded the north of Asia: the first Russian shipsailed down the river Lena to this sea in the year 1636. Three yearsafterwards, by pushing their conquests from one river to another, andfrom one rude and wandering tribe to another, they reached theeastern shores of Asia, not far distant from the present site ofOchotsk. Their conquests in this direction had occupied them nearlysixty years; and in this time they had annexed to their empire morethan a fourth part of the globe, extending nearly eighty degrees inlength, and in the north reaching to the 160° of east longitude;in breadth their conquests extended from the fiftieth to theseventy-fifth degree of north latitude. This conquest was completedby a Cossack; another Cossack, as Malte Brun observes, effected whatthe most skilful and enterprising of subsequent navigators have invain attempted. Guided by the winds, and following the course of thetides, the current and the ice, he doubled the extremity of Asia fromKowyma to the river Anadyn. Kamschatcka, however, which is theirprincipal settlement in the east of Asia, was not discovered till theyear 1690; five years afterwards they reached it by sea from Ochotsk,but for a long time it was thought to be an island. The KurileIslands were not discovered till the beginning of the eighteenthcentury.

The direction of discovery to this part of the world, as well asthe plan by which it might be most advantageously and successfullyexecuted, was given by Peter the Great, and affords one proof, thathis mind was capacious, though his manners, morals, and conduct,might be those of a half-civilized tyrant. Peter did not live tocarry his plan into execution: it was not, however, abandoned orneglected; for certainly the Russian government, much more than anyother European government, seems to pursue with a most steady andalmost hereditary predilection, all the objects which have onceoccupied its attention and warmed its ambition. On his death, hisempress and her successors, particularly Anne and Elizabeth,contributed every thing in their power to carry his plan into fulland complete execution. They went from Archangel to the Ob, from theOb to the Jenesei. From the Jenesei they reached the Lena, partly bywater and partly by land; from the Lena they went to the eastward asfar as the Judigirka: and from Ochotsk they went by the KurileIslands to Japan.

One of the most celebrated men engaged in the Russian discoveriesin the early part of the eighteenth century was Behring: he was aDane by birth, but in the service of Catherine, the widow of Peterthe Great, who fixed upon him to carry into execution one of the mostfavourite plans of her husband. During Peter's residence in Holland,in the year 1717, the Dutch, who were still disposed to believe thata passage might be discovered to the East Indies in the northernparts of America, or Asia, urged the Emperor to send out anexpedition to determine this point. There was also another point,less interesting indeed to commercial men, but on which geographershad bestowed much labour, which it was stated to the Emperor might beascertained by the same expedition; this was, whether Asia andAmerica were united, or divided by a sea, towards their northernextremities.

When Peter the Great returned to Russia, he resolved to attemptthe solution of these problems; and with his own hand drew up a setof instructions for the proposed voyage; according to these, thevessels to be employed were to be built in Kamschatka; the unknowncoasts of Asia and America were to be explored, and an accuratejournal was to be kept.

It is not known whether the Emperor was induced to plan thisexpedition solely on the representations which were made to him inHolland, or from a belief that the close vicinity of the twocontinents of Asia and America had already been ascertained, or atleast rendered highly probable, by some of his own subjects. It iscertain that the Russians and the Cossacks in their service hadreached the great promontory of Asia opposite to America; and it issaid that the islands lying in Behring Straits, and even thecontinent beyond them, were known to them by report.

Peter, however, did not live to accomplish his design; and, as wehave already noticed, his widow Catherine fixed upon Behring toconduct the expedition. After building a vessel in Kamschatka, hesailed in 1728: his first object was to examine the coast of thispart of Asia. He was the first who ascertained Kamschatka to be apeninsula, and he framed an accurate chart of it, which is stillregarded as one of the best extant. After reaching a Cape in northlatitude 67° 18', and being informed by the inhabitants thatbeyond it the coast bended to the west, he resolved to alter hiscourse to the south. This was accordingly done, but he did notdiscover the opposite coast of America; several circ*mstances werenoticed, however, which indicated that there was land to the east, atno great distance, such as floating pine branches and other speciesof plants, unknown on the coast of Asia; these were always drivenashore when easterly winds prevailed. The inhabitants also informedhim, that, in very clear weather, they were able, from the top oftheir highest mountains, to descry land to the east.

Encouraged by these circ*mstances, Behring resolved to undertake asecond voyage from Kamschatka: in this voyage he was accompanied by aRussian, named Tchirikoff. They steered east, and first sought forland, which was said to have been discovered between the latitude of40° and 50°; but finding none, they separated, and steeringfurther north, the Russian discovered the continent of America inabout 56-1/2°, and Behring 2° further north. On his return,the latter was wrecked in the island which bears his name, where hedied.

About four years after the death of this navigator, which happenedin 1741, the sea between Asia and America was visited by some Russianmerchants, who obtained permission from the government to makediscoveries, hunt and trade; the vessels employed for this purposewere formed of a few boards fastened together with leathern thongs;yet in these were discovered the Aleutian Islands. Soon afterwardsanother group of islands were discovered; and then a third group, theBlack Fox Islands, which are near the American continent. It was not,however, till the year 1760, that the Russians learnt that Ochotskwas only separated from America by a narrow strait; and it is saidthat in 1764, a Russian mercantile 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 ofAmerica; but if a strait was discovered by these adventurers, theremust be an error in the latitude, as in 64° there is no openingknown to exist.

It was reserved for an English navigator to ascertain the truth ofthe report which the Russians had received from the inhabitants ofOchotsk, that their country was separated from America only by anarrow strait.

This was done during the third and last voyage of Captain Cook;the principal design of which was to ascertain the existence andpracticability of a passage between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans,either to the north-east or north-west. For this purpose he carefullyexamined the north- west coast of America, beginning this examinationin the latitude of 44° 33' north. Previously to this voyage anact of Parliament was passed, granting a reward of 20,000 l. toany person who should discover any northern passage by sea betweenthe Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, in any parallel to the northward ofthe 52° of northern latitude. This voyage of Cook began in 1778;on the 9th of August, in that year, he ascertained the position andlatitude of the western extremity of America, and soon afterwards hedetermined the width of that strait which divides the two continents.He then steered to the north, and continuing up the strait till hewas in the latitude 70° 41', he found himself close to the edgeof the ice which "was as compact as a wall," and ten or twelve feethigh. He was of course obliged to return to the south, and in thispart of his voyage he observed, on the American side, a low point inlatitude 70° 29', to which he gave the name of Icy Cape. Afterthe death of Cook, Captain Clarke entered the strait on the Asiaticside, and reached the latitude of 70° 33'; he afterwards gotsight of the land on the American side in latitude 69° 34'. Suchwere the results of the last voyage of Captain Cook, respecting theproximity of Asia and America, and the nature of the strait by whichthey were divided.

Although the Spaniards seemed to be most interested in whateverconcerned the west coast of America, yet they made no attempt toexplore it from the commencement of the seventeenth century till theyear 1774. In 1769, indeed, being alarmed at the evident design ofthe Russians to settle in the north-west coast, they formedestablishments at St. Diego and Montory. In 1774 they traced theAmerican coast from latitude 53° 53' to latitude 55°, and itis said discovered Nootka Sound. In the following year an expeditionwas sent from St. Blas, which proceeded along the north-west coast,and reached to latitude 57° 58'.

The voyage of Cook roused the Russian government to furtherexertions; and they accordingly fitted out an expedition to explorethe sea between Asia and America: the command of it was given to anEnglishman of the name of Billings, who had served as a petty officerunder Captain Cook. He was, however, by no means qualified for hissituation, and abandoned the enterprise in the latter end of July,having proceeded only a few leagues beyond Cape Barrenoi: the wholeamount of the information procured during this voyage being confinedto a few of the Aleutian Islands, and some points in the coast ofAmerica and Asia.

A few years afterwards the Empress Catherine sent out a secretexpedition; the principal object of which was to ascertain thesituation of the islands between the two continents. Little is knownrespecting this expedition, except that some observations were madeon Behring's Straits, which, however, were not passed. The distancebetween the continents was estimated at forty-eight miles.

About the same time, the great profits which it was expected wouldbe derived from the fur trade on the north-west coast of America,induced several commercial vessels to visit it; and during theirvoyages, nearly all the parts of it which had not been visited byCook, were examined as far as the inlet which was named after him, inlatitude 61° 15'. This extent of coast was found to consist of avast chain of islands; and the appearance and nature of it revivedthe hope which Cook's last voyage had extinguished, that in this partof the coast there might be a practicable passage from the Pacific tothe Atlantic ocean.

This hope was again extinguished in the opinion of most people, bythe result of two of the most celebrated voyages which have beenperformed since the death of Captain Cook: we allude to the voyagesof La Perouse, and of Vancouver: the former sailed with two frigatesfrom Brest on the 1st of August, 1785: the object of this voyage wasvery comprehensive and important, being no less than to fill upwhatever had been left deficient or obscure by former navigators, andto determine whatever was doubtful, so as to render the geography ofthe globe as complete and minute as possible: he was directed tosupply the island in the South Seas with useful European vegetables.At present we shall confine our notice of this voyage to what relatesto the more immediate object of this part of our work, the coast ofNorth-west America.

The north-west coast of America was made by La Perouse, inlatitude sixty degrees north: from this latitude he carefully tracedand examined it to the Spanish settlement of Monterey.--an extent ofcoast of which Cook had had only a transient and imperfect view. Ofthis he constructed a chart, which at the time was justly regarded asextremely accurate and complete, but was subsequently rendered muchmore so by the survey of particular points and bays made by thevessels engaged in the fur trade, and especially by that which wasconstructed by Vancouver, from a close and careful examination of thenumerous channels with which this coast abounds, principallyperformed in boats, and therefore descending into very minutedetails.

The accessions made by him to geography in other parts of theglobe, as well as his unfortunate fate, will be afterwardsrelated.

In the year 1790, a dispute arose between Britain and Spain,respecting Nootka Sound: on the adjustment of this dispute, theBritish government determined to send out an officer to securepossession of the settlement, and also to determine the questionrespecting the existence of a navigable passage between the Atlanticand Pacific Oceans. Captain Vancouver was selected for thesepurposes: his instructions were, after accomplishing his mission atNootka Sound, to examine that part of the coast occupied by the chainof islands, discovered by the vessels in the fur trade, "and toascertain, with the greatest exactitude, the nature and extent ofevery communication by water which might seem to tend to facilitatecommercial relations between the north-west coast and the countrieson the east of the continent, inhabited by British subjects orclaimed by Great Britain;" and in particular to search for the straitof John de Fuca, and to examine if Cook's River had not its source insome of the lakes frequented by the Canadian traders, or by theservants 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, inlatitude 39° 27' north, and continued it as far as Nootka:finding that the Spaniards raised difficulties to the restoration ofthis settlement, he proceeded to carry into execution the otherobjects of this voyage. During three summers, he surveyed thenorth-west coast of America as far as Cook's River, with a diligence,attention, and accuracy which could not have been surpassed. Everyopening which presented itself was explored, and never left till itstermination was determined; so that on a very careful and minuteinspection of every creek and inlet of a coast consisting almostentirely of creeks and channels, formed by an innumerable multitudeof islands, he thought himself justified in pronouncing, that thereis no navigable passage between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans,unless there may be a possibility of sailing through the straitbetween Asia and America, and navigating the Frozen Ocean. Thesurveys which were made during this voyage, may justly be said tohave rendered perfect the geography of that part of the north-westcoast of America to which it extended, and indeed to have completedthe whole geography of this coast, which, from the multitude of itscreeks, inlets, islands, &c., presents formidable as well aspetty and troublesome difficulties in the way of its accurate andcomplete survey. Captain Vancouver, however, was extremely fortunatein the weather which attended him during the whole of the threesummers which he spent on this coast.

Upwards of twenty years elapsed after the voyage of Vancouver,before another attempt was made to find out a passage from the northPacific 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 his liberal and judiciousencouragement of every thing which can promote useful knowledge,especially in what relates to the improvement and benefit of hiscountry. His first design was to fit out an expedition to explore thenorth-west passage by Hudson's Bay or Davis' Straits; but learningthat the British government were making preparations to attempt it bythat route, he changed his plan, and resolved to fit out anexpedition to attempt the discovery of a passage from theeastward.

A ship was accordingly built and equipped, and the command givento Lieutenant Kotzebue. He sailed from Russia in the autumn of 1815,and on the 19th of June in the following year he reached Kamschatka.This he left on the 15th of July and on the 20th of that month,Behring's Islands were seen to the northward of Cape Prince of Wales.A tract of low land was ascertained to be an island about seven mileslong, and a mile across, in the widest part: beyond it was a deepinlet running eastward into the continent. Lieutenant Kotzebue,animated and encouraged by this appearance, proceeded in a northerlydirection, and found that the land continued low, and tended more tothe eastwards. On the 1st of August the entrance into a broad inletwas discovered, into which the current ran very rapidly. The openingof this inlet was known before, and is indeed laid down in the chartsattached to Marchand's Voyage round the World; but Kotzebue iscertainly the first person who explained it. As it was perfectly calmwhen he reached this inlet, he resolved to go on shore, and examinefrom some eminence the direction of the coast. "We landed," heobserves, "without difficulty, near a hill, which I immediatelyascended; from the summit I could no where perceive land in thestrait: the high mountains to the north either formed islands, orwere a coast by themselves; for that the two coasts could not beconnected together was evident, even from the very great differencebetween this very low and that remarkably high land. It was myintention to continue the survey of the coast in the boats, but anumber of baydares coming to us along the coast from the east,withheld me." He afterwards had an interview with the Americans whocame in these baydares: he found that they prized tobacco veryhighly, and that they received this and other European goods from thenatives of the opposite coast of Asia. It was probably the first timein their lives that these Americans had seen Europeans. They were ofthe middle size; robust and healthy; ugly and dirty; with small eyes,and very high cheek bones: "they bore holes on each side of theirmouths, in which they wear morse bones, ornamented with blue glassbeads, which give them a most frightful appearance. Their dresses,which are made of skins, are of the same cut as the Parka, inKamtschatka; only that there they reach to the feet, and here hardlycover the knee: besides this, they wear pantaloons, and small halfboots of seal skins."

The latitude of this place, or rather of the ship's anchorage, atthe time this survey was made, was 66° 42' 30", and the longitude164° 12' 50". There were several circ*mstances which inducedKotzebue to hope that he had at length found the channel which led tothe Atlantic: nothing was seen but sea to the eastward, and a strongcurrent ran to the north-east. Under these circ*mstances, thirteendays were occupied in examining the shores of this opening; but nooutlet was discovered, except one to the south-east, which seemed tocommunicate with Norton Sound, and a channel on the western side,which of course could not be the one sought for. Kotzebue, however,remarks, "I certainly hope that this sound may lead to importantdiscoveries next year; and though a north-east passage may not withcertainty be depended on, yet I believe I shall be able to penetratemuch farther to the east, as the land has very deep indentures." Thename of Kotzebue's Sound was given to this inlet. Next year hereturned to prosecute his discovery; but in consequence of anaccident which happened to the ship, and a very dangerous blow whichhe received at the same time, he abandoned the attempt.

That there is an opening, either by Kotzebue's Inlet or near toit, to the Frozen Ocean, is probable, not only from the circ*mstanceswe have mentioned of an opening and a strong current to thenorth-east having been observed, but also from other circ*mstancesnoticed in the account of this voyage. This current brings largequantities of drift wood into Kotzebue's Sound: and in the breakingup of the ice in the sea of Kamschatka, the icebergs and fields ofice do not drift, as in the Atlantic, to the south, nor do they driveto the Atlantic islands, but into the strait to the north. Thedirection 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 intwenty-four hours; that is, above two miles an hour. On the Asiaticside of the strait it ran at the rate of three miles an hour; andeven with a fresh north wind, it ran equally strong from the south.The inference drawn by Kotzebue is as follows: "The constantnorth-east direction of the current in Behring's Straits, proves thatthe water meets with no opposition, and consequently a passage mustexist, though perhaps not adapted to navigation. Observations havelong been made, that the current in Baffin's Bay runs to the south;and thus no doubt can remain that the mass of water which flows intoBehring's Straits takes its course round America, and returns throughBaffin's Bay into the Ocean."

In 1819 the Russian government sent out another expedition, whoseobject was to trace the continent of America to the northward andeastward. In July, 1820, they reached Behring's Straits, and weresupposed to have passed them in that year; in the winter theyreturned to some of the Russian 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 northernparts of these continents, and the probability of a passage from thePacific to the Atlantic.

Very lately some attempts have been made to reach thenorth-eastern extremity of Asia by land. "In February, 1821, BaronWrangel, an officer of great merit and of considerable science, lefthis head-quarters in the Nishney Kolyma, to settle by astronomicalobservations the position of Shatatzkoi Noss, or the North-east Capeof Asia, which he found to lie in latitude 70° 5' north,considerably lower than it is usually placed in the maps. Havingcrossed this point, he undertook the hazardous enterprize of crossingthe ice of the Polar Sea, on sledges drawn by dogs, in search of theland said to have been discovered in 1762 to the northward of theKolyma, He travelled directly north eighty miles, without perceivingany thing but a field of interminable ice, the surface of which hadnow become so broken and uneven, as to prevent a further prosecutionof his journey. He had gone far enough, however, to ascertain that nosuch land had ever been discovered." (Quarterly Review, No. LII. p.342.)

Another attempt, still more extraordinary and hazardous, haslately been made to explore the north-east of Asia, and particularlyto determine whether the two continents of Asia and America do notunite at the North-east Cape, or in some other point. This enterprizewas undertaken by Henry Dundas Cochrane, a commander in the Britishnavy; who received assurances from the Russian government that heshould not be molested on his journey; that he should receive anyassistance, protection, and facilities he should require; and that hemight join an expedition sent by the Russian government toward thePole, if he should meet it, and accompany it as far as he might beinclined. He left Petersburgh in the beginning of the summer of 1820,and in one hundred and twenty-three days reached the Baikal, havingtraversed eight thousand versts of country, at the rate offorty-three miles a day. He seems afterwards to have gone as far asthe Altai Mountains, on the frontiers of China. As, however, hisprincipal object was to explore the extreme north-east of Asia, hewent down the Lena, and reached Jakutzk on the 16th of October, 1820.On the Kolyma, where he arrived on the 30th of December, in longitude164°, he met the Russian polar expedition. From Jakutzk to thisplace he travelled four hundred miles, without meeting a single humanbeing. At the fair held at Tchutski, whither he next directed hissteps, he received much information respecting the northeast of Asia.He ascertained the existence of this cape; all doubts, he says, beingnow solved, not by calculation, but by ocular demonstration. Itslatitude and longitude, are well ascertained: he places this capehalf a degree more to the northward than Baron Wrangel; but it isdoubtful whether he himself reached it, and if he did, whether he hadthe means of fixing its latitude, or whether he depends entirely onthe information he received at the fair of Tchutski. His expressions,in a letter to the President of the Royal Society, are, "No land isconsidered to exist to the northward of it. The east side of the Nossis composed of bold and perpendicular cliffs, while the west sideexhibits gradual declivities; the whole most sterile, but presentingan awfully magnificent appearance." From the fair he seems to havereturned to Kolyma, and thence proceeded to Okotsk, a dangerous,difficult, and fatiguing journey of three thousand versts, a greatpart performed on foot, in seventy days. From this last place heproceeded to Kamschatka, where it is supposed he was obliged toterminate his investigations, in consequence of an order orintimation from the Russian government not to proceed further.

We must next direct our attention to what has been done since thecommencement of the eighteenth century, toward discovering a passagein the north-east of America, from the Atlantic to the PacificOcean.

One of the conditions on which the Hudson's Bay Company obtainedtheir charter, in the year 1670, from Charles II., was, that theyshould prosecute their discoveries; but so far from doing this, theyare accused, and with great appearance of reason, of not onlysuffering their ardour for discovery to cool, but also ofendeavouring to conceal, as much as possible, the true situation andnature of the coast about Hudson's Bay, partly in order to securemore effectually their monopoly, and partly from the dread theyentertained, that if a passage to the Pacific were discovered by thisroute, government would recal their charter, and grant it to the EastIndia Company. They were indeed roused, but very ineffectively, fromtheir torpor, by one of their captains intimating, that if theyrefused to fulfill the terms of their charter, by making discoveries,and extending their trade, he would himself apply to the crown. Inorder to silence him, they sent him and another captain out in twovessels, 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 the commandof a person, who, destitute of the requisite knowledge andenterprize, was totally unfit for such an undertaking: the result wassuch as might have been anticipated--nothing was effected. Aninterval of twenty years passed over, and the company again sank intoapathy on the subject of a north-west passage, when the attention ofgovernment was directed to the subject by the enthusiasm of an Irishgentleman of the name of Dobbs. Having well considered what precedingnavigators had ascertained, and especially the remarkablecirc*mstance particularly noticed by Fox, that the farther he removedfrom Sir Thomas Roe's Welcome the smaller was the height to which thetide rose, and who thence inferred, that if a passage werepracticable, it must be in this direction, this gentleman applied tothe company to send out a vessel. Accordingly, a vessel was sent; butall that is known of this voyage, and probably all that was done,amounts merely to this, that the vessel reached 62° 30' northlatitude: here they saw a number of islands, and of white whales, andascertained that the tide rose ten or twelve feet, and came from thenorth.

Mr. Dobbs next applied to government, who at his request sent outtwo vessels under Captain Middleton. But Middleton, who had been inthe service of the company for many voyages, returned after havingsailed up the Welcome to Wager's River, and looked into, or perhapssailed round, a bay, which he named Repulse Bay. Mr. Dobbs accusedhim of having misrepresented or concealed his discoveries; and thereseems good ground for such an accusation, which indeed was confirmedby the evidence of his officers, and not explicitly denied byhimself. Government was undoubtedly of opinion that the voyage ofMiddleton had not determined the non-existence or impracticability ofa passage; for the next year an act of parliament was passed,granting a reward of 20,000 l. to the person or persons whoshould discover a northwest passage through Hudson's Straits to thewestern and southern ocean of America.

Stimulated by the hope of obtaining this large sum, a company wasformed, who raised 10,000 l., in shares of 100l., with whichthey fitted out two ships; the Dobbs, commanded by Captain More; andthe California, by Captain Smith. They sailed from London on the 20thof May, 1746. When they reached the American coast near MarbleIsland, they made some observations on the tides, which they foundflowed from the north-east, and consequently followed the directionof the coast; they likewise ascertained that the tide rose to theheight of ten feet. While they were in their winter quarters at PortJackson, they received little or no assistance from the servants ofthe Hudson's Bay Company. On resuming their voyage, and reaching thevicinity of Knight's Island, the needles of their compasses losttheir magnetic quality, which they did not recover till they werekept warm. Proceeding northwards, they examined Wager's Strait; butin consequence of a difference of opinion between the commanders,they returned to England. The only points ascertained by this voyagewere, that Wager's Strait was a deep bay, or inlet, and that thereexisted another inlet, which, however, they did not explore to thetermination, named by them Chesterfield's Inlet. The fresh buffalo'sflesh, which was sold to them by the Esquimaux, was probably theflesh of the musk ox.

After this voyage nothing was done, either by the Hudson's BayCompany, government, or individuals, towards the exploring of apassage in the north, till the year 1762, when the company,coinciding with the opinion that was then prevalent, thatChesterfield's Inlet ought to be examined, as affording a fairprospect of a passage into the Pacific Ocean, sent a vessel todetermine this point. The report of the captain, on his return, was,that he had sailed up the inlet in a westerly direction for more thanone hundred and fifty miles, till he found the water perfectly fresh;but he acknowledged that he did not go farther, or reach the head ofit. As the result of this voyage was deemed unsatisfactory, stillleaving 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, ifpracticable. They ascertained that the fresh water, which had beendiscovered in the former voyage, was that of a river, which was theoutlet of a lake, and this lake they explored; it was twenty-fourmiles long, and six or seven broad; they likewise found a riverflowing into the lake from the west, but they were prevented fromexploring it to any great distance by falls, that intercepted theprogress of their boats. These particulars are detailed in Goldson'sObservations on the Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans;the voyages themselves were never published, do not seem to begenerally known, and have escaped the notice of Forster, the authorof the History of Voyages and Discoveries in the North. Forster islikewise silent respecting an expedition that was equipped and sentout by some gentlemen of Virginia in 1772, to attempt a north-westpassage. The captain on his return reported that he reached a largebay in latitude 69° 11', which he supposed hitherto unknown; thatfrom the course of the tides, he thought it probable there might be apassage 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 theprospect of gain than to the interests of discovery and geographicalscience, having received some information from the Indians thatcopper might be obtained in great quantity far to the west of FortPrince of Wales, resolved to dispatch Mr. Hearne, belonging to thatfort, in search of it. This gentleman made four different excursionsfor this purpose, but it was only during the fourth that he reachedto any great distance from the fort. In this excursion he penetratedto what he conceived to be the mouth of the Coppermine River, in theFrozen Ocean, about the latitude of 72° north. According to hisaccount, Chesterfield Inlet is not the north-west passage, and theAmerican continent stretches very considerably to the north-west ofHudson's Bay. The whole extent of his journey was about thirteenhundred miles. It was however doubted, whether what he deemed to bethe mouth of the Coppermine River was actually such. It is certainlysingular, that though he staid there for twenty-four hours, he didnot actually ascertain the height to which the tide rose, but judgedat that circ*mstance from the marks on the edge of the ice. There areother points in the printed account, as well as discrepancies betweenthat and his MS., which tended to withhold implicit belief from hisassertion, that he had reached the Frozen Ocean.

In the year 1789 the North-west Company having receivedinformation from an Indian, that there was at no great distance fromMontreal, to the northward, a river which ran into the sea, Mr.M'Kenzie, one of the partners of that company, resolved to ascertainthe truth of this report, by going himself on an expedition for thatpurpose. He set out, attended by a few Indians; and after traversingthe desert and inhospitable country in which the posts of the companyare established, he reached a river which ran to the north. Hefollowed the course of this river till he arrived at what heconceived to be the Frozen Ocean, were he saw some small whales amongthe ice, and determined the rise and fall of the tide. This river wascalled after him, Mackenzie's River, and to the island he gave thename of Whale Island. This island is in latitude 69° 14'.

In 1793 Mr. M'Kenzie again set out on an inland voyage ofgeographical and commercial discovery, taking with him the requisiteastronomical instruments and a chronometer. His course he directed tothe west. After travelling one hundred miles on foot, he and hiscompanions embarked on a river, running westward, which conveyed themto an inlet of the Pacific Ocean. Here he observed the rise and fallof the tide, and saw porpoises and sea otters. The claim of thediscovery of the Frozen Ocean by a north-west route, to which Mr.M'Kenzie lays claim, has been questioned, as well as Mr. Hearne'sclaim. It has been remarked, that he might have ascertained beyond adoubt whether he had actually reached the sea, by simply dipping hisfinger into the water, and ascertaining whether it was salt or not.The account he gives of the rise of the tides at the mouth ofMackenzie River serves also to render it very doubtful whether he hadreached the ocean; this rise he does not estimate greater thansixteen or eighteen inches. On the whole, we may conclude, that ifMr. Hearne actually traced the Coppermine River to its entrance intothe sea, or Mr. M'Kenzie the river that bears his name, they have notbeen sufficiently explicit in their proofs that such was really thecase.

At the time when the British government sent out Captain Cooke onhis last voyage of discovery, Lieutenant Pickersgill was also sentout by them, to examine the western parts of Baffin's Bay, but henever entered the bay. Government were equally unfortunate in theirchoice of Lieutenant Young, who was sent with the same object thefollowing year: he reached no farther than the seventy-second degreeof latitude; and instead of sailing along the western side of thebay, which is generally free from ice, he clung to the eastern side,to which the ice is always firmly attached. Indeed, if Dr. Douglas'scharacter of him was just, he was ill fitted for the enterprize onwhich he was sent; for his talents, he observes, were more adapted tocontribute to the glory of a victory, as commander of aline-of-battle ship, than to add to geographical discoveries byencountering mountains of ice, and exploring unknown coasts.

Notwithstanding the unsuccessful issue of all these attempts todiscover a north-west passage, the existence and practicability of itstill were cherished by many geographers, who had particularlystudied the subject. Indeed, nothing had resulted from any of thenumerous voyages to the Hudson's or Baffin's Bay, which in thesmallest degree rendered the existence of such a passage unlikely.Among those scientific men who cherished the idea of such a passagewith the most enthusiasm and confidence, and who brought to theinvestigation the most extensive and minute knowledge of all that hadbeen done, was Mr. Dalrymple, hydrographer to the Admiralty. "He hadlong been of opinion, that not only Greenland, but all the land seenby Baffin on the northern and eastern sides of the great bay bearinghis name, was composed of clusters of islands, and that a passagethrough the Fretum Davis, round the northern extremity ofCumberland Island, led directly to the North Sea, from the seventy tothe seventy-first degree of latitude." This opinion of Mr. Dalrymplewas grounded, in part at least, on the authority of an old globe, oneof the first constructed in Britain, preserved in the library of theInner Temple: this globe contains all the discoveries of our earlynavigators. 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 latestdiscoveries, both Spanish, Portugal, and English, composed by Mr.Emmeric Molyneaux, of Lambeth, a rare gentleman in his profession,being therein for diverse years greatly supported by the purse andliberality of the worshipful merchant Mr. William Sanderson."

Mr. Dalrymple prevailed on the Hudson's Bay Company to send outMr. Duncan, a master in the navy, who had displayed considerabletalent on a voyage to Nootka Sound. This gentleman was very sanguineof success, and very zealous in the cause in which he was employed.But this attempt also was unsuccessful: Mr. Duncan, after aconsiderable lapse of time, reaching no farther than ChesterfieldInlet.

The attention of scientific men, and of the public at large, wascalled again to this important problem in the geography of thenorthern seas, by some elaborate and well informed articles in theQuarterly Review, which are generally supposed to be written by Mr.Barrow, the under secretary of the Admiralty, who also published anabstract of voyages to the Northern Ocean.

The British government, influenced by a very laudable love ofscience, and perhaps regarding the discovery of a north-west passageas of the same importance to commerce as the reviewer evidently did,resolved to send an expedition for the purpose of attempting thediscovery. Accordingly, on the 8th of April 1818, two ships, theIsabella and Alexander, well fitted by their construction, as well asstrengthened and prepared in every possible manner for such a voyage,sailed from the Thames. Captain Ross had the principal command. It isnot our design here to follow them during their voyage to theirdestination: suffice it to say, that on the 18th of August, exactlyfour months after they sailed from the Thames, the ships passed CapeDudley Digges, the latitude of which they found to agree nearly withthat assigned to it by Baffin, thus affording another proof of theaccuracy of that old navigator, whose alleged discoveries have beenlatterly attempted to be wrested from him, or rather been utterlydenied. The same day they passed an inlet, to which Baffin had giventhe name of Wolstenholme Sound. Captain Ross, in his account of hisvoyage, says it was completely blocked up with ice; but in the viewtaken of it, and published by him, there is a deep and wide opening,completely free from ice. In fact, on this occasion, as well asothers of more consequence, to which we shall presently advert,Captain Ross, unfortunately for the accomplishment of the object onwhich he was sent, contented himself with conjecture where proof wasaccessible; for all he remarks respecting this sound is, that itseemed to be eighteen or twenty leagues in depth, and the land on theeast side appeared to be habitable. When it is considered that inthese high and foggy latitudes much deception of sight takes place,it ought to be the absolute and undeviating rule of the navigator toexplore so far, and to examine so carefully and closely, that he maybe certain, at least, that his sight does not deceive him. The samenegligence attended the examination of Whale Sound: all the notice ofit is, that they could not approach it in a direct line, on accountof ice; it was, in fact, never approached nearer than twenty leagues.Captain Ross does not seem to have been fully sensible of the natureof the object on which he was sent out. If there existed a passage atall, it must be in a strait, sound, or some other opening of the sea:it could exist no where else. Every such opening, which exhibited theleast appearance, or the smallest symptoms of stretching far,especially if it stretched in the proper direction, ought to havebeen practically and closely examined, not merely viewed at adistance in a foggy atmosphere. As for the impediments, they werewhat were to be expected, what the ships were sent out to meet andovercome; and till persevering and even highly hazardous efforts hadproved that they could not be overcome, they ought not to have beensuffered to weigh the least with the captain or his men, andespecially not with the former.

But to proceed: about midnight on the 19th of August, the sounddescribed by Baffin to be the largest of all the sounds hediscovered, and called by him Sir Thomas Smith's Sound, wasdistinctly seen; and the two capes which formed its entrance werecalled by Captain Ross after the two ships Isabella and Alexander. "Iconsidered," he informs us, "the bottom of this sound to be abouteighteen leagues distant, but its entrance was completely blocked upby ice." Here again, a sound which seemed to promise fair to leadthem into the great Polar Sea was left undiscovered, and in factunapproached; for at the distance of eighteen leagues, in thatdeceptive climate, nothing could be really known of its real state orpracticability. Had Captain Ross made the attempt; had he spent but acouple of days, and actually encountered serious obstacles, eventhough he had not experienced that those obstacles wereinsurmountable, he would have had some excuse; but it is impossiblenot to censure him for approaching no nearer than eighteen leagues toa sound such as this, and pronouncing at this distance that the iceblocked it up completely. His reasoning to support his belief thatthis sound afforded no passage, and to defend his not having exploredit, is weak and inconclusive; but we shall not examine it, becausethe commander to whom such an expedition is entrusted, should neverreason, where he can prove by actual observation and experiment. Itis unsafe in him to reason, because he will most assuredly be temptedto make his line of conduct bend to his hypothesis and reasoning.

Captain Ross returned down the western side of Baffin's Bay. Onthe 21st an opening was seen, which answered to the description ofAlderman Jones Sound, given by Baffin; but here again the ice and fogprevented them from approaching near; as if the fog might not havecleared up in a day or two, and the ice might not either have beendrifted off in as short a space, or, if it could not, have beenpassed by the crew, so far, at least, as to have gained a nearer andbetter view of this sound.

Baffin describes this sound as a large inlet, and adds, that thecoast tended to the southward, and had the appearance of a bay. Thisis confirmed by Captain Ross; for he informs us that the land wasobserved to take a southerly direction. On the 28th of August the seabecame more clear of ice, and no bottom was found with three hundredfathoms of line: in the afternoon of that day they succeeded ingetting completely clear of the ice, and once more found themselvesin the open sea. Baffin and Davis both mention that the northernparts of Baffin's Bay were clear of ice when they were there, so thatit is probably generally the case. On the 29th a wide opening wasdescried in the land; this they entered on the following day. "Oneach 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 wasthere any ice on the water, except a few icebergs; the openingtherefore took the appearance of a channel, the entrance of which wasjudged to be forty-five miles; the land on the north side lying in anE.N.E. and W.S.W. direction, and the south side nearly east andwest." "As the evening closed, the wind died away, the weather becamemild and warm, the water much smoother, and the atmosphere clear andserene."

Even those who are little acquainted with the symptoms which inthis high latitude indicate an open sea, must be struck with the widedifference between these circ*mstances and those which had met thenavigators in almost every other part of their voyage, since they hadapproached the place where a passage might possibly exist and befound. Yet, even at this time and place, when expectation must havebeen high, and not without good reason, and when we are expresslyinformed by Captain Ross that much interest was excited by theappearance of the sound, the attempt to ascertain, by close andaccurate investigation, whether this sound was really closed at itsextremity, or led into another sea, was given up, after having sailedinto it during the night, and till three o'clock the following day.It is unnecessary here to examine the reasons which induced CaptainRoss to leave this sound without putting the question of its natureand termination beyond a doubt, by an accurate and close survey. Hesays, that at three o'clock he distinctly saw the land round thebottom of the bay, forming a connected chain of mountains with thosewhich extended along the north and south sides. No person seems tohave been on deck when this land was seen by the captain, and ordersin consequence given to put the ships about, except Mr. Lewis, themaster, and another. So that in this latitude, where the sight at alltimes is mocked with fogs and other circ*mstances which mislead it,and where, therefore, it is absolutely necessary that as many eyes aspossible should be employed, that these should get as near the objectas possible, that it should be viewed for a considerable length oftime, and under as many aspects, and from as many points aspossible--not a subordinate or incidental design of the voyage, butthat for which it was expressly made, was abandoned, and on the soleresponsibility of the captain and two other persons.

It is evident, too, that the entrance to many inland seas seems,when viewed from a distance, to be blocked up by connected land. Itis well observed by the reviewer, whom we have already quoted, thatthere is not a reach in the Thames that to the eye does not appear toterminate the river; and in many of them (in the Hope, for instance)it is utterly impossible to form a conjecture, at the distance ofonly two or three miles, what part of the land is intersected by thestream.

Although, however, this voyage was abandoned when it ought not tohave been, and consequently failed in its peculiar and importantobject, yet some access to geographical knowledge was gained by it.The existence of Baffin's Bay is confirmed, though its width and formare different from those which were previously assigned it in themaps; and thus this enterprising and deserving navigator has atlength justice done to him.

Other branches of science were benefited and extended by thisvoyage, however unsuccessful it proved in its grand and leadingobject; and some of the accessions were of a very interesting nature.We allude principally to the observations made on the swinging of thependulum,--the variation and dip of the magnetic needle,--especiallyby the influence of the iron in and about the ship,--and on thetemperature of the sea at different depths.

Soon after the return of this expedition, an order in council wasissued, which empowered and authorized the Board of Longitude toadopt a graduated scale of rewards, proportioned to the progress ofdiscovery made to the westward in these high northern latitudes, fromHudson's or Baffin's Bay, in the direction of the Pacific Ocean. Thefirst point of this graduated scale is the meridian of the CoppermineRiver of Hearne, and whatever ship reaches this is entitled to areward of 5000l. Government were so convinced that Captain Ross'svoyage had increased the probability of a north-west passage, thatthey determined to lose no time in making another attempt to discoverit; and in order to afford every chance of success to this secondattempt, they also determined, not only to send out a maritimeexpedition, to follow out the route which Captain Ross had sounaccountably and provokingly abandoned, but also to send out a landexpedition, to co-operate in the same grand object.

The latter, under the command and direction of LieutenantFranklin, was ordered to proceed from Fort York, on the shores ofHudson's Bay, to the mouth of the Coppermine River; and from thencealong the shores of the Polar Sea, either to the east or to thenorth, as circ*mstances might determine: they were expressly to havein view the determination of the question regarding the position ofthe northeastern extremity of the continent of America. As the routeof this land expedition lay for a great part of it through thosedistricts within which the Hudson's Bay Company were accustomed totravel and trade, their co-operation and assistance was requested andobtained. The exact results of this land expedition are not yet fullyand clearly known; but it is generally understood, that after havingundergone infinite hardships and sufferings, they have been enabledto confirm Hearne and Mackenzie's discoveries or conjecturesrespecting the Coppermine River, and to ascertain other pointsconnected with the geography and natural history of these remote andalmost inaccessible regions, though the most important and leadingpoints of the expedition have not been settled. [6]

[6] Since this part of our work was written, thenarrative of Lieutenant Franklin has been published: from this itappears, that he was engaged in this arduous undertaking during theyears 1819, 1820, 1821, and 1822; that the route he followed to theCoppermine River was to the east o the routes of M'Kenzie and Hearne;that he reached the river three hundred and thirty-four miles northof Fort Enterprize; and the Polar Sea in lat. 67° 47' 50"; and inlongitude 115° 36' 49" west; that he sailed five hundred andfifty miles along its shores to the eastward, and then returned toPort Enterprize.

In consequence of Captain Ross having penetrated into Baffin'sBay, an object only accomplished once before by Baffin himself, andwhich for two hundred years had been frequently again fruitlesslyattempted, the Greenland ships which left England during the seasonimmediately following Captain Ross's return, were induced, in orderto reach a fresh and unfished sea, to pursue the course that he hadopened for them. The circ*mstance that fourteen of them were wrecked,proves, unless the season had been uncommonly tempestuous, thatCaptain Ross must have conducted his expedition with considerablecare and skill, notwithstanding he missed an excellent opportunity ofeither discovering a north-west passage, or of adding one moreopening to those which were proved not to contain it.

The second sea expedition, to which we have already alluded, wasunder the direction of Captain Parry, who had sailed along withCaptain Ross in the first expedition; he was therefore possessed ofmuch knowledge and experience, which would prove essentially usefuland directly applicable to the object he was about to undertake. Twoships were fitted out with all necessary preparations for such avoyage, the Hecla bomb, and Griper gun-brig, and they sailed from theThames early in the month of May 1819. Of the high importance andvalue to navigators of the chronometer, Captain Parry had a strikingand undoubted proof in the early part of his voyage. On the 24th ofMay he saw a small solitary crag, called Rockall, not far from theOrkney Islands. "There is," he observes, in this part of his journal,"no more striking proof of the infinite value of chronometers at sea,than the certainty with which a ship may sail directly for a singlerock, like this, rising like a speck out of the ocean, and at thedistance of forty-seven leagues from any other land."

About the middle of July he reached the latitude of 73°, afterhaving made many fruitless attempts to cross the ice that fills thecentral portion of Davis's Strait and Baffin's Bay. the instructionsof Captain Parry particularly pointed out the sound which CaptainRoss had left unexplored, and which there could be no doubt was theSir James Lancaster's Sound of Baffin, to be most carefully andminutely examined, as the one by which it was most probable anorth-west passage might be effected, or which, at least, even if notnavigable, on account of the ice, would connect the Pacific andAtlantic Oceans. On the seventh day after entering this sound, hesucceeded in reaching open water; but this was not reached withoutinfinite difficulty and labour, as the breadth of the barrier of icewas found to be eighty miles; through this they penetrated by the aidof sailing, tracking, heaving by the capstan, and sawing, being ableto advance, even with the assistance of all the methods, only at therate of half a mile an hour, or twelve miles a day.

For some days after this, their patience was tried, and nearlyexhausted, by contrary winds, but on the 3d of August a favourableand fresh breeze arose from the eastward. Advantage was immediatelytaken of it. "We all felt," says Captain Parry, "it was that point ofthe voyage which was to determine the success or failure of theexpedition, according as one or other of the opposite opinionsrespecting the termination of the sound should be corroborated. It ismore easy to imagine than to describe (he continues) the almostbreathless anxiety which was now visible in every countenance, while,as the breeze increased to a fresh gale, we ran quickly up the sound.The masts' heads were crowded by the officers and men during thewhole afternoon; and an unconcerned observer (if any could have beenunconcerned on such an occasion) would have been amused by theeagerness with which the various reports from the crow's-nest werereceived, all, however, hitherto favourable to our most sanguinehopes."

The weather, most fortunately at this interesting and importantperiod, continued remarkably clear; and the ships having reached thelongitude of 83° 12', the two shores of the sound wereascertained to be still at least fifty miles asunder, and what wasstill more encouraging, no land was discerned to the westward. Infact, there seemed no obstacle; none of those mountains with which,according to Captain Ross, the passage of the sound was eternallyblocked up, nor even any ice, an object of a less serious andpermanent nature. Other circ*mstances were also encouraging; thewhole surface of the sea was completely free from ice, no land wasseen in the direction of their course, and no bottom could be reachedwith one hundred and seventy fathoms of line, so that "we began,"observes Captain Parry, "to flatter ourselves that we had fairlyentered the Polar Sea, and some of the most sanguine among us hadeven calculated the bearing and distance of Icy Cape, as a matter ofno very difficult or improbable accomplishment. This pleasingprospect was rendered the more flattering, by the sea having, as wethought, regained the usual oceanic colour, and by a long swell whichwas rolling in from the southward and eastward." The firstcirc*mstance that threw a damp over their sanguine expectations, wasthe discovery of land a-head; they were however renewed byascertaining that this was only a small island: but though theinsurmountable obstacle of a land termination of the sound was thusremoved, another appeared in its place; as they perceived that a floeof ice was stretched from the island to the northern shore. On thesouthern shore, however, a large inlet was discovered, ten leaguesbroad at its entrance, and as no land could be seen in the line ofits direction, hopes were excited that it might lead to a passageinto the Polar Sea, freer from ice than the one above described. Atthis period of the voyage a singular circ*mstance was remarked:during their passage down Sir James Lancaster's Sound, the compasswould scarcely traverse, and the ship's iron evidently had greatinfluence over it: both these phaenomena became more apparent andpowerful, in proportion as their westerly course encreased. When theywere arrived in the latitude of 73°, the directive power of theneedle became so weak, that it was completely overcome by theattraction of the iron in the ship, so that the needle might now besaid to point to the north pole of the ship. And by an experiment itwas found, that a needle suspended by a thread, the movements ofwhich were of course scarcely affected by any friction, alwayspointed to the head of the ship, in whatever direction it mightbe.

To this inlet, which Captain Parry was now sailing down, he gavethe name of the Prince Regent. The prospect was still veryflattering: the width increased as they proceeded, and the landinclined more and more to the south-westward. But their expectationswere again destroyed: a floe of ice stretched to the southward,beyond which no sea was to be descried. Captain Parry thereforeresolved to return to the wide westerly passage which he had quitted.On the 22d of August, being in longitude 92-1/4°, they opened twofine channels, the one named after the Duke of Wellington; this waseight leagues in width, and neither land nor ice could be seen fromthe mast head though the weather was extremely clear; this channeltended to the N.N.W. The other stretched nearly west: and though itwas not so open, yet as it was more directly in the course which itwas their object to pursue, it was preferred by Captain Parry. By the25th they had reached 99° west longitude, about 20 degrees beyondLancaster Sound. On the 30th they made the S.E. point of MelvilleIsland. By the 4th of September they had passed the meridian of110° west longitude, in latitude 74° 44' 20": this entitledthem to the first sum in the scale of rewards granted by parliament,namely 5000 l; as at this part of their course they wereopposite a point of land lying in the S.E. of Melville Island; thispoint was called Bounty Cape. On the 6th of September they anchored,for the first time since they had left England, in a bay, calledafter the two ships.

During the remainder of the season of 1819, which howevercontained only twenty more days, in which any thing could be done,Captain Parry prosecuted with much perseverance, and in the midst ofinfinite difficulties and obstacles, a plan which had suggesteditself to him some time before; this was to conduct the ships closeto the shore, within the main body of the ice; but their progress wasso extremely slow, that, during the remainder of the year they didnot advance more than forty miles. On the 21st Captain Parryabandoned the undertaking, and returned to the bay which was calledafter the two ships. Here they lay ten months; and the arrangementsmade by Captain Parry for the safety of the vessels, and for thehealth, comfort, and even the amusem*nt of the crew, were planned andeffected with such admirable good sense, that listlessness andfatigue were strangers, even among sailors, a class of men who, aboveall others, it would have been apprehended, would have soon weariedof such a monotonous life. The commencement of winter was justlydated from the 14th of September, when the thermometer suddenly fellto 9°. On the 4th of November the sun descended below thehorizon, and did not appear again till the 8th of February. A littlebefore and after what in other places is called the shortest day, butwhich to them was the middle of their long night, there was as muchlight as enabled them to read small print, when held towards thesouth, and to walk comfortably for two hours. Excessive cold, asindicated by the thermometer, took place in January: it then sunkfrom 30° to 40° below Zero: on the 11th of this month it wasat 49°; yet no disease, or even pain or inconvenience was felt inconsequence of this most excessive cold, provided the properprecautions were used; nor did any complaint arise from the extremeand rapid change of temperature to which they were exposed, when, aswas often the case, they passed from the cabins, which were keptheated up to 60° or 70°, to the open air, though the changein one minute was in several instances 120° of temperature.

Cold, however, as January was, yet the following month, though, aswe have already observed, it again exhibited the sun to them, wasmuch colder; on the 15th of February the thermometer fell to 55°below Zero, and remained for fifteen hours not higher than 54°.Within the next fifteen hours it gradually rose to 34°. Butthough the sun re-appeared early in February, they had still a longimprisonment to endure; and Captain Parry did not consider it safe toleave their winter quarters till the 1st of August, when they againsailed to the westward: their mode of proceeding was the same as thatwhich they had adopted the preceding year, viz. crawling along theshore, within the fast ice; in this manner they got to the west endof Melville Island. But all their efforts to proceed further were ofno avail. Captain Parry was now convinced, that somewhere to thesouth-west of this there must be an immoveable obstacle, whichprevented the ice dispersing in that direction, as it had been foundto do in every other part of the voyage.

At last, on the 16th of August, further attempts were given up,and Captain Parry determined to return to the eastward, along theedge of the ice, in order that he might push to the southward if hecould find an opening. Such an opening, however, could not be found;but by coasting southward, along the west side of Baffin's Bay,Captain Parry convinced himself that there are other passages intoPrince Regent's Inlet, besides that by Lancaster Sound. The farthestpoint in the Polar sea reached in this voyage was latitude 71°26' 23", and longitude 113° 46' 43:5". On the 26th of Septemberthey took a final leave of the ice, and about the middle of Novemberthey arrived in the Thames.

In every point of view this voyage was extremely creditable toCaptain Parry; it is not surpassed by any for the admirable manner inwhich it was conducted, for the presence of mind, perseverance, andskill of all the arrangements and operations. It has alsoconsiderably benefited all those branches of science to which theobservations and experiments of Captain Ross and his companions weredirected, and to which we have already adverted. Perhaps in no onepoint has it been of more use to mariners, than in proving the minuteaccuracy of going to which chronometers have been brought.

As this expedition very naturally encouraged the hope that anorth-west passage existed, and might be discovered and effected, andas Captain Parry was decidedly of this opinion, government veryproperly resolved to send him out again; he accordingly sailed in thespring of the year following that of his return. He recommended thatthe attempt should be made in a more southern latitude, and closealong the northern coast of America, as in that direction a betterclimate might be expected, and a longer season by at least six weeks;and this recommendation, it is supposed, had its weight with theadmiralty in the instructions and discretionary powers which theygave him.

We must now direct our attention to the southern polar regions.Geographers and philosophers supposed that in this portion of theglobe there must be some continent or very large island, which wouldserve, as it were, to counterbalance the immense tracts of landwhich, to the northward, stretched not only as near the pole, asnavigation had been able to proceed, but also west and east, thewhole breadth of Europe and Asia.

The second voyage of Captain Cook was planned and undertaken forthe express purpose of solving the question respecting the TerraAustralis which occupied the older maps. He sailed on this voyage inJuly 1772, having under his command two ships, particularly welladapted and fitted up for such a service, the Resolution andAdventure; he was accompanied by a select band of officers, most ofwhom were not only skilful and experienced navigators, but alsoscientific astronomers and geographers; there were also two professedastronomers, two gentlemen who were well skilled in every branch ofnatural history, and a landscape painter.

On the 12th of December, Captain Cook entered the loose andfloating ice, in latitude 62° 10'; on the 21st he met withicebergs in latitude 67°; and by the end of the month he returnedto latitude 58°. On the 26th of January in the following year, heagain penetrated within the Antarctic circle, and on the 30th, hadgot as far as latitude 71° 16'. This was the utmost point towhich he was able to penetrate; and he was so fully persuaded, notonly of the impracticability of being able to sail further to thesouth, but also of remaining in that latitude, that he returned tothe northward the very same day, deeming it, as he expresses it, adangerous and rash enterprize to struggle with fields of ice. "I," hecontinues, "who had ambition not only to go farther than any onebefore, but as far as it was possible for man to go, was not sorry tomeet with this interruption." The existence of a southern continentwas thus considered by Captain Cook, and all other geographers, asdisproved to an almost absolute certainty.

In this voyage Captain Cook also obtained a correct knowledge ofthe land discovered by La Roche in 1675, and gave to it the name ofNew Georgia; he discovered, too, Sandwich land, which was thensupposed to be the nearest land to the South Pole; he ascertained theextent of the Archipelago, of the New Hebrides, which had beenoriginally seen by Quiros, and superficially examined byBougainville. New Caledonia, and many of the islands among the groupeto which he gave the name of the Friendly Islands, were also amongthe fruits of this voyage.

The French government had sent out an expedition, about the sametime that Captain Cook sailed in quest of a southern continent, on asimilar pursuit. A French navigator some time before had stated thathe had discovered land, having been driven far to the south, off theCape of Good Hope. This supposed land the expedition alluded to wasalso to look after. The person selected to conduct it, M. DeKerguelen, does not seem to have been well chosen or qualified forsuch an enterprize; for after having discovered land, situated in49° south latitude, and 69° east longitude from Greenwich, hereturned rather precipitately to France, without having explored thisland, concluding very rashly, and without any sufficient grounds,that the Terra Australis was at length ascertained to exist, and itsexact situation determined. He was received and treated in France asa second Columbus: but as the French court seems to have had somedoubts on the extent and merit of his alleged discoveries,notwithstanding the reception which it gave him, he was sent out asecond time, with two ships of war of 64 and 32 guns each, and 700men, to complete his discovery and take possession of this newcontinent. But he soon ascertained, what indeed he might and ought tohave ascertained in his first voyage, that what he deemed andrepresented to be the Terra Australis was only a dreary andinhospitable island, of small size, so very barren and useless, thatit 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 inhabitants couldbe looked for; but it is even almost entirely destitute of animals;and the surrounding sea is represented as not more productive thanthe land. The French navigator was unable to find safe anchorage inthis island, though it abounded in harbours; to this miserable spothe gave his own name. It was afterwards visited by Captain Cook, inhis third voyage, and also by Peyrouse.

As the southern ocean, in as high a latitude as the climate andthe ice rendered accessible and safe, had been as it were sweptcarefully, extensively, and minutely, by Captain Cook, and somesubsequent navigators, without discovering land of any considerableextent, it was naturally supposed that no southern continent or evenlarge island existed.

In the year 1819, however, this disbelief was partly destroyed byan unexpected and singular discovery. Mr. Smith, who commanded avessel trading between Rio Plato and Chili, was naturally desirous toshorten, as much as possible, his passage round Cape Horn. With thisobject in view, he ran to a higher latitude than is usual in suchvoyages; and in latitude 62° 30' and in longitude 60° west,he discovered land. This was in his voyage out to Chili; but as hecould not then spare the time necessary to explore this land, heresolved to follow the same course on his return voyage, andascertain its extent, nature, &c. This he accordingly did; andlikewise on a subsequent voyage. "He ran in a westward directionalong the coasts, either of a continent or numerous islands, for 200or 300 miles, forming large bays, and abounding with the spermacetiwhale, seals, &c. He took numerous soundings and bearings,draughts and charts of the coast." He also landed and took possessionof the country in the name of his sovereign, and called hisacquisition New South Shetland. He represents the climate astemperate, the coast mountainous, apparently uninhabited, but notdestitute of vegetation, as he observed firs and pines in manyplaces; and on the whole, the country appeared to him very much likethe coast of Norway.

It may seem extraordinary that land of this extent should not havebeen discovered by any former navigator; but the surprise will cease,when we reflect that though Captain Cook penetrated much further tothe south than the latitude of New South Shetland, yet his meridianwas 45 degrees farther to the west, and that he thus left a largeexpanse of sea unexplored, on the parallel of 62° between thatand Sandwich land, the longitude of which is 22° west. He indeedlikewise reached 67° south latitude: but this was in longitudefrom 137° to 147° west. Now the longitude of New SouthShetland being 60° west, it is evident that Captain Cook in hisfirst attempt, left unexplored the whole extent of longitude from28°, the longitude of Sandwich land, to 60°, the longitude ofNew South Shetland; and in his second attempt, he was still furtherfrom the position of this new discovered land. Peyrouse reached nohigher than 60° 30' latitude, and Vancouver only to 55°. Thuswe clearly see that this land lay out of the track, not only of thosenavigators, whose object being to get into the Pacific by the coursebest known, pass through the Straits of Magellan and Le Maire, orkeep as near Cape Horn as possible, but also of those who were sentout expressly to search for land in a high southern latitude.

The intelligence of the discovery of New South Shetland, and thatit* coasts abounded in Spermaceti whales, and in seals, quickly andpowerfully roused the commercial enterprise both of the British andthe Americans. In the course of a short time, numerous ships of boththese nations sailed to its coasts; but from their observations andexperience, as well as from a survey of it which was undertaken bythe orders of one of His Majesty's naval officers, commanding on thesouthwest coast of America, it was soon ascertained that it was amost dangerous land to approach and to continue near. Its sterilityand bleak and forbidding appearance, from all the accounts publishedrespecting it, are scarcely equalled, certainly are not surpassed, inthe most inhospitable countries near the North Pole; while ships aresuddenly exposed to most violent storms, from which there is littlechance of escaping, and in which, during one of the seal-catchingseasons, a great number were lost.

There are, however, counterbalancing advantages: the seals were,at least during the first seasons, uncommonly numerous, and takenwith very little trouble or difficulty, so that a ship could obtain afull cargo in a very short time; but, in consequence of a very greatnumber of vessels which frequented the coasts for the purpose oftaking these animals, they became soon less numerous, and werecaptured with less ease. The skins of these seals fetched a very highprice in the China market; the Chinese, especially in the morenorthern parts of that vast and populous empire, use these skins forvarious articles of their dress; and the seal skins of New SouthShetland being much finer and softer than those which were obtainedin any other part of the world, bore a proportionably higher price inthe China market. But the English could not compete with theAmericans in this lucrative trade; for in consequence of the charterof the East India Company, the English ships were obliged to bringtheir cargoes of skins to England; here they were sold, and as nonebut the East India Company could export them to China, andconsequently none except the Company would purchase; they in fact hadthe monopoly of them, and obtained them at their own price. TheEnglish indeed might take them directly from New South Shetland toCalcutta, whence they might be exported in country ships to China;but even in this case, which was not likely to happen, as fewvessels, after having been employed in catching seals off such aboisterous coast, were prepared or able to undertake a voyage toCalcutta; much unnecessary expence was incurred, additional riskundergone, and time consumed. To these disadvantages in the sale oftheir seal skins, the Americans were not exposed; they brought theminto some of their own ports, and thence shipped them directly andimmediately to China.

The last navigator whom we noticed as having added to ourknowledge respecting New Holland, was Dampier, who in this portion ofthe globe, not only discovered the Strait that separates New Guineafrom New Britain, but also surveyed the north-west coast of NewHolland; and, contrary to the Dutch charts, laid down De Witt's landas a cluster of islands, and gave it as his opinion that the northernpart of New Holland was separated from the lands to the southward bya strait. Scarcely any thing was added to the geography of thisportion of the globe, between the last voyage of Dampier, and thefirst voyage of Cook. One of the principal objects of this voyage ofour celebrated navigator, was to examine the coast of New Holland;and he performed this object most completely, so far as the eastcoast was concerned, from the 38th degree of latitude to its northernextremity; he also proved that it was separated from New Guinea, bypassing through the channel, which he called after his ship,Endeavour Strait. In the year 1791, Captain Vancouver explored 110leagues of the south-west coast, where he discovered King George'sSound, and some clusters of small islands. In the same year twovessels were dispatched from France in search of La Peyrouse; inApril 1792, they made several observations on Van Dieman's Land, thesouth cape of which they thought was separated from the main land;they also discovered a great harbour. In the subsequent year 1793,they again made the coast of New Holland, near Lewin's Land, and theyascertained that the first discoveries had been extremely accurate inthe latitudes which they had assigned to this part of it.

In consequence of the British forming a settlement at Botany Bay,much additional information was gained, not only regarding theinterior of New Holland, in the vicinity of the settlement, but alsoregarding part of its coast: the most interesting and importantdiscovery relative to the latter was made towards the end of the year1797, by Mr. Bass, surgeon of His Majesty's ship Reliance. He made anexcursion in an open boat to the southward of Port Jackson, as far as40 degrees of south latitude, and visited every opening in the coastin the course of his voyage: he observed sufficient to induce him tobelieve that Van Dieman's Land was no part of New Holland. Soon afterthe return of Mr. Bass, the governor of the English colony sent outhim and Captain Flinders, then employed as a lieutenant of one of HisMajesty's ships on the New South Wales station, with a view toascertain whether Mr. Bass's belief of the separation of Van Dieman'sLand was well founded. They embarked on board a small-decked boat of25 tons, built of the fir of Norfolk island. In three months theyreturned to Port Jackson, after having circumnavigated Van Dieman'sLand, and completed the survey of its coasts. The strait thatseparates it from New Holland was named by the governor, Bass'sStrait. The importance of this discovery is undoubted. In voyagesfrom New Holland to the Cape of Good Hope, considerable time isgained by passing through it, instead of following the former course.In the year 1800, Captain Flinders was again sent out by thegovernor, to examine the coast to the northward of Port Jackson; ofthis nothing more was known but what the imperfect notices given ofit by Captain Cook supplied. In this voyage he completely examinedall the creeks and bays as far to the northward as the 25th degree oflatitude, and more particularly Glasshouse and Harvey's Bays. TheEnglish government at length resolved that they would wipe off thereproach, which, as Captain Flinders observes, was not without somereason attributed to them, "that an imaginary line of more than 250leagues of extent, in the vicinity of one of their colonies, shouldhave been so long suffered to remain traced upon the charts, underthe title of UNKNOWN COAST," and they accordingly appointed him tothe command of an expedition fitted out in England for thispurpose.

Before giving an account of this voyage of Captain Flinders, weshall abridge, from the Introduction prefixed to it, his clear andmethodical account of the progressive discoveries which have beenmade on the coast of New Holland, and of what was still to beexplored. He particularly dwelt on the advantages that would resultfrom a practicable passage through Torres' Strait; if this could bediscovered, it would shorten the usual route by the north of NewGuinea, or the Eastern Islands, in the voyage to India and China. Theimmense gulf of Carpentaria was unknown, except a very small portionof its eastern side. The lands called after Arnheim and Van Diemanalso required and deserved a minute investigation, especially thebays, shoals, islands, and coasts of the former, and the northernpart of the latter. The north-west coast had not been examined sincethe time of Dampier, who was of opinion that the northern portion ofNew Holland was separated from the lands to the northward by astrait. The existence of such a strait, Captain Flinders completelydisproved.

With respect to the south coast, at least 250 leagues wereunexplored. Captain Flinders had examined with considerable care andminuteness the east coast and Van Dieman's Land; but there were stillseveral openings which required to be better explored.

Such were the principal objects which Captain Flinders had in viewin his voyage; and no person could have been found better qualifiedto accomplish these objects. On the 18th of July, 1801, he sailedfrom England in the Investigator, of 334 tons: there were on board,beside the proper and adequate complement of men, an astronomer, anaturalist, a natural history painter, a landscape painter, agardener, and a miner. As soon as he approached the south coast ofNew 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 liesbetween the limit of the discoveries of Nuyts and Vancouver, and theeastern extremity of Bass' Straits, where he met a French ship,employed on the same object. In the month of July, 1802, he left PortJackson, whither he had gone to refit, and sailing through Torres'Straits in 36 hours, he arrived in the Gulf of Carpentaria in thelatter end of the season. In the course of this part of his voyage,he examined Northumberland and Cumberland islands, and the greatbarrier reefs of coral rock; and every part of the eastern side ofthe Gulf of Carpentaria; not a cape, creek, bay, or island on thiscoast of the gulf escaped his notice and examination. It was hisintention to have pursued the same mode of close and minuteexamination: "following the land so closely, that the washing of thesurf upon it should be visible, and no opening nor any thing ofimportance escape notice;" but he was prevented by ascertaining thatthe vessel was in such a crazy state, that, though in fine weathershe might hold together for six months longer, yet she was by nomeans fit for such an undertaking. After much deliberation whatconduct he ought to pursue under these circ*mstances, as it wasimpossible, with such a vessel, he could at that season return toPort Jackson by the west route, in consequence of the monsoon (andthe stormy weather would render the east passage equally improper) heresolved to finish the survey of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Thisoccupied 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 onthe 31st of March, 1803.

As the Investigator was no longer fit for service, she wascondemned. Captain Flinders resolved, as he could not finish thesurvey, to return to England, in order to lay his journals and chartsbefore the Admiralty: he accordingly embarked on board the Porpoisestore ship, which, in company with the Cato and Bridgwater, bound toBatavia, sailed in August, 1803. The Porpoise and Cato were wreckedon a reef of rocks nearly 800 miles from Botany Bay: most of thecharts, logs, and astronomical observations were saved; but the rareplants, as well as the dried specimens, were lost or destroyed. Onthe 26th of August, Captain Flinders left the reef in the cutter, andafter a passage of considerable danger, reached Port Jackson on the8th of September. As he was extremely anxious to lodge his papers assoon as possible with the Lords of the Admiralty, he embarked fromPort Jackson in a vessel, something less than a Gravesend passageboat, being only 29 tons burden. Even in such a vessel, CaptainFlinders did not lose sight of the objects nearest his heart: hepassed through Torres' Straits, examined Pandora's entrance, explorednew channels among the coral reefs, examined Prince of Wales Island,crossed the Gulf of Carpentaria, and after anchoring at some islandson the western side of the gulf, directed his route to Timor: here herefitted his vessel, and then sailed for the Isle of France, where itwas absolutely necessary he should touch, in order that she mightundergo a repair, as she was very leaky. Though he possessedpassports from the French government, he was detained at the Isle ofFrance, under the absurd pretence that he was a spy. All his books,charts, and papers were seized; and he himself was kept a prisoner ina miserable room for nearly four months. He was afterwards removed tothe garden prison, a situation not so uncomfortable and prejudicialto his health as that from which he was taken; at length, inconsequence of an application from the Royal Society to the NationalInstitute, the French government sent an order for his liberation;but it was not received, or, at least, it was not acted upon till theyear 1810; for it was not till that year that Captain Flinders waspermitted to leave the Isle of France: he arrived in England on the24th of October of that year.

There are few voyages from which more important accessions togeographical knowledge have been derived, than from this voyage ofCaptain Flinders, especially when we reflect on the great probabilitythat New Holland will soon rank high in population and wealth. Beforehis voyage, it was doubtful, whether New Holland was not divided intotwo great islands, by a strait passing between Bass' Straits and theGulf of Carpentaria. Captain Flinders has put an end to all doubts onthis point: he examined the coast in the closest and most accuratemanner: he found indeed two great openings; these he sailed up totheir termination; and, consequently, as there were no otheropenings, and these were mere inlets, New Holland can no longer besupposed to be divided into two great islands, but must be regardedas forming one very large one; or, rather, from its immense size, aspecies of continent. He made another important and singulardiscovery, viz. that there are either no rivers of any magnitude inNew Holland, or that if there be such, they do not find their way tothe sea coast. This country seems also very deficient in good andsafe ports: in his survey of the south coast, he found only one. Hecompleted the survey of the whole eastern coast; of Bass's Straitsand Van Dieman's Land, observing very carefully every thing relativeto the rocks, shoals, tides, winds, currents, &c. Coral reefs,which are so common in most parts of the Pacific, and which, owingtheir origin entirely to worms of the minutest size, gradually becomeextensive islands, stretch along the eastern coast of New Holland.These were examined with great care by Captain Flinders: he foundthat 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 thesurvey of the Gulf of Carpentaria; previously the extent and bearingsof this gulf were not known; but from Captain Flinders's geography wehave received an accurate and full survey of it. Its extent wasascertained to be 5 1/2 degrees of longitude, and 7 degrees oflatitude; and its circuit nearly 400 leagues. On the coast of thisgulf he found a singular trade carried on. Sixty proas, each aboutthe burden of 25 tons, and carrying as many men, were fitted out bythe Rajah of Boni, and sent to catch a small animal which lives atthe bottom of the sea, called the sea slug, or biche de mer.When caught, they are split, boiled, and dried in the sun, and thencarried to Timorlaot, when the Chinese purchase them: 100,000 ofthese animals is the usual cargo of each proa, and they bring from2000 to 4000 Spanish dollars.

Notwithstanding the English had had settlements in New Holland forupwards of 26 years, little progress had been made in exploring theinterior of the country even in the immediate vicinity of Botany Bay.It was supposed that a passage across the Blue Mountains, which arewithin sight of that settlement, opposed insurmountable obstacles. Atlength, about the end of the year 1813, the Blue Mountains werecrossed for the first time, by Mr. Evans, the deputy surveyor of thecolony. He found a fertile and pleasant district, and the streamswhich took their rise in the Blue Mountains, running to the westward;to one of the most considerable of these he gave the name ofMacquarrie river; the course of this river he pursued for ten days.On his return to the colony, the governor, Mr. Macquarrie orderedthat a road should be made across the mountains; this extended 100miles, and was completed in 1815. Mr. Evans soon afterwardsdiscovered another river, which he called the Lachlan.

As it was of great consequence to trace these rivers, and likewiseto examine the country to the west of the Blue Mountains moreaccurately, and to a greater distance than it had been done, thegovernor ordered two expeditions to be undertaken. Lieutenant Oxley,the surveyor-general of the colony had the command of both. It doesnot fall within our plan or limits to follow him in these journeys;we shall therefore confine ourselves to an outline of the result ofhis discoveries. He ascertained that the country in general is veryunfertile: the Lachlan he traced, till it seemed to loose itself in amultitude of branches among marshy flats. "Perhaps," observesLieutenant 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 500miles, and including its windings, it may fairly be calculated to runat least 1200 miles; during all which passage, through such a vastextent of country, it does not receive a single stream in addition towhat it derives from its sources in the Eastern mountains."--"Onetree, one soil, one water, and one description of bird, fish, oranimal, prevails alike for ten miles, and for 100." There were,however, tracks, especially where the limestone formation prevailed,of great beauty and fertility; but these were comparatively rare andof small extent. Level, bare, sandy wastes, destitute of water, ormorasses and swamps, which would not support them, formed by far thegreatest part of the country through which they travelled.

The second object Lieutenant Oxley had in view was the survey ofthe course of the Macquarrie river; this he knew to be to thenorth-west of the Lachlan. In crossing from the banks of the latterin search of the former, they reached a beautiful valley; in thecentre of which flowed a clear and strong rivulet. This they tracedtill it joined a large river, which they ascertained to be theMacquarrie. From this point to Bathurst Plains, the country was richand beautiful.

As from the size of the Macquarrie where they fell in with it, itseemed probable that it either communicated with the sea itself orflowed into a river which did, the governor sent Lieutenant Oxley onanother expedition to trace its course, and thus settle this point.For twelve days the country was rich and beautiful: the river waswide, deep, and navigable. The country then changed its character: nohill was to be seen; on all sides it was as level and uninterestingas that through which thay had traced the Lachlan in their formerjourney. Soon afterwards it overflowed its banks; and as the countrywas very flat, it spread over a vast extent. Under thesecirc*mstances, Lieutenant Oxley proceeded down it in a boat forthirty miles, till he lost sight of land and trees. About four milesfarther it lost all appearance of a river; but he was not able tocontinue his route, and was obliged to return, without havingascertained whether this great inland lake, into which the Macquarriefell, was a salt or fresh water lake.

On his return he crossed the highest point of the mountains whichdivides the waters running west from those which run into the east;the most elevated peak he calculates to be from 6000 to 7000 feet.Here he found a river rising, which flowed to the east; and followingit, he arrived at the place where it fell into the ocean.

It is pretty certain from these expeditions, that no river of anysize empties itself into the sea, on the northern, western, orsouthern coasts of New Holland. Captain Flinders and the Frenchnavigators had examined all the line of coast on the western side,except from latitude 22° to 11° south; it might therefore besupposed that the Macquarrie, after freeing itself from the inlandlake to which Lieutenant Oxley had traced it, might fall into thesea, within these limits. This, however, is now proved not to be thecase. In the year 1818, Lieutenant King was sent by the Board ofAdmiralty, to survey the unexplored coast, from the southernextremity of Terre de Witt. He began his examination at thenorth-west cape, in latitude 21° 45', from this to latitude20° 30', and from longitude 114° to 118°, he found anarchipelago, which he named after Dampier, as it was originallydiscovered by this navigator. Dampier had inferred, from a remarkablecurrent running from the coast beyond these islands, that a greatstrait, or river, opened out behind them. Lieutenant King found thetide running strong in all the passages of the archipelago, but therewas no appearance of a river; the coast was in general low, andbeyond it he descried an extensive tract of inundated marshy country,similar to that described by Lieutenant Oxley. Cape Van Diemen,Lieutenant King ascertained to be the northern extremity of anisland, near which was a deep gulf. Although we have not learnt thatLieutenant King has completed his survey, 8 or 9 degrees of latitudeon the north-west coast still remaining to be explored, yet we thinkit may safely be inferred that no great river has its exit into theocean from the interior of New Holland. This circ*mstance, added tothe singular nature of the country through which Lieutenant Oxleyjourneyed, and the peculiar and unique character of many of itsanimals, seems to stamp on this portion of the globe marks whichstrongly and widely separate it from every other portion.

It is remarked in the Quarterly Review, that, before CaptainFlinder's voyage, "the great Gulf of Carpentaria had as yet nodefinite outline on our nautical charts. It was the imaginary tracingof an undulating line, intended to denote the limits between land andwater, without a promontory, or an island, a bay, harbour, or inlet,that was defined by shape or designated by name. This blank line wasdrawn and copied by one chart maker from another, without the leastauthority, and without the least reason to believe that any Europeanhad ever visited this wide and deeply-indented gulf; and yet, whenvisited, this imaginary line was found to approximate so nearly toits true form, as ascertained by survey, as to leave little doubtthat some European navigator must at one time or other have examinedit, though his labours have been buried, as the labours of manythousands have been before and since his time, in the mouldy archivesof a jealous and selfish government."

This remark may be extended and applied to other parts of theglobe beside Australasia; but it is particularly applicable to thisportion of it. There can be no doubt that many islands and points ofland were discovered, which were never traced in maps, even in thevague and indistinct manner in which the Gulf of Carpentaria wastraced; that many discoveries were claimed to which no credit wasgiven; and that owing to the imperfect mode formerly used todetermine the longitude, some, from being laid down wrong, wereafterwards claimed as entirely new discoveries.

We have stated that this remark is particularly applicable toAustralasia: to the progress of geography in this division of theglobe (including under that appellation, besides New Holland, Papuaor New Guinea, New Britain, New Ireland, Solomon's Isles, NewCaledonia, New Zealand, &c.) we are now to direct our attention;and the truth of the remark will soon appear to be confirmed in morethan one instance.

One of the objects of Rogewein, a Dutch navigator, who, sailedfrom Amsterdam in 1721, was to re-discover Solomon's Islands, and thelands described by Quitos. In this voyage he visited New Britain, ofwhich he has enlarged our information; and be discovered AuroraIsland, and a very numerous archipelago, to which he gave the name ofthe Thousand Islands. Captain Carteret, who sailed from England in1767, along with Captain Wallis, but who was separated from him inthe Straits of Magellan, discovered several isles in the SouthPacific, the largest of which there is little doubt is that which wasvisited by Mandana in 1595, and called by him Santa Cruz. Inprosecuting his voyage in the track pursued by Dampier, CaptainCarteret arrived on the east coast of the land named New Britain, bythat celebrated navigator. This he found to consist of two islands,separated by a wide channel; to the northern island he gave the nameof New Ireland.

At this period the French were prosecuting voyages of discovery inthe same portion of the globe. An expedition sailed from France in1766, commanded by M. Bougainville: he arrived within the limits ofAustralasia in May, 1768. Besides visiting a group of islands, namedby him Navigators' Islands, but which are supposed to have beendiscovered by Rogewein, and a large cluster, which is also supposedto be the archipelago of the same navigator, M. Bougainvillediscovered a beautiful country, to which he gave the name ofLouisiade: he was not able to examine this country, and as it has notbeen visited by subsequent navigators, it is generally believed to bean extension of the coast of Papua. After discovering some islandsnot far from this land, M. Bougainville directed his course to thecoast of New Ireland; he afterwards examined the north coast of NewGuinea.

About the same time, M. Surville, another Frenchman, in a voyagefrom the East Indies into the Pacific, landed on the north coast of acountry east of New Guinea; he had not an opportunity of examiningthis land, but it seems probable that it was one of Solomon'sIslands.

We have already had occasion to notice the first voyage of CaptainCook, during which he traced the eastern coast of New Holland, andascertained that it was separated from New Guinea. In this voyage hemade further additions to our geographical knowledge of Australasia;for he visited New Zealand, which Tasman had discovered in 1642, buton which he did not even land. Captain Cook examined it with greatcare; and ascertained not only its extent, but that it was dividedinto two large islands, by a strait, which is called after him.During his second voyage he explored the New Hebrides, the mostnorthern of which is supposed to be described by Quitos: Bougainvillehad undoubtedly sailed among them. The whole lie between the latitudeof 14° 29' and 24° 4' south, and between 166° 41' and170° 21' east longitude. After having completed his examinationof these islands, he discovered an extensive country, which he calledNew Caledonia. In his passage from this to New Zealand he discoveredseveral islands, and among the rest Norfolk Island. The great objectof his third voyage, which was the examination of the north-westcoast of America, did not afford him an opportunity of visiting forany length of time Australasia; yet he did visit it, and examined NewZealand attentively, obtaining much original and importantinformation respecting it, and the manners, &c. of itsinhabitants.

The voyages which we have hitherto noticed, were principallydirected to the southern parts of Australasia. Between the years 1774and 1776, some discoveries were made in the northern parts of it byCaptain Forrest: he sailed from India in a vessel of only ten tons,with the intention of ascertaining whether a settlement could not beformed on an island near the northern promontory of Borneo. In thecourse of this voyage he examined the north coast of Waygiou; andafter visiting several small islands, he arrived on the north coastof Papua.

The next accessions that were made to our geographical knowledgeof Australasia, are derived from the voyage in search of La Peyrouse.The object of La Peyrouse's voyage was to complete the discoveriesmade by former navigators in the southern hemisphere: in the courseof this voyage he navigated some portion of Australasia; but where heand his crew perished is not known. As the French government werenaturally and very laudably anxious to ascertain his real fate, twovessels were despatched from France in the year 1791, for thatpurpose. In April, 1792, they arrived within the limits ofAustralasia: after having examined Van Diemen's Land, they sailedalong an immense chain of reefs, extending upwards of 3OO miles onthe east coast of New Caledonia. As Captain Cook had confined hissurvey to the north, they directed their attention to the south-westcoast. After visiting some islands in this sea, they arrived at NewIreland, part of which they carefully explored. In 1793, after havingvisited New Holland, they sailed for New Zealand; and near it theydiscovered an island which lies near the eastern limit ofAustralasia: to this they gave the name of Recherche. The NewHebrides, New Caledonia, and New Britain, were also visited andexamined; near the coast of the last they discovered severalmountainous islands. Beside the accessions to our geographicalknowledge of Australasia which we derived from this voyage, it isparticularly valuable "on account of the illustrations of the naturalhistory of the different countries, and the accuracy with which theastronomical observations were made." It is worthy of remark that thetwo ships lost nearly half their men; whereas, British navigatorshave been out as long, in a climate and circ*mstances as unfavourableto health, and have scarcely lost a single man.

At the beginning of this century, the French government planned avoyage of discovery, the chief object of which was to explore theseas of Australasia. Those parts of New Holland which were entirelyunknown, or but imperfectly ascertained, were to be examined; thecoast of New Guinea to be surveyed, principally in the search of astrait which was supposed to divide it into two parts; a passage byEndeavour Straits to the eastern point of the Gulf of Carpentaria wasto be attempted; and then the expedition was to sail to CapeNorthwest. Besides these objects in Australasia, the Indian Ocean wasto be navigated.

Two vessels, the Geographe and Naturaliste, sailed on thisexpedition in October, 1800; but they did not by their discoveriesadd much that was important to the geography of Australasia. Theyindeed have made known to future navigators, reefs and shoals on thecoast of New Holland; have fixed more accurately, or for the firsttime, some latitudes and longitudes belonging to this and other partsof Australasia, and have traced some small rivers in New Holland.They also confirmed the accuracy and justice of precedingobservations in several points; particularly relative to the singularfineness of the weather, and serenity of the heavens in theseseas.

Their greatest discovery undoubtedly consisted in a greatarchipelago, which they named after Bonaparte: the islands thatcomposed it were in general small; some volcanic or basaltic; otherssandy. After examining these, they were obliged to return to Timor,in consequence of the sickness of their crews. After they wererecovered, they returned to the grand object of their expedition,which, though interesting and important to the navigator, or to theminute researches of the geographer, presents nothing that requiresto be noticed in this place.

Such is the sum of the additions to our geographical knowledge ofAustralasia which has resulted from the voyages of discovery duringthe last one hundred years. The great outline, and most of thesubordinate parts, are filled up; and little remains to be discoveredor ascertained which can greatly alter our maps, as they are atpresent drawn. Additions, however, will gradually be made; errorswill be corrected; a stronger and clearer light will be thrown onobscure points. Much of this will be done by the accidentaldiscoveries and observations of the many ships which are constantlysailing from England to New Holland; or which trade from the lattercountry to New Zealand or other parts of Australasia, to India, or toChina. By means of these voyages, additions have already been made toour knowledge, especially of New Zealand; and its inhabitants arebeginning to feel and acknowledge the benefits which must always bederived from the intercourse of civilized people with savages.

Polynesia, extending from the Pelew Isles on the west, to the Isleof All Saints on the north-east, and the Sandwich Isles in the east,and having for its other boundaries the latitude of 20° north,and of 50° south, near the latter of which it joins Australasia,is the only remaining division of the globe which remains to comeunder our cognizance, as having been explored by maritimeexpeditions; and as it consists entirely of groups of small islands,we shall not be detained long in tracing the discoveries which havebeen made in these seas.

The Pelew Islands, one of the divisions of Polynesia, though theyprobably had been seen, and perhaps visited by Europeans before 1783,were certainly first made completely known to them at this period, inconsequence of the shipwreck of Captain Wilson on them. The SandwichIsles, the next group, have been discovered within the last centuryby Captain Cook, on his last voyage. The Marquesas, discovered byMandana, were visited by Captain Cook in 1774, by the French in 1789,and particularly and carefully examined during the missionary voyageof Captain Wilson in 1797. Captain Wallis, who sailed with CaptainCarteret in 1766, but was afterwards separated from him in his courseacross the South Pacific, discovered several islands, particularlyOtaheite; to this and the neighbouring islands the name of SocietyIsles was given. Such are the most important discoveries that havebeen made in Polynesia during the last century; but besides these,other discoveries of less importance have been made, either bynavigators who have sailed expressly for the purpose, as Kotzebue,&c., or by accident, while crossing this immense ocean. Inconsequence of the advances which the Sandwich Islands have made incivilization, commerce, and the arts, there is considerableintercourse with them, especially by the Americans; and their voyagesto them, and from thence to China, whither they carry the sandalwood, &c. which they obtain there, as well as their voyages fromthe north-west coast of America with furs to China, must soon detectany isles that may still be unknown in this part of the PacificOcean.

Although, therefore, much remains yet to be accomplished bymaritime expeditions, towards the extension and correction of ourgeographical knowledge, so far as the bearings of the coast, and thelatitudes and longitudes of various places are concerned, there seemsno room for what may properly and strictly be called discovery, atleast of any thing but small and scattered islands.

It is otherwise with the accessions which land expeditions maystill make to geographical knowledge; for though within these onehundred years the European foot has trodden where it never trodbefore, and though our geographical knowledge of the interior ofAfrica, Asia, and America, has been, rendered within that period notonly more extensive, but also more accurate and minute than itpreviously was, yet much remains to be done and known.

In giving a short and rapid sketch of the progress of discovery,so far as it has been accomplished by land expeditions during theperiod alluded to, we are naturally led to divide what we have to sayaccording to the three great portions of the globe which have beenthe objects of these expeditions, viz. Africa, Asia, and America.

1. Africa. This country has always presented most formidableobstacles to the progress of discovery: its immense and tracklessdeserts, its burning and fatal climate, its barbarous and treacherousinhabitants, have united to keep a very large portion of it from theintercourse, and even the approach of European travellers. Even itsnorthern parts, which are most accessible to Europe, and which for2000 years have been occasionally visited by Europeans, are guardedby the cruel jealousy of its inhabitants; or, if that is overcome,advances to any very great distance from the coast are effectivelyimpeded by natives still more savage, or by waterless and foodlessdeserts.

The west coast of Africa, ever since it was ascertained thatslaves, ivory, gold dust, gums, &c. could be obtained there, hasbeen eagerly colonized by Europeans; and though these colonies havenow existed for upwards of three hundred years, and though the samelove of gain which founded them must have directed a powerful wish onthose interior countries from which these precious articles oftraffic were brought, yet such have been the difficulties, anddangers, and dread, that the most enthusiastic traveller, and themost determined lover of gain, have scarcely penetrated beyond thevery frontier of the coast. If we turn to the east coast, still lesshas been done to explore the interior from that side; the nature,bearings, &c. of the coast itself are not accurately known; andaccessions to our knowledge respecting it have been the result ratherof accident than of a settled plan, or of any expedition with thatview. The Cape of Good Hope has now been an European settlementnearly two hundred years: the inhabitants in that part of Africa,though of course barbarians, are neither so formidable for theircraft and cruelty, and strength, nor so implacable in their hatred ofstrangers, as the inhabitants of the north and of the interior ofAfrica; and yet to what a short distance from the Cape has even asolitary European traveller ever reached!

But though a very great deal remains to be accomplished beforeAfrica will cease to present an immense void in its interior, in ourmaps, and still more remains to be accomplished before we can becomeacquainted with the manners, &c. of its inhabitants, and itsproduce and manufactures, yet the last century, and what has passedof the present, have witnessed many bold and successful enterprizesto extend our geographical knowledge of this quarter of theglobe.

As the sovereigns of the northern shores of Africa were, fromvarious causes and circ*mstances, always in implacable hostility withone another, and as, besides this obstacle to advances into Africafrom this side, it was well known that the Great Desert spread itselfan almost impassable barrier to any very great progress by the northinto the interior, it was not to be expected that any attempts topenetrate this quarter of the globe by this route would be made. Onthe other hand, the Europeans had various settlements on the westerncoast: on this coast there were many large rivers, which apparentlyran far into the interior; these rivers, therefore, naturally seemedthe most expeditious, safe, and easy routes, by which the interiormight, at least to a short distance from the shore, bepenetrated.

But it was very long before the Senegal, one of the chief of theserivers, was traced higher than the falls of Felu; or the Gambia,another river of note and magnitude, than those of Baraconda. In theyear 1723, Captain Stebbs, who was employed by the Royal AfricanCompany, succeeded in going up this river as far as the flats ofTenda. Soon afterwards, some information respecting the interior ofAfrica, especially respecting Bonda, (which is supposed to be theBondou of Park, in the upper Senegal,) was received through anAfrican prince, who was taken prisoner, and carried as a slave toAmerica.

All the information which had been drawn from these, and othersources, respecting the interior, was collected and published byMoore, the superintendent of the African Company's settlements on theGambia; but though the particulars regarding the manners, &c. ofthe inhabitants are curious, yet this work adds not much to ourgeographical knowledge of the interior of this part of the world.

In the year 1788, the African Institution was formed: its objectwas to send persons properly qualified to make discoveries in theinterior of Africa. The first person engaged by them was Mr. Ledyard;and, from all accounts of him, no person could have been betterqualified for such an arduous enterprise: he was strong, healthy,active, intelligent, inquisitive, observant, and undaunted; full ofzeal, and sanguine of success; and, at the same time, open, kind, andinsinuating in his looks and manners. At Cairo he prepared himselffor his undertaking, by visiting the slave market, in order toconverse with the merchants of the various caravans, and learn allthe particulars connected with his proposed journey, and thecountries from which they came. But be proceeded no farther thanCairo: here he was seized with an illness, occasioned or aggravatedby the delay in the caravans setting out for Sennaar, which provedfatal.

Mr Lucas was the next person employed by the African Institution.In October, 1788, he arrived at Tripoli, from whence he set out withtwo shereefs for Fezzan, by the way of Mescerata. On the fourth dayafter his departure, he reached Lebida, on the sea coast, the LeptisMagna of the Romans. He found, on his arrival at Mescerata, that heshould not be able to procure the number of camels necessary toconvey his goods to Fezzan; and was obliged to abandon hisenterprize. From the information which he derived, at Mescerata,confirmed as it was by what the Association had learnt from thenarrative of a native of Morocco, the geography of Africa wasextended from Fezzan, across the eastern division of the Desert, toBornou, Cashna, and the Niger.

In a year or two after the return of Mr. Lucas, the AfricanAssociation, who were indefatigable in endeavouring to obtaininformation from all sources, learnt some interesting and originalcirc*mstances from an Arab. This person described a large empire onthe banks of the Niger, in the capital of which, Housa, he hadresided two years: this city he rather vaguely and inconsistentlydescribed as equalling London and Cairo in extent and population. Asit was necessary to scrutinize the truth and consistency of hisnarrative, what he related was at first received with caution anddoubt, but an incidental circ*mstance seemed to prove him worthy ofcredit; for in describing the manner in which pottery wasmanufactured at Housa, which he did by imitating the actions of thosewho made it, it was remarked that he actually described the ancientGrecian wheel.

In order to learn whether the accounts of this man were true andaccurate, the African Institution sent out Major Houghton: he wasinstructed to ascertain the course, and, if possible, the rise andtermination of the Niger; to visit Tombuctoo and Housa, and to returnby the Desert. Accordingly he sailed up the Gambia to Pisania, andthence he proceeded to Medina, the capital of the Mandingo kingdom.His course from this city was north-east, which led him beyond thelimit of European discovery, to the uninhabited frontier whichseparates Bondou and Mandingo. After some time spent in endeavouringto ingratiate himself with the king of the latter country, but invain, he resolved to proceed into Bambouk. On arriving at Firbanna,the capital, he was hospitably treated by the king. Here be formed aplan to go with a merchant to Tombuctoo; but on his way he wasrobbed, and either perished of hunger, or was murdered: the exactparticulars are not known. To Major Houghton we are indebted for ourfirst knowledge of the kingdom of Bondou; and for the names ofseveral cities on the Niger, as well as the course of that river.

Mr. Park was next employed by the African Association; and what helearnt, observed, did, and suffered, fully justified them in thechoice of such a man. "His first journey was unquestionably the mostimportant which any European had ever performed in the interior ofAfrica. He established a number of geographical positions, in adirect line of eleven hundred miles from Cape de Verde: by pointingout the positions of the sources of the Senegal, Gambia, and Niger,he has given a new aspect to the physical geography of thiscontinent; he has fixed the boundaries of the Moors and Negroes;unfolded to us the empire of Ludamar; and described, from personalobservation, some important towns on the banks of the Niger, orJoliba. The information which he has communicated concerning thispart of Africa, and their manners, is equally new and interesting. Hehas traced with accuracy the distinction betwixt the Mahometans andPagans." This journey was accomplished between the 2d of December,1795, when he left Pisania, a British factory two hundred miles upthe Gambia, and the 10th of June, 1797, when he returned to the sameplace, an interval of eighteen months.

Notwithstanding the dangers and fatigues which he had undergone;notwithstanding that, on his return to his native country, he hadmarried, and entered on a life which promised him competence anddomestic happiness; yet his mind yearned for a repetition of thosescenes and adventures to which he had lately been accustomed. Nosooner, therefore, did he learn that another mission to Africa was incontemplation, than he set his inclination on undertaking it, if itwere offered to him. This it was: he accepted the offer; and on the30th of January, 1805, he left Portsmouth.

It is surprising and lamentable, that notwithstanding hisknowledge and experience of the climate of the country to which hewas going, he should have begun his expedition at a time when her wassure to encounter the rainy season long before he could reach theNiger.

The expedition was most unfortunate: Mr. Park perished in it,after having undergone dreadful hardships, and witnessed the death ofseveral of his companions; and of one of them who was his mostintimate friend. The exact place and circ*mstances of his own fateare not known: it is known, however, from his own journal, which hetransmitted to England, that he had reached Sansandang, which isconsiderably short of Silla, which he had reached in his firstjourney; and from other sources, it is known, that from the formerplace he went to Yaour in Haoussa, where he is supposed to have beenkilled by the natives.

The African Association were still indefatigable in theirendeavours to explore the interior of Africa; and they found littledifficulty in meeting with persons zealously disposed, as well asqualified, to second their designs. Mr. Horneman, a German, whopossessed considerable knowledge, such as might be of service to himon such an enterprise, and who was besides strong, active, vigorous,undaunted, endowed with passive courage, (a most indispensablequalification,) temperate, and in perfect health, was next selected.He prepared himself by learning such of the Oriental languages asmight be useful to him; and on the 10th of September, 1797, arrivedat Alexandria. Circ*mstances prevented him from pursuing his routefor nearly two years, when he left Cairo, along with a caravan forFezzan. His subsequent fate is unknown; but there is reason tobelieve that he died soon after his departure from Fezzan.

It is not necessary to mention any of the subsequent expeditionswhich were sent by the Association into the interior of Africa; sincenone of them have added to our knowledge of this portion of theglobe. There have, indeed, been communications received from some ofthe merchants trading from the north of Africa to the Niger, whichconfirm the accounts of large and powerful kingdoms on its banks, andthe inhabitants of these kingdoms are comparatively far advanced inmanufactures and commerce; but, besides these particulars, littlerespecting the geography of the interior has been ascertained. Thecourse of the Niger is proved beyond a doubt to be, as Herodotusdescribed it, upwards of 2000 years ago, from west to east; but thetermination of this large river is utterly unknown. Some think itunites with the Nile, and forms the great western branch of thatriver, called the Bahr el Abiad, or White River; others think that itloses itself in the lakes or swamps of Wangara, or Ghana, and isthere wasted by evaporation; while another opinion is, that itscourse takes a bend to the west, and that it falls into the Atlantic,or that it discharges itself into the Indian Ocean.

The British government, anxious to determine, if possible, thiscurious and important question, sent out two expeditions, about sevenyears since, to explore in every possible way the course andtermination of the Niger. The first, under the conduct of CaptainTuckey, proceeded up the Zaire; the other ascended the Nunez in northAfrica, in order, if possible, to reach the navigable part of theNiger by a shorter course than that followed by Park, and with thedesign of proceeding down the river till it reached its termination.The issue of both these expeditions, particularly of the former, wassingularly melancholy and unfortunate: Captain Tuckey, and fifteenpersons out of the thirty who composed it, perished in consequence ofthe excessive fatigue which they underwent after they had reachedabove the cataracts of the river, the want of sufficient and properfood, and a fever brought on, or aggravated, by these causes. CaptainTuckey was the last who fell a victim, after having traced the Zaire,till it became from four to five miles in breadth. The mountains wereno longer seen, and the course of the river inclined to the north;these circ*mstances, joined to that of its becoming broader, renderthe opinion that it is the same with the Niger more probable than itpreviously was: the accounts given to Captain Tuckey were also to thesame effect. The second expedition, under the direction of MajorPeddir, reached Kauendy on the Nunez, where he died: his successor inthe command, Captain Campbell, penetrated about 150 miles beyond thisplace, but not being able to procure the means of proceeding, he wasobliged to return to it, where he also died.

Within 150 miles of the British settlement at Cape Coast Castle,there is a powerful and rich nation, called the Aahantees: they seemfirst to have been heard of by Europeans about the year 1700; butthey were not seen near the coast, nor had they any intercourse withour factories till the year 1807: they visited the coast again in1811, and a third time in 1816. These invasions produced greatdistress among the Fantees, and even were highly prejudicial to ourfactory; in consequence of which, the governor resolved to send amission to them. Of this journey an account has been published by Mr.Bowdich, one of those engaged in it. The travellers passed throughthe Fantee and Assen territories. The first Ashantee village wasQuesha; the capital is Coomastee, which the mission reached on the19th of May, 1817. Mr. Bowdich paints the splendour, magnificence,and richness of the sovereign of the Ashantees in the most gorgeousmanner; and even his manners as dignified and polished. But thoughhis work is very full of what almost seems romantic pictures andstatements of the civilization and richness of the Ashantees, andgives accurate accounts of their kingdom, yet, in other respects, itis not interesting or important, in a geographical point of view.There are, indeed, some notices which were collected from the nativesor the travelling Moors, regarding the countries beyond Ashantee, andsome of their opinions respecting the Niger. The most important pointwhich he ascertained was, that the route from the capital toTombuctoo is much travelled; and it is now supposed that this is theshortest and best road for Europeans to take, who wish to reach theNiger near that city. Indeed, we understand that merchants frequentlycome to the British settlement at Sierra Leone, who represent theroute into the interior of Africa and the neighbourhood of the Nigerfrom thence, as by no means arduous or dangerous.

We shall next direct our attention to the north of Africa.

The hostility of the Mahometans, who possessed the north ofAfrica, to Christians, presented as serious an obstacle to travels inthat quarter as the barbarism and ferocity of the native tribes onthe west coast did to discoveries into the interior in thatdirection. In the sixteenth century, Leo Africanus gave an ampledescription of the northern parts; and in the same century, Alvarez,who visited Abyssinia, published an account of that country. In thesubsequent century, this part of Africa was illustrated by Lobo,Tellea, and Poncet; the latter was a chemist and apothecary, sent byLouis XIV to the reigning monarch of Abyssinia; the former weremissionaries. From their accounts, and those of the Portuguese, allour information respecting this country was derived, previously tothe travels of Mr. Bruce.

Poco*ck and Norden are the most celebrated travellers in Egypt inthe beginning of the seventeenth century; but as their object wasrather the discovery and description of the antiquities of thiscountry, what they published did not much extend our geographicalknowledge: the former spent five years in his travels. The latter isthe first writer who published a picturesque description of Egypt;every subsequent traveller has borne evidence to the accuracy andfidelity of his researches and descriptions. He was the firstEuropean who ventured above the cataracts.

The great ambition and object of Mr. Bruce was to discover thesource of the Nile; for this purpose he left Britain in 1762, andafter visiting Algiers, Balbec, and Palmyra, he prepared for hisjourney into Abyssinia. He sailed up the Nile a considerable way, andafterwards joined a caravan to Cosseir on the Red Sea. After visitingpart of the sea coast of Arabia, he sailed for Massoucut, by whichroute alone an entrance into Abyssinia was practicable. In thiscountry he encountered many obstacles, and difficulties, and afterall, in consequence of wrong information he received from theinhabitants, visited only the Blue River, one of the inferior streamsof the Nile, instead of the White River, its real source. This,however, is of trifling moment, when contrasted with the accessionsto our geographical knowledge of Abyssinia, the coast of the Red Sea,&c., for which we are indebted to this most zealous andpersevering traveller. Since Mr. Bruce's time, Abyssinia has beenvisited by Mr. Salt, who has likewise added considerably to ourknowledge of this country, though on many points he differs from Mr.Bruce.

The most important and interesting accession to our knowledge ofthe north of Africa was made between the years 1792 and 1795, by Mr.Browne. This gentleman seems to have equalled Mr. Bruce in his zealand ardour, but to have surpassed him in the soundness and utility ofhis views; for while the former was principally ambitious ofdiscovering the sources of the Nile,--a point of little real momentin any point of view,--the latter wished to penetrate into thoseparts of the north of Africa which were unknown to Europeans, butwhich, from all accounts of them, promised to interest and benefit,not only commerce, but science. His precise and immediate object wasDarfur, some of the natives of which resided in Egypt: from theirmanners and account of their country, Mr. Browne concluded theinhabitants were not so hostile to Christians and Europeans asMahometans are in general. He therefore resolved to go thither; asfrom it he could either proceed into Abyssinia by Kordofan, ortraverse Africa from east to west. He therefore left Assiou in Egyptwith the Soudan caravan in 1793, passed through the greater Oasis,and arrived at Sircini in Darfur: here he resided a considerabletime, but he found insurmountable obstacles opposed to his grand andulterior plan. He ascertained, however, the source and progress ofthe real Nile or White River. The geography of Darfur and Kordofan isillustrated by him in a very superior and satisfactory manner. Thegeography of Africa to the west of these countries is likewiseelucidated by him: he mentions and describes a large river whichtakes its rise among the mountains of Kumri, and flows in anorth-west course. This river is supposed to be that described byPtolemy under the name of Gir, and by Edrisi as the Nile of theNegroes. The fate of Mr. Browne, who from all the accounts of himseems to have been admirably fitted by nature and habits for atraveller, was very melancholy. After his return to England fromDarfur he resolved to visit the central countries of Asia: heaccordingly set out, but on his way thither he was murdered inPersia.

At the commencement of this century, circ*mstances occurred Whichrendered Egypt and the countries adjacent more accessible toEuropeans than they had ever been before. In the first place, theFrench, who most unjustly invaded it, took with their invading army anumber of literary and scientific men, by whom were published severalsplendid works, principally on the antiquities of this ancientcountry. In the second place, the English, by driving out the French,and by their whole conduct towards the ruling men and the natives ingeneral, not only weakened in a very considerable degree the disliketo Europeans and Christians which the Mahomedans here, as elsewhere,had ever entertained, but also created a grateful sense of obligationand of favour towards themselves. Lastly, the pacha, who obtained thepower in Egypt, was a man of liberal and enlightened views, far abovethose who had preceded him, and disposed to second and assist theresearches and journies of travellers.

In consequence of these favourable circ*mstances, and theadditional circ*mstance, that by the conquests and influence ofBonaparte English travellers were shut out from a great part ofEurope, they directed their course towards Egypt. Their object waschiefly to investigate the numerous, stupendous, and interestingantiquities.

In the year 1813, Mr. Legh, a member of the House of Commons,performed a journey in this country, and beyond the cataracts. Abovethe cataracts he entered Nubia, and proceeded to Dehr, its capital.These travels are, however, chiefly interesting and instructive forthat which indeed must give the chief interest to all travels inEgypt and Nubia--the description of antiquities.

The second cataract continued the limit of the attempts ofEuropean travellers, till it was reached and passed, first by Mr.Burckhardt, and afterwards by Mr. Banks. No modern traveller hasexcelled Mr. Burckhardt in the importance of his travels; and-few, inany age, have equalled him in zeal, perseverance, fortitude, andsuccess.

He was employed by the African Association to explore the interiorof Africa. Having perfected himself in the knowledge of the religion,manners, and language of the Mahomedan Arabs, by frequent and longresidences among the Bedouins, he proceeded to Cairo. Here, findingthat the opportunity of a caravan to Fezzan or Darfur was not soonlikely to occur, he resolved to explore Egypt and the country abovethe cataracts. He accordingly "performed two very arduous andinteresting journies into the ancient Ethiopia; one of them along thebanks of the Nile from Assouan to Dar al Mahas on the frontiers ofDongola, in the months of February and March, 1813, during which hediscovered many remains of ancient Egyptian and Nubian architecture,with Greek inscriptions; the other between March and July in thefollowing year, through Nubia to Souakun. The details of this journeycontain the best notices ever received in Europe of the actual stateof society, trade, manufactures, and government, in what was once thecradle of all the knowledge of the Egyptians."

Although it will carry us a little out of our regular and statedcourse, to notice the other travels of this enterprising man in theplace, yet we prefer doing it, in order that our readers, by havingat once before them a brief abstract of all he performed forgeography, may the better be enabled to appreciate his merits.

Soon after his second return to Cairo, he resolved to penetrateinto Arabia, and to visit Mecca and Medina. In order to secure hisown safety, and at the same time gain such information as could alonebe obtained in the character of a Mahomedan, he assumed the dress,and he was enabled to personate the religion, manners, and languageof the native Hadje, or pilgrims. Thus secure and privileged, heresided between four and five months in Mecca. Here he gained someauthentic and curious information respecting the rise, history, andtenets of the Wahabees, a Mahomedan sect. These travels have not yetbeen published.

The last excursion of Mr. Burckhardt was from Cairo to Mount Sinaiand the eastern head of the Red Sea. This journey was published in1822, along with the travels in Syria and the Holy Land; the latterof which he accomplished while he was preparing himself at Aleppo forhis proposed journey into the interior of Africa. These travels,therefore, are prior in date to those in Nubia, though they werepublished afterwards.

He spent nearly three, years in Syria: his most importantgeographical discoveries in this country relate to the nature of thedistrict between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Elana; the extent,conformation, and detailed topography of the Haouran; the situationof Apanea on the river Orontes, which was one of the most importantcities of Syria under the Macedonian Greeks; the site of Petreea; andthe general structure of the peninsula of Mount Sinai. Perhaps themost original and important of these illustrations of ancientgeography is that which relates to the Elanitic Gulph: its extent andform were previously so little known, that it was either entirelyomitted, or very erroneously laid down in maps. From what he observedhere, there is good reason to believe that the Jordan once dischargeditself into the Red Sea; thus confirming the truth of that convulsionmentioned and described in the nineteenth chapter of Genesis, whichinterrupted the coarse of this river; converted the plain in whichSodom and Gomorrah stood into a lake, and changed the valley to thesouthward of this district into a sandy desert.

But Mr. Burckhardt, considering all these excursions, and theirconsequent numerous and important accessions to geographicalknowledge, as only preludes to the grand expedition for which he hadexpressly come to the East, still looked forward to the interior ofAfrica. This, however, he was not destined to reach; for while atCairo, waiting for a caravan, which was to proceed by Mourzouck,--a.route which he had long decided on as the most likely to answer hispurpose,--he was suddenly seized with a dysentery, on the 5th ofOctober, 1817, and died on the 15th.

Travellers in. Egypt and Nubia have been numerous since the timeof Mr. Burckhardt; but as they chiefly directed their investigationsand inquiries to the antiquities of the country, they do not comewithin our proper notice; we shall therefore merely mention the namesof Belzoni, (whose antiquarian discoveries have been so numerous andsplendid,) Mr. Salt, Mr. Bankes, &c. To this latter gentleman,however, geography is also indebted for important additions to itslimits; or, rather, for having illustrated ancient geography. Hepenetrated, as we have already mentioned, as far as the secondcataract: he visited some of the most celebrated scenes in Arabia,and made an excursion to Waadi Mooza, or the Valley of Moses. He alsovisited Carrac; but the most important discovery of this gentlemanrelates to the site of the ancient Petraea, which was also visited byBurckhardt. Onr readers will recollect that this city has beenparticularly noticed in our digression on the early commerce of theArabians, as the common centre for the caravans in all ages; and thatwe traced its ancient history as far down as there were any noticesof it. Its ruins Mr. Bankes discovered in those of Waadi Mooza, avillage in the valley of the same name.

Since Mr. Burckhardt travelled, geographical discoveries have beenmade in this part of the world by Messrs. Ritchie and Lyon, LordBelmore and Dr. Richardson, Messrs. Waddington and Hanbury, Messrs.Caillaud and Drovetti, Sir Archibald Edmonstone, Sir FrederickHenniker, and by an American of the name of English. The travels ofMessrs. Ritchie and Lyon were confined to Fezzan, and are chieflycurious for the notices they give, derived from native merchants, ofthe course of the Niger, By means of the travels of Lord Belmore andDr. Richardson, the latitudes and longitudes on the Nile have beencorrected from Assouan to the confines of Dongola. Mr. Waddington andMr. Hanbury, taking advantage of an expedition sent into Ethiopia bythe pacha of Egypt, examined this river four hundred miles beyond theplace to which Burckhardt advanced. The travels of the two Frenchgentlemen extended to the Oasis of Thebes and Dakel, and the desertssituated to the east and west of the Thebaid. In the Thebaic Oasissome very interesting remains of antiquity were discovered: the greatOasis was well known to the ancients; but the Thebaic Oasis hasseldom been visited in modern times. Brown and Poncet passed throughits longest extent, but did not see the ruins observed 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 atSennaar, traversed the province of Fazocle, and followed the Arrek,till it entered the kingdom of Bertot. At a place called Singue, inthe kingdom of Dar-foke, which is the southern boundary of Bertot,situated on the tenth parallel of latitude, and five days' journey tothe westward of the confines of Abyssinia, the conquests of IshmaeiPacha terminated. Only short notices of these travels of Mr. Caillaudhave as yet been published.

Sir A. Edmonstone's first intention was to visit the ThebaicOasis; but understanding from Mr. Belzoni that Mr. Caillaud hadalready been there, but that there was another Oasis to the westward,which had never been visited by any European, he resolved to proceedthither. This Oasis was also visited by Drovetti much about I he sametime: he calls it the Oasis of Dakel. It seems to have escaped thenotice of all the ancient authors examined by Sir Archibald, exceptOlympiodorus. Speaking of the Thebaic Oasis, he mentions an interiorand extensive one, lying opposite to the other, one hundred milesapart, which corresponds with the actual distance between them.

The American traveller accompanied the expedition of the pacha ofEgypt as far as Sennaar. He commences the account of his voyage upthe Nile at the second cataract; and as far as the pyramids of Meroe,where the voyage of Messrs. Waddington and Hanbury terminated, hisaccounts correspond with what they give. He did not, however, followthe great bend of the river above Dongola: this he describes as 250miles long, and full of rocks and rapid. He again reached the Nile,having crossed the peninsula in a direct line, at Shendi. Near thisplace he discovered the remains of a city, temples, and fifty-fourpyramids, which are supposed, by a writer in the Quarterly Review, tobe the ruins of the celebrated Meroc, as their position agrees withthat assigned them by a draughtsman employed by Mr. Bankes. The armyhalted on the western bank of the Nile, opposite Halfaia: about fivehours' march above this place the Bahr el Abiad, or White River,flows into the Bahr el Azreck, or Nile of Bruce. In thirteen daysfrom the junction of these two rivers, the army, marching along theleft, or western branch of the Azreck, reached Sennaar.

In the year 1817, Delia Cella, an Italian physician, accompaniedthe army of the bashaw of Tripoli as far as Bomba, on the routetowards Egypt, and near the frontiers of that country. He had thus anopportunity "of visiting one of the oldest and most celebrated of theGreek colonies, established upwards of seven hundred years before thebirth of Christ; and in being the first European to follow thefootsteps of Cato round the shores of the Syrtis, and to explore aregion untrodden by Christian foot since the expulsion of the Romans,the Huns, and the Vandals, by the enterprising disciples of Mahomet."In this journey he necessarily passed the present boundary betweenTripoli and Bengaze, the same which was anciently the boundarybetween Carthage and Cyrene; and our author confirms the account ofSallust, that neither river nor mountain marks the confines. He alsoconfirms the description given by Herodotus of the dreadful storms ofsand that frequently arise and overwhelm the caravans in this part ofthe Syrtis. At the head of the Syrtis the ground is depressed, andthis depression, our author supposes, continues to the Great Desert.Soon after he left this barren country, he entered Cyrenaica, thesite of Cyrene: that most ancient and celebrated colony of the Greekswas easily ascertained by its magnificent ruins. From Cyrene the armymarched to Derna, and from this to the gulf of Bomba, an extensivearm of the sea, where the expedition terminated.

Such are the most recent discoveries in this portion ofAfrica.

The settlement of the Cape of Good Hope, originally established bythe Dutch, and at present in possession of the English, was naturallythe point from which European travellers set out to explore thesouthern parts of Africa. Their progress hitherto has not been great,though, as far as they have advanced, the information they haveacquired of the face of the country, its productions, the tribeswhich inhabit it, and their habits, manners, &c. may be regardedas full and accurate. The principal travellers who have visited thispart of Africa, and from whose travels the best information may beobtained of the settlement of the Cape, and of the country to thenorth of it for about 900 miles, are Kolbein, Sparman, Le Vaillant,Barrow, Lichtenstein, La Trobe, Campbell, and Burcheli. To thegeography of the east coast of Africa, and of the adjacent districts,little or no addition has been made for a very considerable length oftime.

II. The discoveries in Asia may in general be divided into thosewhich the vast possessions of the Russians in this quarter of theglobe, and the corresponding interest which they felt to becomebetter acquainted with them, induced them to make, and into those towhich the English were stimulated, and which they were enabled toperform, from the circ*mstance of their vast, important, andincreasing possessions in Hindostan.

The most important and instructive travels which spring from thefirst source, are those of Bell of Antermony, Pallas, Grnelin,Guldenstedt, Lepechin, &c. Bell was a Scotchman, attached to theRussian service: his work, which was published about the middle ofthe last century, contains an account of the embassy sent by Peterthe Great to the emperor of China, and of another embassy intoPersia; of an expedition to Derbent by the Russian army, and of ajourney to Constantinople. Of the route in all these directions hegives an interesting and accurate account, as well as of the manners,&c. of the people. Indeed, it is a valuable work, especially thatportion of it which conducts us through the central parts ofAsia,--an immense district, which, as we have already remarked, isnot much better known at present, (at least considerable portions ofit,) than it was three or four centuries ago. The travels of Pallas,&c. were undertaken by order of the Russian government, for thepurpose of gaining a fuller and more accurate account of theprovinces of that immense empire, especially those to the south,which, from climate, soil, and productions were most valuable, andmost capable of improvement.

The English possessions in Hindostan have led the way to two setsof discoveries, or rather advancements in geographical knowledge: onewhich was derived from the journies frequently made overland fromIndia to Europe; and the other, which was derived from embassies,&c. from Calcutta to the neighbouring kingdoms. In general,however, the journies overland from India, having been undertakenexpressly for the purpose of expedition, and moreover being throughcountries which required the utmost caution on the part of thetravellers to preserve them from danger, did not admit of muchobservation being made, or much information being acquired,respecting the districts that were passed through. The travels ofJackson, Forster, and Fitzclarence, are perhaps as valuable as anywhich have been given to the public respecting the route from Indiato Europe, and the countries, and their inhabitants, passed throughin this route.

From the embassies and the wars of the British East India Companyin Hindostan, we have derived much valuable information respectingPersia, Thibet, Ava, Caubul, &c.; and from their wars, as well asfrom the institution of the Asiatic Society, and the facilities whichtheir conquests afforded to travellers, the whole of the peninsula ofHindostan, as well as the country to the north of it, as far asCashmere and the Himaleh mountains, may be regarded as fullyexplored. Perhaps the most valuable accession to geographicalknowledge through the English conquests, relates to these mountains.They seem to have been known to Pliny under the name of Imaus: theyare described by Plotemy; and they were crossed by some of the Jesuitmissionaries about the beginning of the seventeenth century; but theywere not thoroughly explored till the beginning of the nineteenth.Mr. Moorcroft was the first European, after the missionaries, whopenetrated into the plains of Tartary through these mountains. Thefullest account, however, of the singular countries which lie amongthem, 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 alsovisited the sources of the Ganges.

Our commerce with China for tea, and the hope of extending thatcommerce to other articles, produced, towards the end of the lastcentury and the beginning of this, two embassies to China, from bothof which, but especially from the first, much additional informationhas been gained respecting this extensive country, and its singularinhabitants; so that, regarding it and them, from these embassies,and the works of the Jesuit missionaries, we possess all theknowledge which we can well expect to derive, so long as the Chineseare so extremely jealous of strangers.

The British embassies to China, besides making us betteracquainted with this country, added no little to our informationrespecting those places which were visited in going to and returningfrom China. Perhaps the most important correction of geography isthat which was made by Captains Maxwell and Hall, who took out thesecond embassy: we allude to what they ascertained respecting thekingdom of Corea. They found a bay, which, according to the charts ofthis country, would be situated 120 miles in the interior; and at thesame time they ascertained, that along the southern coast of Coreathere was an archipelago of more than 1000 islands. Thesediscoveries; the valuable additions which were made during the voyageof Captain Maxwell to the geography and hydrography of the YellowSea; the correction of the vague and incorrect notions which werelong entertained respecting the isles of Jesso and the Kuriles, bythe labours of La Perouse, Broughton, Krusentein, &c., and thefull and minute information given to the public respecting Java, andother parts of the southern Indian archipelago, by Raffles, Craufurd,&c. seem to leave little to be added to our geographicalknowledge of the eastern and southeastern portions of Asia.

III. We come now to America;--and though Africa is one of the mostancient seats of the human race, and of civilization and science, andAmerica has been discovered only about 350 years, yet we know muchmore respecting the coasts and interior of the latter than of theformer portion of the globe.

Although the Spaniards and Portuguese, who, till very lately,possessed nearly the whole of South America, guarded theirpossessions strictly from the curious intrusion of foreigners, andwere themselves very sparing in giving to the world the informationrespecting them which they must have acquired,--yet, even duringtheir power there, the geography of this part of America wasgradually developed and extended; the face of the country; the greatoutline of those immense mountains, which, under the torrid zone, arevisited by the cold of the Pole; the nature of the vast plains whichlie between the offsets of these mountains; and the general directionof the rivers, not less remarkable for their size than the mountainsand plains, were generally known. The geography of South America,however, taking the term in the most philosophical and comprehensivesense, has been principally enriched within these few years, by thelabours of Humboldt and his fellow-traveller Bompland, of Depons,Koster, Prince Maximilian, Lucco*ck, Henderson, and by thoseEnglishmen who joined the Spanish Americans during their strugglewith the mother country. From the observations, enquiries, andresearches of these travellers, our information respecting all thoseparts of South America which constituted the Spanish and Portuguesedominions there, especially of Mexico, Terra Firma, Brazil, andBuenos Ayres, and generally the eastern and middle portions, has beenmuch extended, as well as rendered more accurate and particular.Humboldt, especially, has left little to be gleaned by any futuretraveller, from any of those countries which he has visited anddescribed.

The rapid and wonderful increase in the territories andinhabitants of the United States, has necessarily laid open thegreater part of North America to our acquaintance. The United States,limited in their wish and endeavours to extend themselves on thenorth by the British possessions there, and on the south by theSpanish territories, and moreover drawn towards the interior and theshores of the Pacific by the grand natural navigation which theMississippi and its numerous streams afford for inland commerce, andby the commercial access to the wealth of the East which thepossession of the shores of the Pacific would open to them, havepushed their territories towards the west. First, the AlleghanyMountains, a feeble barrier to an encreasing population, and a mostenterprising as well as unsettled people, were passed; then theMississippi was reached and crossed; and at present the government ofthe United States are preparing the way for extending theirterritories gradually to the Western Ocean itself, and for spreadingtheir 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 themselves, areof course now well known, principally from the accounts published byEuropeans, and especially Englishmen, who have been tempted toexplore them, or to settle there. The government of the United Statesitself has not been backward in setting on foot exploratory travelsinto the immense districts to the west of the Mississippi: to theseenterprizes they seem to have been particularly directed andstimulated by the acquisition of Louisiana from France, a country"rich and varied in its soil, almost inexhaustible in naturalresources, and almost indefinite in extent."

This acquisition was made in the year 1803, and within four yearsof this period, three exploratory expeditions were sent out by theUnited States. The principal object of the first, which was under thedirection of Major Pike, was to trace the Mississippi to its source,and to ascertain the direction of the Arkansa and Red Rivers, furtherto the west. In the course of this journey, an immense chain ofmountains, called the Rocky Mountains, was approached, which appearedto be a continuation of the Andes. The ulterior grand object,however, of this expedition was not obtained, in consequence of theSpaniards compelling Major Pike to desist and return. A secondattempt was made, by another party, but the Spaniards stopped themlikewise. In the years 1804, 5, and 6, Captains Lewis and Clarkeexplored the Missouri to its source, crossed the Rocky Mountains, andproceeding towards the North Pacific Ocean, ascertained, the originand course of the River Columbia.

In the years 1819 and 1820, several persons, well qualified forthe undertaking by their science, spirit, and enterprize, accompaniedby riflemen, hunters, and assistants, were sent out by the governmentof the United States, for the purpose of gaining a more full andaccurate knowledge of the chain of the Rocky Mountains, and of therivers, winch, rising there, flowed into the Mississippi. Afterpassing through a great extent and variety of country, and gainingsome curious information respecting various Indian tribes, especiallyof those who inhabit the upper course of the Missouri, they reachedthe Mountains: these and the adjacent districts they carefullyexamined. They next separated, one party going towards the Red River,and the other descending the Arkansa. The former party were misledand misinformed by the Indians, so that they mistook and followed theCanadian River, instead of the Red River, till it joined the Arkansa.They were, however, too exhausted to remedy their error. The latterparty were more successful.

The great outline of the coast, as well as of the greater portionof the vast continent of America, is now filled up. In thenorthernmost parts of North America, the efforts of the Britishgovernment to find a north-west passage, the spreading of thepopulation of Canada, and the increasing importance of the fur trade,bid fair to add the details of this portion; the spread of thepopulation of the United States towards the west, will as necessarilygive the details of the middle portion; while, with respect to themost southern portions of North America, and the whole of SouthAmerica, with the exception of the cold, bleak, and barren territoryof Patagonia, the changes which have taken place, and are still inoperation, in the political state of the Spanish and Portugueseprovinces, must soon fill up the little that has been leftunaccomplished by Humboldt, &c.

What portions, then, of Asia, America, and Africa, are stillunknown?--and what comparison, in point of extent andimportance, do they bear to what was known to the ancients? InAsia, the interior of the vast kingdom of China is very imperfectlyknown, as well as Daouria and other districts on the confines of theChinese and Russian empires; central Asia in general, and all thatextensive, populous, and fertile region which extends from thesouthern part of Malaya, nearly under the equator, in a northerlydirection, to the fortieth degree of latitude, are still notexplored, or but very partially so, by European travellers. Thisregion comprehends Aracan, Ava, Pegu, Siam, Tsiompa, and Cambodia.The south and east coasts of Arabia still require to be more minutelyand accurately surveyed. In the eastern archipelago, Borneo, Celebes,and Papua, are scarcely known. Though all these bear but a smallproportion to the vast extent of Asia, yet some of them, especiallythe country to the north of the Malay peninsula, and the islands inthe eastern archipelago, may justly be regarded as not inferior, inthat importance which natural riches bestows, to any part of thisquarter of the globe.

Still, however, we possess some general notice, and some vaguereports of all these countries; but it is otherwise with respect tothe unknown portions of Africa. The whole of this quarter of theworld, from the Niger to the confines of the British settlement atthe Cape of Good Hope, may, with little limitation, be considered asunknown. Travellers have indeed penetrated a short distance from thewestern coast into the interior, in some parts between the latitudeof the Niger and the latitude of the extreme northern boundary of theCape settlement: and a very little is known respecting some smallportions of the districts closely adjoining to the eastern coast; butthe whole of central Africa is still unexplored, and presentsdifficulties and dangers which it is apprehended will not be speedilyor easily overcome. To the north of the Niger lies the Sahara, orGreat Desert; of this, probably, sufficient is known to convince usthat its extent is such, that no country that would repay a travellerfor his fatigue and risk, is situated to the north of it. To the eastof the Niger, however, or rather along its course, and to the northof its course, as it flows to the east, much remains to be explored;many geographical details have been indeed gathered from theMahomedan merchants of this part of Africa, but these cannot entirelybe trusted. The course and termination of the Niger itself is stillan unsolved problem.

Captain Scoresby, a most intelligent and active captain in thewhale fishery trade, has very lately succeeded in reaching theeastern coasts of Greenland, and is disposed to think that thedescendants of the Danish colonists, of whose existence nothing isknown since this coast was blocked, up by ice at the beginning of thefifteenth century, still inhabit it. The northern shores ofGreenland, and its extent in this direction are still unknown.

Notwithstanding the zeal and success with which the government ofthe United States prosecute their discoveries to the west of theMississippi, there is still much unexplored country between thatriver and the Pacific Ocean. It is possible that lands may lie withinthe antartic circle, of which we have hitherto as little notion as wehad of South Shetland ten years ago; but if there are such, they mustbe most barren and inhospitable. It is possible also, that,notwithstanding the care and attention with which the great Pacifichas been so repeatedly swept, there may yet be islands in itundiscovered; but these, however fertile from soil and climate, mustbe mere specks in the ocean.

But though comparatively little of the surface of the globe is nowutterly unknown, yet even of those countries with which we are bestacquainted, much remains to be ascertained, before the geography ofthem can justly be regarded as complete. Perhaps we are much lessdeficient and inaccurate in our knowledge of the natural history ofthe globe, than in its geography, strictly so called; that is, in theextent, direction, latitudes and longitudes, direction and elevationof mountains, rise, course, and termination of rivers, &c. Howgrossly erroneous geography was till very lately, in some even of itsmost elementary parts, and those, too, in relation to what ought tohave been the most accurately known portion of Europe, may be judgedfrom 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, waslaid down in all the maps of England nearly half a degree greaterthan it actually is; and that, as we have formerly noticed, "thelength of the Mediterranean was estimated by the longitudes ofPtolemy till the eighteenth century, and that it was curtailed ofnearly twenty-five degrees by observation, no farther back than thereign of Louis XIV."

To speak in a loose and general manner, the Romans, at the heightof their conquests, power, and geographical knowledge, were probablyacquainted with a part of the globe about equal in extent to that ofwhich we are still ignorant; but their empire embraced a fairer andmore valuable portion than we can expect to find in those countrieswhich remain to reward the enterprise of European travellers. Thefertile regions and the beautiful climate of the south of Europe, ofthe north of Africa, and above all of Asia Minor, present a picturewhich we can hardly expect will be approached, certainly will not besurpassed, under the burning heats of central Africa, or even themore mitigated heats of the farther peninsula of India. The short andeasy access of all portions of the Roman Empire to the ocean, gavethem advantages which must be denied to the hitherto unexploreddistricts in the interior of Asia and Africa. The farther peninsulaof India is infinitely better situated in this respect.

At that very remote period, when sacred and profane history firstdisplays the situation, and narrates the transactions of the humanrace, the countries, few in number, and comparatively of smallextent, that were washed by the waters of the Mediterranean,comprised the whole of the earth which was then known. Asia Minor,which possessed the advantage of lying not only on this sea, but alsoon the Euxine, and which is moreover level in its surface, andfertile in its soil, seems to have been the first additional portionof the earth that became thoroughly known. The commercial enterprizeof the Phoenicians, and their colonists the Carthaginians,--theconquests of Alexander the Great, and of the Romans, graduallyextended the knowledge of the earth in all directions, butprincipally in the middle regions of Europe, in the north of Africa,and in Asia towards the Indus. At the period when the Roman empirewas destroyed, little more was known; and during the middle ages,geography was feebly assisted and extended by a desire to possess theluxuries of the East, (which seems to have been as powerful andgeneral with the conquerors of the Romans as with the Romansthemselves,) by the religious zeal of a few priests, and by the zealfor knowledge which actuated a still smaller number oftravellers.

The desire of obtaining the luxuries of the East, however, was thepredominating principle, and the efficient cause of the extension ofgeography. Actuated by it, the passage of the Cape of Good Hope wasaccomplished; the eastern limits of Asia were reached; America wasdiscovered, and even the Frozen Seas were braved and carefullyexamined, in the hope that by them a speedier passage might be foundto the countries which produced these luxuries. At length the love ofconquest, of wealth, and of luxury, which alone are sufficientlygross and stimulating in their nature to act on men in their rudestand least intellectual state, and which do not loose their hold onthe most civilized, enlightened, and virtuous people, was assisted bythe love of science; and though when this union took place, little ofthe globe was unknown, as respected its grand outline, and thegeneral extent and relative situation of the seas and lands whichcompose its surface, yet much remained to be accomplished indetermining the details of geography; in fixing accurately andscientifically the situation of places; in exhibiting the surface ofthe land, as it was distinguished by mountains, plains, lakes,rivers, &c.; in gaining a full and accurate knowledge of thenatural history of each country, and of the manners, customs,institutions, religion, manufactures and commerce of itsinhabitants.

Before we give a sketch of the progress of commercial enterprizeduring the last hundred years, it will be proper to notice theadvancement of geographical science during the same period, and theassistance which was thus afforded, as well as from other sources, tothose who travelled both by sea and land, for the purpose ofdiscovering or exploring foreign and distant countries. This part ofour subject seems naturally to divide itself into three parts; viz.the improvement of maps, which was equally advantageous to sea andland travellers; those particulars which rendered navigation moresafe, easy, and expeditious; and those particulars which bestowed thesame benefit on land travellers.

The science of geography dates its origin, as we have alreadymentioned, from Mercator, though he was unable to point out andexplain the law, according to which the projection which bears hisname might be laid down on fixed principles: this was effected by anEnglishman of the name of Wright. Mathematical geography, strictly socalled, seems to have owed its origin to the discussion respectingthe flattening of the Poles, which took place, in the beginning ofthe eighteenth century, among Newton, Huygens, and Cassini, and whichwas afterwards continued by some of the most distinguishedmathematicians and natural philosophers of France and England. Still,however, the construction of maps derived little advantage from theapplication of strict science to geography, till Delisle, in France,and Haase, in Germany, directed their attention and talents to thisparticular subject: their efforts were indeed great, but in somemeasure unavailing, in consequence of the want of sufficientmaterials. The same impediment lay in the way of Busching,notwithstanding he brought to the task the characteristic patienceand research of a German. To him, however, and the more illustriousD'Anville, accurate delineations and descriptions of the countries ofthe globe may first justly be ascribed.

D'Anville possessed excellent and ample materials, in authenticrelations, and plans and delineations made on the spot: with these headvanced to the task, calling to his aid mathematical principles. Hefirst exhibited in his maps the interior of Asia free from thatconfusion and error by which all former maps had obscured it; andstruck out from his map of Africa many imaginary kingdoms. Ancientgeography, and the still more involved and dark geography of themiddle ages, received from him the first illumination; and ifsubsequent geographers have been able to add to and correct hislabours, it has been chiefly owing to their possessing materialswhich did not exist in his time.

Busching confined himself entirely to modern geography; and thoughhis minuteness is generally tiresome and superfluous, yet we canpardon it, for the accuracy of his details: he was patronized andassisted in his labours by all the governments, of the north, whogave him access to every document which could further his object.

Since the time of D'Anville and Busching, the description ofcountries, and the construction of maps, have proceeded with arapidly encreasing decree of accuracy. In ancient geography,Gosselin, Rennell, Vincent, and Malte Brun, are among the mostcelebrated names. Two Germans, Voss and Munnert, have directed theirlabours to illustrate and explain the geographical details and hintsof the Greek poets. It would be almost endless to enumerate those towhom modern geography, and the construction of modern maps areprincipally indebted. Gaspari and Zimmerman, among the Germans, havethrown into a philosophical and interesting form the labours andheavy details which were supplied them by less original but moreplodding men. The English, though, as Malte Brun observes, they arestill without a system of geography which deserves the name, are richin excellent materials, which have been supplied by the extent oftheir dominions and their commerce in various parts of the globe; bytheir laudable and happy union of conquest, commerce, and science;and by the advantage which Dalrymple, Arrowsmith, and othergeographers have derived from these circ*mstances. The French,Russians, Spaniards, Danes, and indeed most nations of Europe,sensible of the vast importance of accurate maps, especially such asrelate to their respective territories, have contributed to renderthem much more accurate than they formerly were; so that at presentthere is scarcely any part of the globe, which has been visited bysea or land, of-which we do not possess accurate maps; and no soonerhas the labour of any traveller filled up a void, or corrected anerror, than the map of the country which he has visited becomes morefull and accurate.

The most direct and perfect application of mathematical andastronomical science to the delineation of the surface of the globe,so as to ascertain its exact form, and the exact extent of degrees oflatitude in different parts of it, has been made by the English andFrench; and much to their honour, by them in conjunction. The firstmodern measurement of degrees of latitude was made by an Englishmanof the name of Norwood: he ascertained the difference of latitudebetween London and York in 1635, and then measured their distance:from these premises he calculated, that the length of a degree was122,399 English yards. At this time there was no reason to supposethat the earth was flattened at the Poles. Shortly afterwards, ithaving been discovered that the weights of bodies were less at theequator than at Paris, 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 the meridian in France; and in1718, the whole area extending through France was measured by Cassiniand other philosophers. The results of this measurement seemed todisprove Newton's theory, that the curvature of the earth diminishedas we recede from the equator. To remove all doubts, an arc near theequator was measured in Peru, by some French and Spanish astronomers;and an arc near the arctic circle by some French and Swedishastronomers; the result was a confirmation of Newton's theory, andthat the equatorial diameter exceeded the polar by about 1/204 partof the whole.

Since this period, arcs of the meridian have been measured inseveral countries. In 1787 it was determined by the British andFrench governments to connect the observatories of Greenwich andParis by a series of triangles, and to compare the differences oflatitudes and longitudes, ascertained by astronomical observations,with those ascertained by actual measurement. The measurement inEngland was extended to a survey of the whole kingdom; and theaccurate maps thus obtained have been since published. Arcs of themeridian have also been measured lately from Dunkirk toBarcelona,--in Lapland, by which an error in the former measurementthere 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 thefoundation of all real improvements in the construction of maps.

Let us next turn our attention to the improvements in navigationwhich have taken place during the last and present centuries; theseseem to consist, principally, in those which are derived fromphysical science, and those which are derived from other sources.

The grand objects of a navigator are the accurate knowledge ofwhere he exactly is, in any part of his course, and how he ought tosteer, in order to reach his destination in the shortest time. Themeans of ascertaining his latitude and longitude, of calculating howfar he has sailed, and at what rate he is sailing, and the directionof his course with reference to the port to which he is desirous toproceed, are what he principally requires. We do not intend, by anymeans, to enter at any length, or systematically, on these subjects;but a brief and popular notice of them seems proper and necessary insuch a work as this.

Astronomy here comes essentially to the aid of navigation: we havealready seen how, even in the rudest state of the latter, it derivedits chief assistance from this sublime science, confined as it thenwas to a knowledge of the position of a few stars. Astronomy enablesthe navigator to ascertain his latitude and longitude, and to findthe variation of the compass. The principal difficulty inascertaining the latitude at sea, arose from the unsteady motion ofthe ship: to remedy this, several instruments were invented. We havealready alluded to the astrolobe; but this, as well as the others,were imperfect and objectionable, till such time as Hadley's quadrantwas invented, the principle and uses of which were first suggested byNewton.

To ascertain the longitude was a much more difficult task: thereare evidently two methods of doing this,--by time-keepers orchronometers, and by making the motions of the celestial bodies serveinstead of time-keepers. About the middle of the seventeenth century,Huygens proposed the pendulum clock for finding the longitude at sea;but it was unfit for the purpose, for many and obvious reasons.Watches, even made with the utmost care, were found to be tooirregular in their rate of going, to be depended upon for thispurpose. In the reign of Queen Anne the celebrated act was passed,appropriating certain sums for encouraging attempts to ascertain thelongitude. Stimulated by this, Mr. Harrison invented his time-keeper,which on trial was found to answer the purpose with such tolerableaccuracy, that he was deemed worthy to receive the sum awarded byparliament: it went within the limit of an error of thirty miles oflongitude, or two minutes of time, in a voyage to the West Indies.Since this period, chronometers have been much improved, andexcellent ones are very generally used: perhaps the most tryingcirc*mstances in which any were ever placed, existed during thevoyage for the discovery of a northwest passage by Captain Parry; andthen most of those he had with him were found to be extremelyaccurate.

It is evident, however, that chronometers are liable to a varietyof accidents, and that in very long voyages the means of verifyingtheir rate of going seldom occur. Hence the lunar method, or themethod of ascertaining the longitude by means of the motions of themoon, is more useful and valuable. Here again, the profoundestresearches of Clairaut, Euler, D'Alembert, and La Place, were broughtpractically to bear on navigation. Guided and aided by these, TobiasMayer, of Gottingen, compiled a set of solar and lunar tables, whichwere sent to the lords of the admiralty, in the year 1755; they gavethe longitude of the moon within thirty seconds. They were afterwardsimproved by Dr. Maskelyne and Mr. Mason, and still more lately byBurg and Burckhardt; the error of these last tables will seldomexceed fifteen seconds, or seven miles and a half. The computations,however, necessary in making use of these tables, were found to bevery laborious and inconvenient; to obviate this difficulty, thenautical almanack, suggested by Dr. Maskelyne, was published, whichis now annually continued. The longitude is thus ascertained to sucha nicety, as to secure the navigator from any danger arising from theformer imperfect modes of finding it; "he is now enabled to make forhis port without sailing into the parallel of latitude, and then, inthe seaman's phrase, running down the port, on the parallel, as wasdone before this method was practised. Fifty years ago, navigatorsdid not attempt to find their longitude at sea, unless by theirreckoning, which was hardly ever to be depended on."

Not long after the mariner's compass was employed, its variationwas noticed; as it is obvious that, unless the degree and directionof this variation are accurately known, the compass would be oflittle service in navigation, the attention of navigators andphilosophers was carefully directed to this point; and it wasascertained that the quantity of this variation is subject to regularperiodical changes. By means, therefore, of a table indicating thosechanges, under different latitudes and longitudes, and of what arecalled variation charts, the uncertainty arising from them is in agreat measure done away. Another source of error however existed,which does not seem to have been noticed till the period of CaptainCook's voyages: it was then found, "that the variation of the needlediffered very sensibly on the same spot, with the differentdirections of the ship's head." Captain Flinders attributed this tothe iron in the ship, and made a number of observations on thesubject; these have been subsequently added to and corrected, so thatat present the quantity of variation from this cause can beascertained, and of course a proper allowance made for it. It doesnot appear that any material improvement has been made in theconstruction and use of the log,--that useful and necessary appendageto the compass,--since it was invented about the end of the sixteenthcentury.

These are the most important improvements in nautical knowledgeand science, which renders navigation at present so much more safeand expeditious than it formerly was; there are, however, othercirc*mstances which tend to the same object; the more full, accurate,and minute knowledge of the prevalent winds at different times of theyear, and in various parts of the ocean; the means of foretellingchanges of weather; and, principally, a knowledge of the directionand force of the currents must be regarded as of essential advantageto the seaman. When to these we add, the coppering of ships, whichwas first practised about the year 1761, and other improvements intheir built and rigging, we have enumerated the chief causes whichenable a vessel to reach the East Indies in two-thirds of the timewhich was occupied in such a voyage half a century ago.

Nor must we forget that the health of the seamen has, during thesame period, been rendered infinitely more secure; so that mortalityand sickness, in the longest voyages, and under great and frequentchanges of climate, and other circ*mstances usually affecting health,will not exceed what would have occurred on land during the sametime.

The great advantages which the very improved state of all branchesof physical science, and of natural history, bestow on travellers inmodern times, are enjoyed, though not in an equal degree, bynavigators and by those who journey on land. To the latter they areindeed most important, and will principally account for thesuperiority of modern travels over those which were published acentury ago, or even fifty years since. It is plain that ourknowledge of foreign countries relates either to animate or inanimatenature: to the soil and geology, the face of the surface, and whatlies below it; the rivers, lakes, mountains, climate, and the plants;or to the natural history, strictly so called:--and to the manners,institutions, government, religion, and statistics of theinhabitants. Consequently, as the appropriate branches of knowledgerelating to these objects are extended, travellers must be betterable, as well as more disposed, to investigate them; and the publicat large require that some or all of them should at least be noticedin books of travels. The same science, and many of the sameinstruments, which enable the seaman to ascertain his latitude andlongitude, and to lay down full and accurate charts of the shoreswhich he visits, are also useful to the land-traveller; they bothdraw assistance from the knowledge of meteorology which they maypossess, to make observations on the climate, and from theiracquaintance with botany and natural history, to give an account ofthe plants and animals. But it is evident that so far as the latterare concerned, as well as so far as relates to the inhabitants, theland traveller has more opportunities than he who goes on avoyage.

But there are other advantages enjoyed by modern travellersbesides those derived from superior science: foreign languages are atpresent better and more generally understood; and it is unnecessaryto point out how important such an acquisition is, or rather howindispensible it is to accurate information. The knowledge of thelanguages of the East which many of the gentlemen in the service ofthe East India Company, and the missionaries, possess, has been ofinfinite service in making us much better acquainted with theantiquities, history, and present state of those countries, than wecould possibly have otherwise been. There is at present greaterintercourse among even remote nations; and prejudices, which formerlyoperated as an almost insurmountable barrier, are now either entirelydestroyed, or greatly weakened: in proof of this, we need only referto the numerous travellers who have lately visited Egypt,--a countrywhich it would have been extremely dangerous to visit half a centuryago. At the same distance of time, natives of Asia or Africa,especially in their appropriate costume, were seldom or never seen inthe streets of London, or, if seen, would have been insulted, orgreatly incommoded by the troublesome curiosity of its inhabitants;now there are many such, who walk the streets unmolested, andscarcely noticed.

Commerce, which has derived such advantages from the progress ofgeographical knowledge, has in some measure repaid the obligation, bycreating a much greater, more intimate, and more frequent mutualintercourse among nations; and by doing away with those prejudicesand antipathies which formerly closed many countries effectuallyagainst Christian and European travellers: and to the zeal andperseverance of modern travellers, assisted as they are by commercialintercourse, we may reasonably hope that we shall, before long, beindebted for a knowledge of the interior of Africa. Those countriesstill imperfectly known in the south-east of Asia will, probably,from their vicinity to our possessions in Hindostan, be explored fromthat quarter. The encreasing population of the United States, and theindependence of South America, will necessarily bring us acquaintedwith such parts of the new world as are still unknown. But it isdifficult to conjecture from what sources, and under whatcirc*mstances, the empires of China and Japan will be rendered moreaccessible to European travellers: these countries, and some parts ofthe interior of Asia, are cut off from our communication by causeswhich probably will not speedily cease to operate. The barriers whichstill enclose all other countries are gradually yielding to thecauses we have mentioned; and as, along with greater facilities forpenetrating into and travelling within such countries, travellers nowpossess greater capabilities of making use of the opportunities thusenjoyed, we may hope that nearly the whole world will soon be visitedand known, and known, too, in every thing that relates to inanimateand animate nature.

The progress of commerce during the last hundred years, the periodof time to which we are at present to direct our attention, has beenso rapid, its ramifications are so complicated, and the objects itembraces so various and numerous, that it will not be possible,within the limits to which we must confine ourselves, to enter onminute and full details respecting it; nor would these be consonantto the nature of our work, or generally interesting andinstructive.

During the infancy of commerce, as well as of geographicalscience, we deemed it proper to be particular in every thing thatindicated their growth; but the reasons which proved the necessity,or the advantage, of such a mode of treating these subjects in theformer parts of this volume, no longer exist, but in fact give way toreasons of an opposite nature--reasons for exhibiting merely ageneral view of them. Actuated by these considerations, we have beenless minute and particular in what relates to modern geography, thanIn what relates to ancient; and we shall follow the same plan inrelation to what remains to be said on the subject of commerce. Solong as any of the causes which tended to advance geography andcommerce acted obscurely and imperfectly--so long as they were insuch a weak state that the continuance of their progress wasdoubtful, we entered pretty fully into their history; but after aforward motion was communicated to them, such as must carry themtowards perfection without the possibility of any great or permanentcheck, we have thought it proper to abstain from details, and toconfine ourselves to more general views. Guided by this principlewhich derives additional weight from the vastness to which commercehas reached within the last hundred years, we shall now proceed to arapid and general sketch of its progress during that period, and ofits 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 monopolized all the trade of Europe;the former, from their situation, naturally confining themselves tothe importation and circulation of the commodities supplied by theEast, and by the European countries in the south of Europe, and thedistricts of Africa then known and accessible; while the latterdirected their attention and industry to those articles which themiddle and north of Europe produced or manufactured.

The discovery of the Cape of Good Hope gave a different directionto the commerce of the East, while at the same time it very greatlyextended it; but as it is obvious that a greater quantity of thecommodities supplied by this part of the world could not bepurchased, except by an increase in the produce and manufactures ofthe purchasing nations, they also pushed forward in industry,experience, skill, and capital. The Portuguese and Spaniards firstreaped the fruits of the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope;subsequently the Dutch; and at the period at which this part of oursketch of commerce commences, the English were beginning to assumethat hold and superiority in the East, by which they are now sogreatly distinguished. The industry of Europe, especially of themiddle and northern states, was further stimulated by the discoveryof America, and, indirectly, by all those causes which in thefifteenth and sixteenth centuries tended to increase information, andto secure the liberty of the mass of the people. The invention ofprinting; the reformation; the destruction of the feudal system, atleast in its most objectionable, degrading, and paralizing features;the contentions between the nobility and the sovereigns, and betweenthe latter and the people; gave a stimulus to the human mind, andthus enlarged its capacities, desires, and views, in such a manner,that the character of the human race assumed a loftier port.

From all these causes commerce benefited, and, as was natural toexpect, it benefited most in those countries where most of thesecauses operated, and where they operated most powerfully. In Hollandwe see a memorable and gratifying instance of this: a comparativelysmall population, inhabiting a narrow district, won and kept from theoverwhelming of the ocean, by most arduous, incessant, and expensivelabour,--and the territory thus acquired and preserved not naturallyfertile, and where fertile only calculated to produce fewarticles,--a people thus disadvantageously situated, in respect toterritory and soil, and moreover engaged in a most perilous,doubtful, and protracted contest for their religion and liberty, withby far the most potent monarch of Europe,--this people, blessed withknowledge and freedom, forced to become industrious and enterprizingby the very adverse circ*mstances in which they were placed,gradually wrested from their opponents--the discoverers of thetreasures of the East and of the new world, and who were moreoverblessed with a fertile soil and a luxurious climate at home,--theirpossessions in Asia, and part of their possessions in America. Nordid the enterprising spirit of the Dutch confine itself to theobtaining of these sources of wealth: they became, as we have alreadyseen, the carriers for nearly the whole of Europe; by their means theproductions of the East were distributed among the European nations,and the bulky and mostly raw produce of the shores of the Baltic wasexchanged for the productions and manufactures of France, England,Germany, and the Italian states.

From the middle of the eighteenth century, the commerce of theDutch began to decline; partly in consequence of political disputesamong themselves, but principally because other nations of Europe nowput forth their industry with effect and perseverance. The Englishand the French, especially, became their great rivals; first, byconducting themselves each their own trade, which had been previouslycarried on by the Dutch, and, subsequently, by the possessions theyacquired in the East. The American war, and soon afterwards thepossession of Holland by the French during the revolutionary war,gave a fatal blow to the remnant of their commerce, from which it hasnot recovered, nor is likely at any time to recover, at least nearlyto its former flourishing state. For, as we have remarked, the Dutchwere flourishing and rich, principally because other nations wereignorant, enslaved, and destitute of industry, skill, andcapital.

England took the place of the Dutch in the scale of commercialenterprise and success: the contest between them was long andarduous; but at length England attained a decided and permanentsuperiority. She gradually extended her possessions in the East; andafter expelling the French from this part of the world, became inreality the only European sovereign power there.

The manufactures of England, those real and abundant causes andsources of her immense commerce, did not begin to assume thatimportance and extent to which they have at present reached, till themiddle, or rather the latter part of the eighteenth century; then herpotteries, her hardware, her woollens, and above all her cottongoods, began to improve. Certainly the steam engine is the grandcause to which England's wealth and commerce may be attributed in agreat degree; but the perfection to which it has been brought, themultifarious uses to which it is applied, both presuppose skill,capital, and industry, without which the mere possession of such anengine would have been of little avail.

At the termination of the American war, England seemed completelyexhausted: she had come out of a long and expensive contest, deprivedof what many regarded as her most valuable possessions, and havingcontracted an enormous debt. Yet in a very few years, she not onlyrevived, but flourished more than ever; it is in vain to attributethis to any other causes but those alone which can produce eitherindividual or national wealth, viz. industry, enterprize, knowledge,and economy, and capital acquired by means of them. But what hasrendered Britain more industrious, intelligent, and skilful thanother nations?--for if we can answer this question, we cansatisfactorily account for her acquisition of capital; and capital,industry, and skill existing, commerce and wealth must necessarilyfollow.

Britain enjoys greater political freedom, and greater security ofproperty than any other European nation; and without politicalfreedom, the mass of the people never can be intelligent, or possesseither comprehensive views or desires; and where views and desiresare limited, there can be no regular, general, and zealous industry.Unless, however, security of property is enjoyed, as well aspolitical liberty, industry, even if it could spring up under suchcirc*mstances, must soon droop and decay. It is a contradiction interms to suppose that comprehensive views and desires can exist andlead to action, when at the same time it is extremely doubtfulwhether the objects of them could be realized, or, if realized,whether they would not immediately be destroyed, or torn from thosewhose labour, and skill, and anxious thought had acquired them.

But there are other causes to which we must ascribe the extensionof British manufactures and commerce; of these we shall onlyenumerate what we regard as the principal and the most powerful: thestimulus which any particular improvement in manufactures gives tofuture and additional improvements, or rather, perhaps, the necessitywhich it creates for such additional improvements; the naturaloperation of enlarged capital; the equally natural operation ofencreased wealth among the various classes of the community; thepeculiar circ*mstances in which Britain has been placed since thetermination of the war which deprived her of her American colonies;and, lastly, her national debt. A short view of each of theseparticulars will, we believe, sufficiently account for the presentunparalleled state of British manufactures and commerce.

The direct effect of improvement in the mode of manufacturing anyarticle, by the introduction of a more powerful machinery, is toencrease the quantity, and to lower the price of that article. Henceit follows, that those who manufacture it on the old plan must beundersold, unless they also adopt such machinery; and as knowledge,both speculative and practical, has greater chance to improve inproportion as it is spread, from this cause, as well as from the morepowerful cause of rival interests, wherever improvements inmanufactures have begun and been extended, they are sure toadvance.

That this is not theoretical doctrine requires only an appeal towhat has been effected, and is yet effecting in Britain, to prove. Avery curious, interesting, and instructive work might be written onthe improvements in the cotton machinery alone, which have been madein this country during the last forty years: we mean interesting andinstructive, not merely on account of the tacts relative tomechanical ingenuity which it would unfold, but on account of themuch higher history which it would give of the mechanism of the humanmind, and of the connections and ramifications of the variousbranches of human knowledge. In what state would the commerce ofGreat Britain have been at this time, if the vast improvements in themachinery for spinning cotton had not been made and universallyadopted?--and how slowly and imperfectly would these improvementshave taken place, had the sciences been unconnected, or greaterimprovements, which at first were unseen or deemed impracticable, notbeen gradually developed, as lesser improvements were made. Thestimulus of interest, the mutual connection of various branches ofscience, and above all the unceasing onward movement of the humanmind in knowledge, speculative as well as practical, must be regardedas the most powerful causes of the present wonderful state of ourmanufactures, and, consequently, of our commerce.

2. The natural operation of enlarged capital is another cause ofour great commerce. There is nothing more difficult in the history ofmankind--not the history of their wars and politics, but the historyof their character, manners, sentiments, and progress in civilizationand wealth--[as->than] to distinguish and separate those factswhich ought to be classed as causes, and those which ought to beclassed as effects. There can be no doubt that trade producescapital; and, in this point of view, capital must be regarded as aneffect: there can be as little doubt, that an increase of capital isfavourable to an increase of commerce, and actually produces it; inthis point of view, therefore, capital must be regarded as a cause.As in the physical world action and reaction are equal, so are they,in many respects, and under many circ*mstances, in the moral andintellectual world; but, whereas in the physical world the action andreaction are not only equal but simultaneous, in the moral andintellectual world the reaction does not take place till after theimmediate and particular action from which it springs has ceased.

To apply these remarks to our present subject, it is unnecessaryto point out in what manner trade must increase capital; thatcapital, on the other hand, increases trade, is not, perhaps, atfirst sight, quite so obvious; but that it must act in this mannerwill be perceptible, when, we reflect on the advantages which a largecapital gives to its possessor. It enables him to buy cheaper,because he can buy larger quantities, and give ready money; buyingcheaper, he can sell cheaper, or give longer credit, or both; andthis must ensure an increase of trade. It enables him immediately totake advantage of any improvement in the mode of manufacturing anyarticle; and to push the sale of any article into countries where itwas before unknown. Such are some of the more important effects oncommerce of large capital; and these effects have been most obviouslyand strikingly shewn in the commercial history of Britain for thelast thirty years, and thus give a practical confirmation to thedoctrine, that capital, originally the creature of trade, in its turngives nourishment, rigour, and enlarged growth to it.

3. Encreased wealth among the various classes of the community,may be viewed In the same light as capital; it flows from increasedtrade, and it produces a still further increase of trade. The views,and desires, and habits of mankind, are like their knowledge, theyare and must be progressive: and if accompanied, as they generallyare, by increased means, they must give birth to increased industryand skill, and their necessary consequences, increased trade andwealth.

Had the views, desires, and habits of mankind, and especially ofthe inhabitants of Europe and the United States, continued as theywere fifty years ago, it is absolutely impossible that one half ofthe goods manufactured in Great Britain could have been disposed of;and unless these additional and enlarged views, desires, and habits,had been accompanied with commensurate means of gratifying them, ourmanufactures and commerce could not have advanced as they have done.Minutely and universally divided as human labour is, no one countrycan render its industry and skill additionally productive, without,at the same time, the industry and skill of other countries alsoadvance. No one nation can acquire additional wealth, unlessadditional wealth is also acquired in other nations. Before anadditional quantity of commodities can be sold, additional means topurchase them must be obtained; or, in other words, increasedcommerce, supposes increased wealth, not only in that country inwhich commerce is increased, but also in that where the buyers andconsumers live.

4. Since the termination of the American war, Britain has beenplaced in circ*mstances favourable to her commerce: the human mindcannot long be depressed; there is an elasticity about it whichprevents this. Perhaps it is rather disposed to rebound, inproportion to the degree and time of its restraint. It is certain,however, that the exhaustion produced by the American war speedilygave place to wonderful activity in our manufactures and commerce;and that, at the commencement of the first French revolutionary war,they had both taken wonderful and rapid strides. The circ*mstances,indeed, of such a country as Britain, and such a people as theBritish, must be essentially changed,--changed to a degree, and in amanner, which we can hardly suppose to be brought about by anynatural causes,--before its real wealth can be annihilated, or evengreatly or permanently diminished. The climate and the soil, and allthe improvements and ameliorations which agriculture has produced onthe soil, must remain: the knowledge and skill, and real capital ofthe inhabitants, are beyond the reach of any destroying cause:interest must always operate and apply this knowledge and skill,unless we can suppose, what seems as unlikely to happen as the changeof our climate and soil, the annihilation of our knowledge and skill,or that interest should cease to be the stimulating cause ofindustry; unless we can suppose that political and civil freedomshould be rooted out, and individual property no longer secure.

Circ*mstances, however, though they cannot destroy, mustinfluence, beneficially or otherwise, the wealth and commerce of acountry; and it may happen that circ*mstances apparently unfavourablemay become beneficial. This was the case with Britain: during theAmerican war, her manufactures and commerce languished; during theFrench wars they increased and throve most wonderfully. The cause ofthis difference must be sought for principally in the very artificialand extraordinary circ*mstances in which she was placed during theFrench war: and of these circ*mstances, the most powerfully operativewere her foreign loans; her paper circulation; the conquests andsubsequent measures of Bonaparte on the continent; and hersuperiority at sea. Foreign loans necessarily rendered the exchangeunfavourable to Britain; an unfavourable exchange, or, in otherwords, a premium on bills, in any particular country, enabled themerchant to sell his goods there at a cheaper rate than formerly, andconsequently to extend his commerce there. The paper circulation ofBritain,--though a bold and hazardous step, and which in a lesshealthy and vigorous state of public credit and wealth than Britainenjoyed could not have been taken, or, if taken, would not haveproduced nearly the beneficial effects it did, and would have leftmuch more fatal consequences than we are at presentexperiencing,--undoubtedly tended to increase her commerce; and thevery stimulus which it gave to all kinds of speculation has beenfavourable to it. The ruinous consequences of such speculation,though dreadful, are comparatively of short duration; whereas it isimpossible that speculation should be active and vigorous, withcommensurate means, without improving manufactures, and opening newchannels for commerce; and these effects must remain. In what mannerthe measures of Bonaparte on the continent, and our superiority atsea, were favourable to our commerce, it is unnecessary toexplain.

Lastly. It only remains to explain how our national debt has beenbeneficial to our commerce. Necessity, if it is not absolutelyoverpowering, must act as a stimulus to industry as well as interest:the desire to avoid evil, and the desire to obtain good, are equallypowerful motives to the human mind. In the same manner as an increaseof family, by creating additional expense, spurs a man to additionalindustry; so the certainty that he must pay additional taxes producesthe same effect. Individuals may contrive to shift the burden fromthemselves, and pay their taxes by spending less; but there can be nodoubt that the only general, sure, and permanent fund, out of whichadditional taxes can be paid, must arise from the fruits ofadditional industry. We wish to guard against being taken for theadvocates for taxation, as in any shape a blessing: we are merelystating what we conceive to be its effect. But we should no moreregard taxation as a blessing, because it increased commerce, than weshould regard it as a blessing to a man, that, from any cause, he wasobliged to work fourteen hours a day instead of twelve. In bothcases, increased labour might be necessary, but it would not the lessbe an evil.

The only other nation, the commerce of which has increased verymaterially and rapidly, is the United States of America; and if wetrace the chief and most powerful causes of their commercialprosperity, we-shall still further be confirmed in the opinion, thatat least some of the causes which we have assigned for the extensionof British commerce are the true ones; and that, in fact, commercecannot generally or permanently increase where these causes do notexist, and that where they do they must encourage and extend it

It is not our intention to enter into a detail of the causes ofAmerican prosperity, except so far as they are connected with itscommerce. They may, however, be summed up in a few words. Aninexhaustible quantity of land, in a good climate, obtained withoutdifficulty, and at little expence; with the produce of it, whenobtained and cultivated, entirely at the disposal and for theexclusive advantage of the proprietor. The same with regard to allother labour; or, in other words, scarcely any taxes: and withrespect to labour in general, great demand for it, and extremely highwages. These are causes of increased population and of prosperity,and indirectly of commerce, peculiar to America. It requires noillustration or proof to comprehend how the increased produce of anew soil must supply increased articles for commerce. While Britain,therefore, finds increased articles for her commerce, from herimprovements in the machinery applicable to manufactures, by means ofwhich the same quantity of human labour is rendered infinitely moreproductive,--the United States finds materials for her increasedcommerce, in the increasing stock of the produce of the soil.

Political and civil liberty, and the consequent security ofproperty, are causes of commercial prosperity, common to the UnitedStates and Britain.

It may also be remarked, that the circ*mstances of Europe, almostever since the United States have had a separate and independentexistence, have been favourable to its commerce. The long war betweenBritain and France afforded them opportunities for increasing theircommerce, which they most sedulously and successfully embraced andimproved. They became, in fact, the carriers for France, and in manycases the introducers of British produce into the continent.

There is only another circ*mstance connected with the UnitedStates to which we deem it necessary to advert in this brief andgeneral developement of the causes of their commercial prosperity: weallude to the wonderful facilities for internal commerce affordedthem by their rivers, and especially by the Mississippi and itsbranches. There can be no doubt that easy, speedy, cheap, and generalinter-communication to internal trade,--whether by means of roads andcanals, as in England, or by means of rivers as in America, isadvantageous to foreign commerce, both directly and indirectly. It isadvantageous directly, in so far as it enables the manufacturer withgreat facility, and at little expence, to transmit his goods to theplaces of exportation; and to ascertain very quickly the state of themarkets by which he regulates his purchases, sales, and even thequantity and direction of his labour. It is advantageous indirectly,in so far as by stimulating and encouraging internal trade, itincreases wealth, and with increased wealth comes the increaseddesire of obtaining foreign produce, and the increased means togratify that desire.

We deemed it proper to preface the details we shall now give onthe subject of the present state of commerce with these generalremarks on the principal causes which have enlarged it, in those twocountries in which alone it flourishes to a very great extent. But,as we have already remarked, commerce cannot extend in one country,without receiving an impulse in other countries. While, therefore,British and American commerce have been increasing, the generalcommerce of the whole civilized world, and even of parts hardlycivilized, have been increasing; but in no country nearly to theextent to which it has reached in Britain and the United States,because none are blessed with the political advantages they enjoy, orhave the improved machinery and capital of the one, or the almostinexhaustible land of the other.

In the details which we are now about to give, we shall confineourselves to the statement of any particular circ*mstance which mayhave been favourable or otherwise to the commerce of any countryduring the last hundred years, and to an enumeration of the principalports and articles of import and export of each country. We shall notattempt to fix the value of the imports and exports in toto, or ofany particular description of them, because there are in fact nogrounds on which it can be accurately fixed. We shall, however, inthe arrangement of the order of the goods exported, place ihose firstwhich constitute the most numerous and important articles.

1. The countries in the north of Europe, including Russia, Sweden,Norway, Denmark, and the countries generally on the south shores ofthe Baltic. From the geographical situation of these countries, andtheir consequent climate, the chief articles of the export commercemust consist in the coarsest produce of the soil. These, and theproduce of their mines, are the sources of their wealth, andconsequently of their commerce.

The principal exports of Norway consist of timber, masts, tar,potash, hides, (chiefly those of the goat,) iron, copper, cobalt,tallow, salted provisions, and fish. Corn, principally from thesouthern shores of the Baltic, is the most considerable article ofimport. The only event in the modern history of this country, whichcan affect its commerce, is its annexation to Sweden; and whether itwill be prejudicial or otherwise, is not yet ascertained.

Denmark consists of the islands in the Baltic, and the peninsulalying in the north-west of Germany, comprizing Jutland, Sleswig, andHolstein. The face of the country, both insular and continental,presents a striking contrast to that of Norway, being flat, andfertile in corn and cattle. Denmark possesses a large extent of seacoast, but the havens do not admit large vessels. The communicationbetween the insular and continental possessions, the German ocean andthe Baltic, and consequently the commerce of Denmark, was muchfacilitated by the canal of Keil, which was finished in 1785. Priorto the year 1797, the commerce was much injured by numerousrestraints on importation. During the short wars between this countryand Britain, it suffered considerably. At present it cannot rank highas a commercial kingdom. Denmark and the Duchies, as they are called,export wheat, rye, oats, barley, rape seed, horses, cattle, fish,wooden domestic articles, &c.; and import chiefly woollen goods,silks, cottons, hardware, cutlery, paper, salt, coals, iron, hemp,flax, wines, tobacco, sugar, and other colonial produce.

Sweden in general is a country, the wealth, and consequently theobjects of commerce of which, are principally derived from its minesand woods. Its principal ports are Stockholm and Gothenburgh. Thepolitical event in the history of this country which gave the mostfavourable impulse to its commerce in modern times, is the alterationin its constitution after the death of Charles XII.; by this theliberties of the people were encreased, and a general stimulustowards national industry was given: agriculture was improved, theproduce of the mines doubled, and the fishery protected. More lately,the revolution in 1772, and the loss of Finland, have beenprejudicial to Sweden. The principal exports are, iron, copper,pine-timber, pitch, tar, potash, fish, &c.; the principal importsare, corn, tobacco, salt, wines, oils, wool, hemp, soap, cotton, silkand woollen goods, hardware, sugar, and other colonial produce.

The most important commercial port on the southern shore of theBaltic is Dantzic, which belongs to Prussia. This town retained alarge portion of the commerce of the Baltic after the fall of theHanseatic League, and with Lubec, Hamburgh, and Bremen, preserved acommercial ascendency in the Baltic. It suffered, however,considerably by the Prussians acquiring possession of the banks ofthe Vistula, until it was incorporated with the kingdom in 1793.Dantzic exports nearly the whole of the produce of the fertilecountry of Poland, consisting of corn, hides, horse-hair, honey, wax,oak, and other timber; the imports consist principally ofmanufactured goods and colonial produce. Swedish Pomerania, andMecklenburgh, neither of which possess any ports of consequence, drawthe greater part of their exports from the soil, as salted and smokedmeat, hides, wool, butter, cheese, corn, and fruit; the imports, likethose of Dantzic, are principally manufactured goods and colonialproduce.

The immense extent of Russia does not afford such a variety, orlarge supply of articles of commerce, as might be expected: this isowing to the ungenial and unproductive nature of a very large portionof its soil, to the barbarous and enslaved state of its inhabitants,and to the comparatively few ports, which it possesses, and theextreme distance from the ocean or navigable rivers of its centralparts. We have already mentioned the rise of Petersburgh, and itsrapid increase in population and commerce. The subsequent sovereignsof Russia have, in this as in all other respects, followed theobjects and plans of its founder; though they have been moreenlightened and successful in their plans of conquest than in thoseof commerce. The most important advantage which they have bestowed oncommerce, arises from the canals and inland navigation which connectsthe southern and the northern provinces of this vast empire. Theprincipal commerce of Russia is by the Baltic. Petersburgh and Rigaare the only ports of consequence here; from them are exported corn,hemp, flax, fir timber, pitch, tar, potash, iron and copper, hides,tallow, bristles, honey, wax, isinglass, caviar, furs, &c. Theprincipal imports consist of English manufactures and colonialproduce, especially coffee and sugar, wines, silks, &c. Thecommerce of the Black Sea has lately increased much, especially atOdessa. The principal exports are, corn, furs, provisions, &c.;its imports, wine, fruit, coffee, silks, &c. Russia carries on aconsiderable internal trade with Prussia, Persia, and China,especially, with the latter. Nearly the whole of her maritimecommerce is in the hands of foreigners, the Russians seeming ratheraverse to the sea; and the state of vassalage in the peasants, whichbinds them to the soil, preventing the formation of seamen. Latterly,however, she has displayed considerable zeal in posecuting maritimediscoveries; and as she seems disposed to extend her possessions inthe north-west coast of America, this will necessarily produce acommercial marine.

2. The next portion of Europe to which we shall direct ourattention consists of Germany, the Netherlands, and France.

Germany, though an extensive and fertile country, and inhabited byan intelligent and industrious race of people, possesses fewcommercial advantages from its want of ports: those on the Baltichave been already mentioned; those on the German Ocean are Hamburghand Embden, of which Hamburgh is by far the most important, while, tothe 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 forinland 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 statesinto which it is divided, and the despotic nature of most of itsgovernments. As might be expected from such a large tract of country,the productions of Germany are various. Saxony supplies forexportation, wool of the finest quality, corn, copper, cobalt, andother metals, thread, linen-lace, porcelain, &c. Hanover isprincipally distinguished for its mines, which supply metals forexportation. The chief riches of Bavaria arise from its corn andcattle: these, with pottery, glass, linen, and silk, are the exportsof Wurtemburgh. Prussia Proper affords few things for exportation:the corn of her Polish provinces has been already mentioned, asaffording the principal export from Dantzic. Silesia supplies linento foreign countries. Austria, and its dependant states, exportquicksilver, and other metals, besides cattle, corn, and wine.

The commerce of the Netherlands, including Holland, though farinferior in extent and importance to what it formerly was, is stillnot inconsiderable. Indeed, the situation of Holland, nearly all thetowns and villages of which have a communication with the sea, eitherby rivers or canals, and through some part of the territory of whichthe great rivers Rhine, Meuse, and Scheld empty themselves into thesea, must always render it commercial. The principal ports of theNetherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Antwerp. The exports of theNetherlands consist either of its own produce and manufactures, or ofthose which are brought to it from the interior of Germany: of theformer, butter, cheese, madder, clover-seed, toys, &c. constitutethe most important; from Germany, by means of the Rhine, vast floatsof timber are brought. The principal imports of the Netherlands, bothfor her own use and for the supply of Germany, consist of Balticproduce, English goods, colonial produce, wines, fruits, oil,&c.

There is perhaps no country in Europe which possesses greateradvantages for commerce than France: a large extent of sea coast,both on the Atlantic and the Mediterranean; excellent harbours; arich soil and genial climate, adapted to a great variety of valuableproductions; and some manufactures very superior in theirworkmanship,--all these present advantages seldom found united. Addto these her colonial possessions, and we shall certainly besurprized that her commerce should ever have been second, to that ofany other country in Europe. Prior to the revolution it was certainlygreat; but during and since that period it was and is vastly inferiorto the commerce of Great Britain, and even to that of the UnitedStates.

The extent of sea coast on the Atlantic is 283 leagues, and on theMediterranean eighty leagues: the rivers are numerous, but none ofthe first class. The canal of Languedoc, though from its connectingthe Atlantic and the Mediterranean it would naturally be supposedhighly advantageous to commerce, is not so; or rather, it is notturned to the advantage to which it might be applied. In England sucha canal would be constantly filled with vessels transporting theproduce of one part to another. It is not, however, so; and thispoints to a feature in the French character which, in allprobability, will always render them indisposed, as well as unable,to rival Britain, either in manufactures or commerce. Besides thewant of capital, which might be supplied, and would indeed beactually supplied by industry and invention, the French are destituteof the stimulus to industry and invention. As a nation, they are muchmore disposed to be content with a little, and to enjoy what theypossess without risk, anxiety, or further labour, than to increasetheir wealth at such a price.

The principal commercial ports of France on the Atlantic areHavre, St. Maloes, Nantes, Bourdeaux, and Bayonne: Marseilles is theonly commercial port of consequence in the Mediterranean. Theprincipal exports of France are wines, brandy, vinegar, fruit, oil,woollen cloth of a very fine quality, silk, perfumery, &c.: theimports are Baltic produce, the manufactures of England; fruits,drugs, raw wool, leather, &c. from Spain, Italy, and theMediterranean states.

3. The next division of Europe comprehends Spain, Portugal, Italy,and Greece.

Spain, a country highly favoured by nature, and at one periodsurpassed by no other kingdom in Europe in civilization, knowledge,industry, and power, exhibits an instructive and striking instance ofthe melancholy effects of political degradation. Under the power ofthe Arabians, she flourished exceedingly; and even for a short periodafter their expulsion, she retained a high rank in the scale ofEuropean kingdoms. The acquisition of her East Indian and Americanterritories, and the high eminence to which she was raised during thedominion of Charles V. and his immediate successors,--events that toa superficial view of things would have appeared of the greatestadvantage to her,--proved, in fact, in their real and permanentoperation, prejudicial to her industry, knowledge, and power. Itwould seem that the acquisition of the more precious metals, whichmay be likened to the power of converting every thing that is touchedinto gold, is to nations what it was to Midas,--a source of evilinstead of good. Spain, having substituted the artificial stimulus ofher American mines in the place of the natural and nutritive food ofreal industry, on which she fed during the dominion of the Moors,gradually fell off in commercial importance, as well as in politicalconsequence and power. The decline in her commerce, and in her homeindustry, was further accelerated and increased by the absurdrestrictions which she imposed on the intercourse with her colonies.All these circ*mstances concurring, about the period when she fellinto the power of the house of Bourbon,--that is, about the beginningof the eighteenth century,--she sunk very low in industry andcommerce, and she has, since that period, continued to fall.

And yet, as we have observed, she possesses great naturaladvantages: a sea coast on the Atlantic and Mediterranean ofconsiderable extent; a great variety of climate and soil, andconsequently of productions,--she might become, under a wise and freegovernment, distinguished for her political power and hercommerce.

On the Atlantic, the first port towards the north is SaintSebastian; then succeeds Bilboa, St. Andero, Gijon, Ferrol, andCorunna; but though some of these, especially Ferrol and Corunna,possess excellent harbours, yet the poverty of the adjacent countryprevents them from having much trade. To the south of Portugal isSeville, on the Guadalquiver, sixteen leagues from the sea; largevessels can ascend to this city, but its commerce was nearlydestroyed by the transfer of the colonial trade to Cadiz. This lasttown, one of the most ancient commercial places in the world, ishighly favoured both by nature and art as a port; and before theFrench revolutionary war, and the separation of the American coloniesfrom the mother state, was undoubtedly the first commercial city inSpain. The exports of the northern provinces consist principally iniron, wool, chesnuts and filberts, &c.; the imports, whichchiefly come from England, Holland, and France, are woollen, linen,and cotton goods, hardware, and salted fish.

On the Mediterranean, Malaga may be regarded as the thirdcommercial city in Spain, though its harbour is not good; the otherports in this sea, at which trade is carried on to any considerableextent, are Carthagena, Alicant, and Barcelona, which ranks afterCadiz in commercial importance, and now that the colonial trade isdestroyed, may be placed above it. The principal exports from theseMediterranean 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 thecolonies. The imports consist chiefly of Baltic produce, the articlesenumerated as forming the imports of the north of Spain, and somearticles from Italy and Turkey.

Portugal, not nearly so extensive as Spain, nor blessed with sucha fertile territory, is before her in commerce: she possesses twosea-ports of the first consideration, Lisbon and Oporto; and five ofthe second class. There are few cities that surpass Lisbon incommerce. The principal trade of Portugal is with England; from thiscountry she receives woollens and other manufactures; coals, tin,salted cod, Irish linen, salt provisions, and butter: her otherimports are iron from the north of Spain; from France, linens, silks,cambrics, fine woollens, jewellery; from Holland, corn, cheese, anddrugs for dying; from Germany, linens, corn, &c.; and fromDenmark, Sweden, and Russia, Baltic produce. The principal exports ofPortugal are wine, oil, fruits, cork, &c.

The Italian States, the origin of the commerce of the middle ages,are no longer remarkable for their trade; the principal ports forcommerce are Leghorn, Naples, Venice, Genoa, Messina, and Palermo.The exports of Leghorn are silk, raw and manufactured; straw hats,olive oil, fruits, marble, &c.: its chief trade, however,consists in the importation of English merchandize, which itdistributes to all parts of the Mediterranean, receiving in returntheir produce to load the British ships on their home voyage. Thegreatest import to Naples consists in European manufactured goods,and salt fish; its exports are those of Leghorn, with capers, wool,dye stuffs, manna, wax, sulphur, potash, macaroni, &c. Venice hasdeclined very much, from the influence of political circ*mstances:her exports are olives, looking-glasses, rice, coral, Venice treacle,scarlet cloth, and gold and silver stuffs; the imports are similar tothose of Leghorn and Naples. The exports and imports of Genoa,consisting principally of those already enumerated, do not requireparticular notice. Sicily, a very rich country by nature, andformerly the granary of Rome, has fallen very low from badgovernment: her exports are very various, including, beside thosealready mentioned, barilla, a great variety of dying drugs andmedicines, goat, kid, and rabbit skins, anchovies, tunny fish, wheat,&c.: its chief imports are British goods, salted fish, andcolonial produce.

The principal trade of Greece is carried on by the inhabitants ofHydra, a barren island. The commerce of the Hydriots, as well as ofthe rest of Greece, was very much benefited by the scarcity of cornwhich prevailed in France in 1796, and subsequently by the attemptsof Bonaparte to shut British manufactures from the continent. Thesetwo causes threw the greatest part of the coasting trade of theMediterranean into their hands. The chief articles of export fromGreece are oil, fruits, skins, drugs, volonia, and gall nuts, cottonand wool. The imports are principally English goods, and colonialproduce, tin, lead, &c.

We have already dwelt on the causes which produced the immensecommercial superiority of England; and we shall, therefore, nowconfine ourselves to an enumeration of its principal ports, and theprincipal articles of its export and import. London possessesconsiderably above one-half of the commerce of Great Britain; thenext town is undoubtedly Liverpool; then may be reckoned, in England,Bristol, Hull, Newcastle, Sunderland, Yarmouth, &c.; in Scotland,Greenock, Leith, Aberdeen, Dundee, &c.; in Ireland, Cork, Dublin,Limerick, Belfast, Waterford, &c. From the last return of theforeign trade of Great Britain it appears, that by far the mostimportant article of export is cotton manufactures and yarn,amounting in real or declared value to nearly one-half of the wholeamount of goods exported; the next articles, arranged according totheir value, are woollen manufactures, refined sugar, linenmanufactures, iron, steel and hardware, brass and coppermanufactures, glass, lead, and shot, &c. &c.; of colonialproduce exported, the principal articles are coffee, piece goods ofIndia, rum, raw sugar, indigo, &c. &c. The principal importsof Great Britain are cotton wool, raw sugar, tea, flax, coffee, rawsilk, train oil and blubber, madder, indigo, wines, &c. &c.The principal imports into Ireland consist of old drapery, entirelyfrom Great Britain; coals, also entirely from Great Britain; ironwrought 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 themare from Great Britain; and of her exports, nine-tenths are to GreatBritain. 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 Kingdom24,642 vessels, making a total of 2,519,044 tons, and navigated by166,333 men; of the vessels employed in the foreign trade, includingtheir repeated voyages, in the year ending the 5th of January 1823,there were about 12,000, of which upwards of 9,000 were British andIrish, and the rest foreign vessels. The coasting trade of England iscalculated to employ 3000 vessels. We have already stated theproportion which the trade of Ireland to Britain bore to her tradewith the rest of the world; this point may be still furtherelucidated by the following fact: that the number of vessels,(including their repeated voyages,) which entered the ports ofIreland, from all parts of the world, in the year ending the 5th ofJanuary, 1823, was 11,561, and that all these, except 943, came fromGreat Britain.

From this rapid view of the commerce of the European states, itappears that, with the exception of Great Britain, by far the largestportion and greatest value of the exports of each country consist inthe produce of the soil, either in its raw and natural state, orafter having undergone a change that requires little industry, manuallabour, or mechanical agency. Britain, on the contrary, derives herexports almost entirely from the produce of her wonderful mechanicalskill, which effects, in many cases, what could alone be accomplishedby an immense population, and in a few cases, what no manual labourcould perform.

In reviewing the commerce of the remaining parts of the world, weshall find the articles that constitute it almost exclusively theproduce of the soil, or, where manufactured, owing the change intheir form and value to the simplest contrivances and skill. We shallbegin with Asia.

Turkey possesses some of the finest portions of this quarter ofthe globe; countries in which man first emerged into civilization,literature, and knowledge; rich in climate and soil, but dreadfullydegraded, oppressed, and impoverished by despotism. The exports fromthe European part of Turkey are carpets, fruit, saffron, silk, drugs,&c.: the principal port is Constantinople. From Asiatic Turkeythere are exported rhubarb and other drugs, leather, silk, dyestuffs, wax, sponge, barilla, and hides: nearly the whole foreigntrade is centered in Smyrna, and is in the hands of the English andFrench, 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 theirhabits, possesses great internal commerce; but, with the exception ofher tea, which is taken away by the English and Americans, her exporttrade is not great. She also carries on a traffic overland withRussia, to which We have already alluded, and some maritime commercewith Japan. Besides tea, the exports from China are porcelain, silk,nankeens, &c.; the imports are the woollen goods, and tin andcopper of England; cotton, tin, pepper, &c. from the Britishsettlements in India; edible birds' nests, furs, &c.

The trade of Japan is principally with China: the exports arecopper, lackered ware, &c.; the imports are raw silk, sugar,turpentine, drugs, &c. The trade of the Birman empire is alsoprincipally with China, importing into it cotton, amber, ivory,precious stones, betel nuts, &c., and receiving in return raw andwrought silk, gold leaf, preserves, paper, &c. European broadcloth and hardware, Bengal muslins, glass, &c. are also importedinto this country.

But by far the most important commerce that is carried on in theeastern parts of Asia, consists in that which flows from and toCalcutta, Bombay, and Madras. In fact, the English country tradethere, as it is called, is of great value, and embraces a very greatvariety of articles. Bombay is the grand emporium of the west ofIndia, Persia, and Arabia; here the productions of those countriesare exchanged against each other, and for the manufactures, &c.of England. The principal articles of export from Bombay to theseplaces, as well as to England, are cotton piece goods, sugar, andsaltpetre, received from Bengal; pepper from Sumatra; coffee from theRed Sea. The imports from Europe are woollens, tin, lead, &c. Avery lucrative trade is carried on from Bombay to China, to which itexports cotton in very great quantity, sandal wood, &c., andreceives 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, andEuropean merchandize. The commerce of the eastern coast of Hindostancenters in Madras: the exports from this place are principally piecegoods, grain, cotton, &c.; the imports, woollen manufactures,copper, spirits, pepper, and other spices. The trade of Bengal may bedivided into four branches: to Coromandel and Ceylon, the Malabarcoast, Gulph of Persia and Arabia, the Malay archipelago and Chinaand Europe. The principal exports by the port of Calcutta are piecegoods, 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 fromPrince of Wales Island, which, since it was settled by the English,has become the emporium of this trade.--Batavia, Bencoolen, andAchen; the principal articles of export from these islands arecloves, nutmegs, camphire, pepper, sago, drugs, bichedemer, birds'nests, gold dust, ivory, areca nuts, benzoin, tin, &c.: theimports are tea, alum, nankeens, silks, opium, piece goods, cotton,rice, and European manufactures. Manilla is the depôt of allthe 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 NewHolland is still in its infancy, but it promises to rise rapidly, andto be of great value: a soil very fertile, and a climate adapted tothe growth of excellent grain, together with the uncommon fineness ofits wool, have already been very beneficial to its commerce.

The external commerce of Persia is principally carried on by theforeign merchants who reside at Muscat, on the Persian Gulph: intothis place are imported from India, long cloths, muslins, silks,sugar, spices, rice, indigo, drugs, and European manufactures; thereturns are copper, sulphur, 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 byAfrica, seems the natural transit, from this consideration, of thecommerce of the former quarter of the globe to that of the latter.Its commerce is carried on by the Arabians, and by vessels fromHindostan: Mocha and Judda are its principal ports. The articles sentfrom it are coffee, gums and drugs, ivory, and fruit: the imports arethe piece goods, cotton, and other produce of India; and themanufactures, 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 principalexports from Alexandria consist in the gums and drugs of the eastcoast of Africa, Arabia, Persia, and India; rice, wheat, dates, oil,soap, leather, ebony, elephants' teeth, coffee, &c. The importsare 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 Barbary States istrifling: the exports are drugs, grain, oil, wax, honey, hides andskins, live bullocks, ivory, ostrich feathers, &c.; the imports,colonial produce, (which indeed finds its way every where,) cutlery,tin, woollen and linen goods, &c. The exports of the rest ofAfrica are nearly similar to those enumerated, viz. gums, drugs,ivory, ostrich feathers, skins, gold dust, &c. From the Britishsettlement at the Cape are exported wine, wheat, wool, hides,&c.

The United States claim our first notice in giving a rapid sketchof the commerce of America: we have already pointed out the causes oftheir extraordinary progress in population and wealth. Americanships, like English ones, are found in every part of the world: inthe South Sea Islands, among people just emerging into civilizationand industry; among the savages of New Zealand; on the north-westcoast of America; and on the dreadful shores of New South Shetland.Not content with exporting the various productions of their owncountry, they carry on the trade of various parts of the globe,which, but for their instrumentality, could not have obtained, orever have become acquainted with each other's produce.

The exports from America, the produce of their own soil, are corn,flour, timber, potash, provisions, and salt fish from the northernStates; corn, timber, and tobacco from the middle States; and indigo,rice, cotton, tar, pitch, turpentine, timber, and provisions, to theWest Indies, from the southern States. The imports are woollen,cotton goods, silks, hardware, earthen-ware, wines, brandy, tea,drugs, fruit, dye-stuffs, and India and colonial produce. By far thegreatest portion of the trade of the United States is with GreatBritain. The principal ports are Boston, New York, Philadelphia,Baltimore, and New Orleans.

The British settlements in America export, chiefly from Quebec andHalifax, corn, potash, wheel timber, masts, lumber, beaver and otherfurs, tar, turpentine, and salted fish from Newfoundland. The importsare 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, andother articles of dress, provisions, &c.

Brazil, and the late Spanish settlements in America, countries ofgreat extent, and extremely fertile, promise to supply very valuablearticles for commerce; even at present their exports are various, andchiefly of great importance. Some of the most useful drugs, andfinest dye stuffs, are the produce of South America. Mahogany andother woods, sugar, coffee, chocolate, cochineal, Peruvian bark,cotton of the finest quality, gold, silver, copper, diamonds, hides,tallow, rice, indigo, &c. Carthagena, Porto Cabello, Pernambucco,Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, and Buenos Ayres, are the principal ports onthe east coast of South America; and Valparaiso, Calloa (the port ofLima), Guayaquil, Panama, and Acapulco, on the west coast.

Our sketch of commerce would be incomplete, did it not comprehenda short notice of the manner in which the trade of great part of Asiaand Africa is conducted, by means of caravans. This is, perhaps, themost ancient mode of communication between nations; and, from thedescriptions we 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 theglobe, though fertile in various articles which are well calculatedto excite the desires of mankind, is intersected by extensivedeserts; these must have cut off all communication, had not thecamel,--which can bear a heavy burden, endure great famine, is verydocile, and, above all, seems made to bid defiance to the parched andwaterless desert, by its internal formation, and its habits andinstinct,--been civilized by the inhabitants. By means of it theyhave, from the remotest antiquity, carried on a regular and extensivecommerce.

The caravans may be divided into those of Asia and those ofAfrica: the great centre of the former is Mecca: the pilgrimage tothis place, enjoined by Mahomet, has tended decidedly to facilitateand extend commercial intercourse. Two caravans annually visit Mecca;one from Cairo, and the other from Damascus. The merchants andpilgrims who compose the former come from Abyssinia; from which theybring elephants' teeth, ostrich feathers, gum, gold dust, parrots,monkies, &c. Merchants also come from the Senegal, and collect ontheir way those of Algiers, Tunis, &c. This division sometimesconsists of three thousand camels, laden with oils, red caps, fineflannels, &c. The journey of the united caravans, which have beenknown to consist of 100,000 persons, in going and returning, occupiesone hundred days: they bring back from Mecca all the most valuableproductions of the East, coffee, gum arabic, perfumes, drugs, spices,pearls, precious stones, shawls, muslins, &c. The caravan ofDamascus is scarcely inferior to that of Cairo, in the variety andvalue of the produce which it conveys to Mecca, and brings back fromit, or in the number of camels and men which compose it. Almost everyprovince of the Turkish empire sends forth pilgrims, merchants, andcommodities to this caravan. Of the Asiatic caravans, purelycommercial, we know less than of those which unite religion andcommerce; as the former do not travel at stated seasons, nor follow amarked and constant route. The great object of those caravans is todistribute the productions of China and Hindustan among the centralparts of Asia. In order to supply them, caravans set out from Baghar,Samarcand, Thibet, and several other places. The most extensivecommerce, however, carried on in this part of Asia, is that betweenRussia and China. We have already alluded to this commerce, and shallonly add, that the distance between the capitals of those kingdoms is6378 miles, upwards of four hundred miles of which is an uninhabiteddesert; yet caravans go regularly this immense distance. The Russiansand Chinese meet on the frontiers; where the furs, linen and woollencloth, leather, glass, &c. of Russia, are exchanged for the tea,porcelain, cotton, rice, &c. of China. This intercourse is veryancient. There are also caravans of independent Tartars, which arriveon the Jaik and Oui, and bring Chinese and Indian commodities, whichthey interchange for those of Russia.

Tombuctoo is the great depot of central Africa: with it themaritime states of Egypt, Tripoli, Algiers, Tunis, and Morocco carryon a very extensive and lucrative trade by means of caravans. Theytake 129 days in travelling to Tombuctoo from the borders of thedesert, but only fifty-four are spent in actual travelling. There isalso another caravan which sets off from Wedinou, and aftercollecting salt at West Tagossa, proceeds to Tombuctoo. This goes asfar as the White Mountains, near Cape Blanco, and is occupied five orsix months in its journey. The merchandize carried by these caravansis German linens, Irish linens, muslins, woollen cloth, coral beads,pearls, silk, coffee, tea, sugar, shawls, brass nails, &c.&c. In exchange they bring back chiefly the produce of Soudan,viz. gold dust, gold rings, bars of gold, elephants' teeth, gum,grains of paradise, and slaves. There are also several caravans thattrade between Cairo and the interior of Africa, which are solelyemployed in the traffic of slaves. There can be no doubt thatcaravans arrive at Tombuctoo from parts of Africa very distant fromit, and not only inaccessible, but totally unknown, even by report,to Europeans, and even to the inhabitants of North Africa.

What a picture does modern commerce present of the boundlessdesires of man, and of the advancement he makes in intellect,knowledge, and power, when stimulated by these desires! Thingsfamiliar to use cease to attract our surprise and investigation;otherwise we should be struck with the fact, that the lowest andpoorest peasant's breakfast-table is supplied from countries lying inthe remotest parts of the world, of which Greece and Rome, in theplenitude of their power and knowledge, were totally ignorant. Butthe benefits which mankind derives from commerce are not confined tothe acquisition of a greater share and variety of the comforts,luxuries, or even the necessaries of life. Commerce has repaid thebenefits it has received from geography: it has opened new sources ofindustry; of this the cotton manufactures of Britain are a signalillustration and proof:--it has contributed to preserve the health ofthe human race, by the introduction of the most valuable drugsemployed in medicine. It has removed ignorance and nationalprejudices, and tended most materially to the diffusion of politicaland religious knowledge. The natural philosopher knows, that whateveraffects, in the smallest degree, the remotest body in the universe,acts, though to us in an imperceptible manner, on every other body.So commerce acts; but its action is not momentary; its impulses, oncebegun, continue with augmented force. And it appears to us no absurdor extravagant expectation, that through its means, either directly,or by enlarging the views and desires of man, the civilization,knowledge, freedom and happiness of Europe will ultimately be spreadover the whole globe.

CATALOGUE OF VOYAGES AND TRAVELS.

Preliminary Observations on the Plan and Arrangement pursued indrawing up this Catalogue.

It is obvious, that whoever undertakes to draw up a catalogue ofbooks on any particular subject, must proceed on one or other ofthese two plans,--either to give a complete catalogue of all theworks published on that subject, or a select catalogue of what seemsto him the best works. It is scarcely necessary to point out theobjection to the first plan, arising from the impracticability ofmaking any catalogue absolutely complete; but it may be said, thoughnot absolutely complete, it may, by sufficient information anddiligence, be rendered nearly so. Let us suppose, then, that byunwearied assiduity and research, aided and guided by the requisiteknowledge, a catalogue is rendered as perfect as it practically canbe made,--is the utility of such a catalogue enhanced in a proportionany thing approaching to the labour, research, and time expended uponit; or, rather, would not such a catalogue be much less useful thanone within smaller compass, drawn up on the plan of selection?

On all subjects there are more bad or indifferent works publishedthan good ones. This remark applies with peculiar justice and forceto modern works of voyages and travels. A very extensive catalogue,therefore, must contain a large portion of bad or indifferent books,which are not worth the purchasing, the consulting, nor the perusing;consequently, if such works appear in a catalogue drawn up for thepurpose of guiding those who purpose to travel in particularcountries, to write on the subject of them, or merely to readrespecting them for the sake of information, it is plain that such acatalogue cannot be trusted as a safe and judicious guide; as if thepersons consulting it select for themselves, there is an equal chanceof selecting useless books as good ones; and if they attempt toperuse all, they must waste a great deal of time.

It may be said, however, that this objection can easily beobviated, by distinguishing such works as are bad or indifferent fromsuch as are good, either by a short notice, or by a particular mark.The first plan necessarily must increase the size of the catalogue;and it really appears a piece of superfluous labour to introduceworks 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 moredirect to omit such works altogether?

As the object in view in the present catalogue is to render ituseful to the generality of readers, and not valuable to thebibliographer, those works are omitted which have no otherrecommendation but their extreme scarcity. For such works are ofcourse accessible only to very few, and when obtained, convey littleinterest or information.

A select catalogue then appears to be the most useful, and ofcourse must occupy less room. But to this objections start up, whichit will be proper to consider.

In the first place, What is the criterion of good works of voyagesand travels? The antiquarian will not allow merit to such as passover, or do not enter, con amore, and at great length, intothe details of the antiquities of a country: the natural historian isdecidedly of opinion, that no man ought to travel who is not minutelyand accurately acquainted with every branch of his favourite science,and complains that scarcely a single work of travels is worthy ofpurchase or perusal, because natural history is altogether omitted inthem, or treated in a popular and superficial manner. Even those whor*gard man as the object to which travellers ought especially todirect their attention, differ in opinion regarding the points ofview in which he ought to be studied in foreign countries. To manythe travels of Johnson and Moore seem of the highest merit andinterest, because these authors place before their readers ananimated, philosophical, and vivid picture of the human character;whereas other readers consider such works as trifling, and contendthat those travels alone, which enter into the statistics of acountry, convey substantial information, and are worthy ofperusal.

Whoever draws up a catalogue, therefore, must, in some measure,consult the judgment, taste, and peculiar studies of all theseclasses of readers, and endeavour to select the best works of travelsin all these branches.

But there is a second objection to a select catalogue to beconsidered. The information and research of the person who draws itup may be inadequate to the task, or his judgment may be erroneous.This observation, however, applies to a complete catalogue--indeedthe first part of it,--the information and research requisite, in agreater degree to a complete than to a select catalogue; and withrespect to the judgment required, it will be equally required in acomplete catalogue, if the bad and indifferent works aredistinguished from the good ones; and if they are not, such acatalogue, we have already shewn, can only lead astray intounnecessary or prejudicial reading.

Whoever draws up a catalogue, or gives to the public a work on anyparticular subject, is bound to make it as good as he can; but, afterall, he must not expect that there will be no difference of opinionabout his labours. Some will think (to confine ourselves to thecatalogue) that he has admitted books that ought not to have found aplace in it; whereas others will impeach his diligence, hisinformation, or his judgment, because he has omitted books which theythink ought to have entered into it. All, therefore, that a personwho engages to draw up a catalogue can do, is to exercise and applyas much research and judgment as possible, and to request hisreaders, if they find general proofs of such research and judgment,to attribute the omission of what they think ought to have beeninserted, or the insertion of what they think ought to have beenomitted, to difference of opinion, rather than to a deficiency inresearch or judgment.

It may be proper to remark, with regard to the principle ofselection pursued, that many works are admitted which do not bear thetitle of travels; this has been done, wherever, though not under thattitle, they are the result of the actual travels and observations, orenquiries of the authors. The form into which information respectingthe agriculture, manufactures, commerce, antiquities, naturalhistory, manners, &c. of foreign countries is cast, or the titleunder which it is communicated to the world, is obviously of littleconsequence, provided the information is not merely compiled by astranger to the country, and is accurate and valuable. Such works,however, as are avowedly written for scientific purposes, and for theexclusive use of scientific men, and are consequently confined toscientific researches and information conveyed in the peculiarlanguage of the science, are omitted.

So much for the plan on which this catalogue has been drawn up.Before we proceed to explain the arrangement pursued, it may beproper to make a few remarks on some intermediate points. Oneadvantage of a select catalogue over a complete one is, that itoccupies less room. With the same object in view, only the title inthe original language is given where there is no translation of thework into the English or French; only translations into English orFrench are noticed, where such exist, and not the original work; andall the articles are numbered, so that a short and easy reference maybe made from one article to another.

Room is thus evidently saved, and not, in our opinion, by anysacrifice of utility. For German or Spanish scholars it isunnecessary to translate the titles of German or Spanish books, andfor the mere English scholar it is useless. Translations into theFrench are noticed in preference to the original, because thislanguage is at present familiar to every literary man in Britain, andFrench works can easily be obtained; and the German or Spanishscholar, who wishes to obtain and peruse the original, can be at noloss to procure it from the translated title. The advantage ofnumbering the articles will be immediately explained in treating ofthe arrangement.

The catalogue is arranged in the following manner:

After noticing a few of the most useful works which containinstructions to travellers, in the first place, Collections andHistories of Voyages and Travels are placed: next follow Voyagesround the World;--Voyages and Travels which embrace more than onequarter of the World;--Travels in Europe generally;--Travels in morethan one Country of Europe;--Travels in each particular Country ofEurope. It is in this particular department of the Catalogue that theplan of reference by numbers is more especially necessary and useful;for the Index to the Catalogue being drawn up with reference to thenumbers, not only those travels which are confined to onecountry,--France, for instance,--may easily be found, but also allthose travels which comprehend France along with other countries.

The same arrangement is pursued in the other parts of theworld,--Asia, Africa, America, Australasia, and Polynesia. Thearticles are arranged as nearly as possible in the chronologicalorder in which the voyages and travels were performed in eachparticular country, and the countries are placed according to theirgeographical relation to one another.

I.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR TRAVELERS.

1. L'Utilité des Voyages qui concernent la Connoissance desInscriptions, Sentences, Dieux, Larés, Peintures anciennes,Bas Reliefs, &c. Langues, &c.; avec un Memoire de quelquesObservations générales qu'on peut faire pour ne pasvoyager inutilement. Par Ch. C. Baudelot Dairval. 2 vol. 12mo. Paris1656.--The Rouen edition is much inferior. This is an excellentwork.

2. C. Linnæus on the Benefit of Travelling in one's ownCountry. (In Stillingfleet's Tracts.) This was published in Latin,separately, and in the Amoenitates Academicæ, in the Select, exAmoenit.; and in the Fundamenta Botanices of Gilibert.

3. Instructio Peregrinatoris, Dissertatio. Præside C.Linnæo. 1759, 4to.

4. Mémoire Instructif sur la Manière de rassembler,de préparer, de conserver, et d'envoyer les diversesCuriosités d'Histoire Naturelle. Par Turgot. 1758. 8vo.--Thiswork is also appended to "Avis pour le Transport par Mer des Arbres,des Plantes vivaces, des sem*nces, et de diverses autresCuriosités d'Histoire Naturelle. Par L.H. Duhamel." Publishedat Paris, 1753. 12mo.

5. Directions in what Manner Specimens of all Kinds may becollected, preserved, &c. By J.R. Forster. London, 1771.--Thistract, worthy of its well-informed and able author, was publishedalong with his Catalogue of North American Animals.

6. The Naturalist's and Traveller's Companion. By J.C. Lettsom,M.D. London, 1799 8vo.

7. Analysis of the Natural Classification of Mammalia, for the Useof Travellers.

Introduction to the Ornithology of Cuvier, for the Use ofTravellers.

Introduction to Conchology, for the Use of Travellers. By T.E.Bowdich. Paris, 1821-2. 8vo.

8. Instructions for Travellers. By Dean Tucker. 1757. 4to.

9. Essay to direct and extend the Enquiries of patrioticTravellers. By Count Berchtold.--The second volume contains aCatalogue of Travels in Europe; the first alone relates to thesubject of the title. 2 vols. 8vo. 1789.

10. Essay on the Study of Statistics; intended to assist theEnquiries of inexperienced Travellers. By D. Boileau. 12mo. 1807.

11. Fried. J. Freyherr von Gunderode Gedanken uber Reisen.Frankfort, 1781. 8vo.

12. Apodenick, oder die kunst zu Reisen von Posselt. Leipsic,1795. 8vo.--This is an excellent work.

13. Uber den Worth und Nutzen der Fussreisen. Hanover, 1805.8vo.--We notice this work, because it points out the superioradvantages possessed by foot travellers, in exploring the naturalbeauties and natural history of a country.

II.

COLLECTIONS AND HISTORIES OF VOYAGES AND TRAVELS.

14. The principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, andDiscoveries of the English Nation, made by Sea or Over-land, to theremote and farthest distant Quarters of the Earth. By RichardHakluyt, 3 vols. fol. 1598, 1599, 1600.--This work is oftenincomplete; the completeness of it may be ascertained by itscontaining the voyage to Cadiz, which was suppressed by order ofQueen Elizabeth, after the disgrace of the Earl of Essex. The firstvolume of this collection contains Voyages to the North andNorth-east: The True State of Iceland; The Defeat of the SpanishArmada: The Victory at Cadiz, &c. The second volume containsVoyages to the South and South-east Parts of the World: and the thirdto North America, the West Indies, and round the World. It has latelybeen republished.

15. S. Purchas, his Pilgrims and Pilgrimages, 5 vols. folio,1625-26.--The first volume contains Voyages by the AncientCircumnavigators of the Globe: Voyages along the Coasts of Africa tothe East-Indies, Japan, China, Philippines, and the Persian andArabian Gulphs. Vol. 2. contains Voyages and Relations of Africa,Ethiopia, Palestina, Arabia, Persia, Asia. Vol. 3. Tartary, China,Russia, North-west America, and the Polar Regions. Vol. 4. Americaand the West Indies. Vol. 5. Early History of the World; of the EastIndies; Egypt; Barbary, &c. &c.

16. A General Collection of Voyages and Travels. Published byAstley. 4 vols. 4to. 1745.

17. A Collection of Voyages and Travels, some now first printedfrom original MSS.; others now first published in English. ByChurchill. 6 vols. folio. 1732.

18. Navigantium atque Itinerantium Bibliotheca. Harris'sCollection of Voyages and Travels, from Hakluyt, Purchas, Ramusio,&c. The whole work revised and continued, by Dr. John Campbell. 2vols. fol. 1744.

19. A General Collection of the best and most interesting Voyagesand Travels, in all Parts of the World. By John Pinkerton. 1808-1814.17 vols. 4to.

20. A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels,arranged in systematic Order. By Robert Kerr. Edin. 1811-22. 18 vols.8vo.

21. Relation de divers Voyages curieux, qui n'ont point encoreété publiés, et qu'on a traduits ou tirésdes Originaux des Voyageurs Français, Espagnols, Allemands,&c. &c. Par M. Thevenot. Paris, 1696. 2 vol. fol.--This workis seldom found complete: the marks of the complete and genuineedition are given in the Bibliothèque des Voyages, vol. i. pp.82, 83. To this work the following is a proper supplement:

22. Recueil des Voyages de M. Thevenot. Paris, 1681. 8vo.

23. Recueil des Voyages qui ont servi a l'Etablissem*nt et auProgrès de la Campagne des Indes Orientates Hollandaises. ParConstantin.--The best editions are those of Amsterdam, 1730, and ofParis and Rouen, 1705; each in 10 vol. 12mo.

24. Recueil des Voyages au Nord, &c. Amsterdam, 1717. 8 vol.12mo.

25. Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses. Paris, 1780, 1781. 24 vols.12mo.

26. Mémoires Orientales. Paris, 1789. 12mo.

27. Collection Portative de Voyages, traduit de différentesLangues Orientales et Europiennes. Par Langles. Paris, 3 vols.18mo.

28. Histoire Générale des Voyages. Par Prevot.Paris, 20 vols. 4to.--This work is valuable for its excellentengravings, maps, plans, &c., but in other respects its value hasfallen, in consequence of the following abridgment of it:

29. Abrégé de l'Histoire Générate desVoyages de Prevot. Par La Harpe. Paris, 1780-1786. 23 vols. 8vo.--Thelast five volumes contain voyages and travels not given by Prevot.This work also has been continued by Comeyras in 1798-1801, in 9vols. 8vo.

30. Abrégé de l'Histoire Générale desVoyages. Par La Harpe. 2 vols. 12mo. Paris, 1820.--This abridgment isexecuted with considerable judgment; it is necessarily confined tothe most novel and curious parts of the narratives anddescriptions.

31. Annales des Voyages. Par Malte Brun. 25 vols. 8vo. Paris,1814-1817.

32. Nouvelles Annales des Voyages. Par Malte Brun etEyries.--Twelve volumes are already published: four volumes arepublished annually. Perhaps the very high character of Malte Brunwould lead us to expect a more severe and judicious selection thansome parts of this work exhibit; but, on the whole, it isvaluable.

33. Journal des Voyages, Découvertes et NavigationsModernes, ou Archives Géographiques du 19meSiècle.--This work began in Nov. 1818, and is publishedmonthly. Like all collections of this kind, the value of it wouldhave been encreased, and the bulk much diminished, if the selectionhad been more scrupulous.

34. Delle Navigationi e Viaggi raccolti da M.G.B. Ramusio.Venet.--The most complete and accurate edition of this book consistsof vol. 1. of the edition of 1588; vol. 2. of 1583; the third of1565; and the Supplement of 1606.

35. J.R. Forster und M.C. Sprengel, Beytrage zur Volker-undLanderkunde. Leipsic, 1781--94. 13 vols. 8vo.

36. Magazin von merkerurdigen Reisebeschreibungen, aus fremdenSprachen ubersizt. Von J.R. Forster. Berlin, 1790--1802. 24 vols.8vo.

37. Bibliothek der neuesten und wichtigstien Reisebeschreibungen.Von M.C. Sprengel. Weimar, 1801. &c. 22 vols. 8vo.--There aremany other collections in German; the best of which are noticed byErsch, in his Literatur der Geschichte und deren Hulfswissenschaften.Leipsic, 1813.

38. Samling af de beste og nyeste Reise-beskriveler. Copen.1790--5. 12 vols. 8vo.

39. Danskes Reise-iagttagelser. Copen. 1798--1800. 4 vols.8vo.

40. Versamnelling der gedenkwaardegsten Reisen nae oost en WestIndien door de Bry. Leyden, 1707--10. 30 vols. 8vo.

41. El Viagero Universal. Madrid, 1800.--This work was publishedoriginally in small parts, which form a great many volumes in8vo.

42. Novus Orbis Regionum et Institutorum Veteribus incognitarum.Basle, 1532. fol. Paris, 1582. fol.

43. Collectiones Peregrinationum in Indiam Orientalem etOccidentalem. Francfort, 1590--1634. 7 vols. fol., or 9 vols.fol.--The first edition, when complete, is by far the most valuable.Several dissertations have been published on this work, which isgenerally called Les Grands et Petit* Voyages. In 1742 theAbbé de Rothelin published Observationes sur des Grands etPetit* Voyages. In 1802 Camus published Mémoire sur laCollection des Grands et Petit* Voyages; and Debure, in hisBibliographe, has devoted upwards of one hundred pages to this work.Whoever wishes to ascertain exactly the best edition, should consultthese authors, and the Bibliotheque des Voyages, vol. 1. 57.

III.

VOYAGES AND TRAVELS ROUND THE WORLD.

Boucher de la Richarderie, the author of the BibliothèqueUniverselle des Voyages, makes some just remarks on the nature andextent of those voyages to which this appellation is usually applied.He observes that for the most part, by a Voyage round the World, isunderstood a voyage either by the Atlantic Ocean or the Indian Sea tothe Pacific or Great Southern Ocean, the visiting the isles in thelast, exploring the Antarctic Seas, and returning by the routeopposite to that by which the ship went out. This certainly is avoyage round the world, though probably scarcely any part of Asia,Africa, or America has been explored or visited, except for thepurposes of refitting or provisioning the ship. But when thesequarters of the globe, and especially the unknown parts of them, havebeen visited, the application of the term, though not perhaps socorrect verbally, is more justly made. There is a third class ofvoyages thus denominated, which, though they embrace the fourquarters of the globe, do not extend to the South Sea, or theAustralasian Lands. All these three classes are comprehended in thefollowing catalogue, and we have deemed it right also to follow theauthor of the Bibliothèque in dividing them into two parts,ancient voyages round the world, and modern voyages: the firstcomprehend voyages of the first class, and were performed from themiddle of the sixteenth to the middle of the seventeenth century.

44. Il Viaggio fatto dagli Spanuoli attorno il Mondo, 1536.4to.--This is the first edition of the Voyages of Pigafetta, whosailed with Magellan in his celebrated Voyage round the World, but itis incomplete. The genuine and complete work was published for thefirst time from a MS. in the Ambrosian Library of Milan, with notes,by Amoretti, under the following title:

45. Primo Viaggio, intorno al Globo terraqueo fatto dal CasaglieriAnt. Pigafetta. Milan, 1800. 4to.--The same editor published a Frenchtranslation, with a description of the Globe of Behaim. Magellan'sVoyage is published in the first volume of Harris's Collection.

46. C. Ortoga resumen del primero Viage hecho ad rededor delMundo. Per H. Magellanes. Madrid, 1769. 4to.

47. The Famous Voyage of Sir Francis Drake, to which is added theProsperous Voyage of Mr. Thomas Candish. London, 1741. 8vo. also inHarris, vol. 1. The second voyage of Candish is in Purchas.

48. The principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffique and Discoveriesof the English Nation. London, 1599. 2 vols. folio.

49. The Discoveries of the World, from their original to 1555,translated from the Portuguese, by R. Hackluyt. London, 1610.4to.

50. Funnell's Voyage round the World. London, 1607. 8vo. InHarris, vol. 1.

51. Description du penible Voyage fait autour de l'Univers. Par O.du Nord. Amsterdam, 1602, in folio.--This is translated from theDutch. An English translation is given in Harris, vol.1.

52. Voyage de Jacques l'Hermite autour du Monde. Amsterdam,1705-12.--This also is translated from the Dutch.

53. Dampier's New Voyage round the World. London, 1711. 3 vols.8vo.--The French translation in 5 vols. 12mo. contains also thevoyages of Wafer, Wood, Cowley, Robert, and Sharp. Dampier's andCowley's are in Harris, vol. 1.

54. A Voyage round the World. By Captain G. Shelvocke. London,1757. 8vo. This is also in Harris, vol. 1.

55. Voyage round the World, by Wood Rogers. London, 1728, 8vo. InHarris, vol. 1.

56. Voyage round the World, by Lord Anson. By Walter, corrected byRobins. London, 1749. 4to.

57. Hawksworth's Account of the Voyages for making Discoveries inthe Southern Hemisphere, performed by Byron, Wallis, Carteret, andCook, 1773. 3 vols. 4to.

58. Captain Cook's Voyage towards the South Pole, and round theWorld, 1777. 2 vols. 4to.

59. Captains Cook, Clarke, and Gore's Voyage to the Pacific Ocean.By Cook and King, with an introduction by Bishop Douglas, 1784. 3vols. 4to.

60. G. Forster's Voyage round the World, with Captain Cook, during1772-75-77. 2 vols. 4to.

61. Bougainville's Voyage round the World, translated from theFrench. By J.R. Forster, 1772. 4to.

62. Voyage round the World, more particularly to the North-westCoast 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 from the French. 2 vols. 4to. and Atlas of Prints,1799.

65. Account of a Voyage in search of La Peyrouse, translated fromthe French of Labellaidiere. 2 vols. 8vo. and Atlas in 4to. 1800.

66. Marchand's Voyage round the World, 1790-92. 2 vols. 4to.Translated from the French.

67. A Voyage of Discovery into the North Pacific Ocean, and roundthe World in 1790-5. By G. Vancouver, 3 vols. 4to. and an Atlas.1798.

68. A Missionary Voyage to the South Pacific Ocean in 1796-8. 4to.1799.

69. Flinder's Voyage to Terra Australis in 1801-3. 2 vols. 4to.with an Atlas, 1814.

70. Liansky's Voyage round the World, 1803-5, performed by orderof Alexander the First. 4to.

71. Langsdorffe's Voyages and Travels in various Parts of theWorld, 1803-7. 2 vols. 4to. Translated from the German.

72. Krusenstern's Voyage round the World, 1803-6. 2 vols. 4to.Translated from the German.

73. A Voyage of Discovery into the South Sea, and Behring'sStraits, in 1815-18. By Kotzebue. 3 vols. 8vo. 1821. Translated fromthe German, but badly.

74. Voyage Pittoresque autour du Monde. Par Choris. Livraison,1-9. Paris, 1821.--This splendid work illustrates Kotzebue's Voyage,by engravings of the savages of the different parts he visited; theirarms, dresses, diversions, &c. On this account alone, however, weshould not have given it a place here; but it is recommended to thenatural historian, by the descriptions which Cuvier has added to theengravings of animals; and to the craniologist, by the observationsof Gall, on the engravings of human skulls.

75. Peregrinacion que ha hecho de la mayor partè del Mundo.Par D.P.S. Cubero. Sarragoss. 1688. folio.

76. Giro del Mondo del G.F. Gemelli Carreri. Naples, 1699. 7 vols.8vo.

IV.

TRAVELS COMPRISING DIFFERENT QUARTERS OF THE GLOBE.

77. Letters from Barbary, France, Spain, and Portugal. By anEnglish Officer (Jardine), 1794. 2 vols. 8vo.

78. Cor. de Jong Reisen naer de Cap de Goede Hop, Ierland enNorwégen. Haarlem, 1802. 8vo.

79. Friedrich, Briefe au einen freund, eine reise von Gibraltarnach Tanger und von da durch Spanien, und Frankreich, Zurich, nachDeutschland, betreffend. (In the Historical Magazine of Gottingen,4th year. 1st cahier.)

80. Voyage to the Levant in 1700, by Tournefort. Translated fromthe French, 3 vols. 8vo.--These travels bear too high a character tobe particularly pointed out. They comprise the Archipelago,Constantinople, the Black Sea, Armenia, Georgia, the Frontiers ofPersia and Asia Minor; and are rich and valuable in the rare junctionof antiquarian and botanical knowledge.

81. Le Bruyn's Voyage to the Levant, and Travels into Muscovy,Persia, and the East Indies. Translated from the French. 1720. 8vols. fol.

82. Description of the North and Eastern Parts of Europe and Asia.Translated from the German of Baron Strahlenberg. 1738, 4to.

83. Historical Account of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea,with a Journey of Travels from London, through Russia, Germany, andHolland. By James Hanway. 1754. 2 vols. 4to.

84. Bell of Antermony's Travels from St. Petersburgh in Russia toseveral Parts of Asia. Glasgow, 1763. 2 vols. 4to.

85. Memoirs of B.H. Bruce, containing an Account of his Travels inGermany, Russia, Tartary, and the Indies. 1782. 4to.

86. A Journey from India to England, in the year 1797. By JohnJackson. 1799. 8vo.

87. Histoire des Découvertes faites par divers Voyageurs.Pallas, Gmelin, Guldenstedt, et Lepechin, dans plusieursContrées de la Russe et de la Perse. La Haye, 1779. 2 vol.4to. & 6 8vo.

88. Nouvelles Relations du Levant. Par Poullet. Paris, 1688. 2vols. 12mo.--This is a scarce and valuable work, especially that partof it which relates to Asiatic Turkey, Georgia, and Persia: there islikewise in it a particular account of the commerce of the Englishand 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 Siegeof Babylon in 1639, contains many particulars regarding the Religion,&c. of the Turks. It comprises the Archipelago, Greece, EuropeanTurkey and Asia Minor. It is likewise particular in the descriptionof antiquities.

90. Les Voyages de Jean Struys en Moscovie, en Tartarie, en Perse,aux Indes. Traduits du Hollandais. Amsterdam. 4to. 1681. Rouen, 3vols. 12mo. 1730.--The Travels of Struys, who was actuated from hisearliest youth with an insatiable desire to visit foreign countries,are especially interesting from the account he gives of Muscovy andTartary at this period.

91. Voyages très Curieux et très Renommés,faits en Moscovie, Tartarie et Perse. Par Adam Olearius. Traduitsd'Allemagne. Amsterdam, fol.

92. Voyages en différent Endroits d'Europe et d'Asie. Parle P. Avril. Paris, 1692. 4to.--The object of this voyage, which wascommenced in 1635, principally consisted in the discovery of a newroute 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. 2vols. 12mo.--The chief merit of this work consists in the exactitudeof its descriptions of places, and in the determination of theirdistances and true positions, which are further illustrated bymaps.

94. Beschreibung der Reise eines Polnishchen Herrn Bothschaftersgen Constantinople und in die Tartary. Nuremberg, 1574. 4to.

95. Sal. Schweiger Reise-beschriebung aus Deutschland nachConstantinopel und Jerusalem. Nuremberg, 1608. 4to.

96. Reise van Erfurt nach dem gelobten land, auch Spanien,Franckreich, Holland und England. Erfurt, 1605. 4to.

97. Muntzer von Babenbergh, Reise von Venedig nach Jerusalem,Damascus und Constantinopel, 1556. Nurembergh. 4to.

98. Brand, Reisen durch Brandenburgh, Preussen, Curland, Liefland,Plescovien und Muscovien. Nebst, A. Dobbins Beschriebung vonSiberien, &c. Wesel, 1702. 8vo.

99. Itinera Sex a diversis Saxoniæ; Ducibus et Authoribus,diversis Temporibus, in Italiam, Palæstinam et Terram Sanctum.Studio Balt. Mincii. Wirtemberg, 1612. 12mo.

100. Edwin Sandy's Travels into Turkey, Palestine, Egypt, andItaly, begun in 1610. fol. 1658.

101. Travels through Europe, Asia, and into several parts ofAfrica, containing Observations especially on Italy, Turkey, Greece,Tartary, Circassia, Sweden and Lapland. By De la Mottraye. 1723. 2vols. fol. Veracity and exactness, particularly so far as regards thecopying of inscriptions, characterise these travels. They are alsovaluable for information respecting the mines of the North ofEurope.

102. Travels of Thevenot into Turkey, Persia, and India.Translated from the French, 1687. fol. The 4th edition of theoriginal in 3 vols. is very rare; the more common one is that ofAmsterdam in 5 vols. 12mo. These travels comprise Egypt, Arabia, andother places in Africa and Asia, besides those places indicated inthe title page. The chief value of them consists in his account ofthe manners, government, &c. of the Turks. This author must notbe confounded with the Mel. Thevenot, the author of a Collection ofVoyages.

103. A View of the Levant, particularly of Constantinople, Syria,Egypt and Greece. By Ch. Parry. 1743. fol. 1770. 3 vols. 4to. Thiswork is much less known than it deserves to be: the author of thebibliotheque des Voyages justly remarks, that the circ*mstance of itshaving been twice translated into German is a pretty certainindication that it is full of good matter.

104. Description of the East, and some other Countries: Egypt,Palestine, Arabia, Syria, Greece, Thrace, France, Italy, Germany.Poland, &c. by Dr. Richard Poco*cke. 3 vols. fol. 1743-8. Themerits of this work in pointing out and describing the antiquities ofEgypt and the East are well known.

105. Travels through Europe, Asia, and Africa. By Lithgow.Edinburgh, 1770. 8vo.--This is one of the best editions of a book,the chief interest of which consists in the personal narrative of theauthor.

106. Travels in the Ottoman Empire, Egypt, and Persia. By Olivier.Translated from the French, 1802. 4to.

107. Dr. Ed. Dan. Clarke's Travels in various Countries of Europe,Asia, and Africa. 6 vols. 4to. Vol. 1. Russia, Turkey, Tartary. Vol.2. & 3. Greece, Egypt, and the Holy Land. Vol. 4. The sameCountries, and a Journey from Constantinople to Vienna, and anAccount of the Gold Mines of Transylvania and Hungary. Vols. 5. &6. Scandinavia.--There is no department of enquiry or observation towhich Dr. C. did not direct his attention during his travels: in allhe gives much information in a pleasant style; and to all heevidently brought much judgment, talent, and preparatoryknowledge.

108. Chateaubriand's Travels in Greece, Palestine, Egypt, andBarbary, 1806-7. 2 vols. 8vo.--Those who admire this author's mannerand style will be gratified with these travels: and those who dislikethem, may still glean much information on antiquities, manners,customs, religion, &c.

109. Travels of Mirza Abu Taleb Khan in Asia, Africa, and Europe.Translated by Charles Stewart. 1814. 3 vols. 12mo.--These travels, ofthe genuineness of which there can be no doubt, derive their chiefinterest, as depicting the character and feelings of the author, andthe impressions made on his mind by what he saw and heard.

110. Les Observations de plusieurs Singularités et Chosesmémorables trouvées en Greece, en Asie, Inde, Arabie,Egypte, &c. Par Pierre Belon.--Various editions from 1550 to1585. 4to. Belon is supposed to have travelled between 1547 and 1550.His work is rich in botany and natural history, especiallyconsidering the period in which he lived; and the accompanying platesare very accurate.

111. Voyage à Constantinople, en Perse, en Egypte, dansl'année 1546, et les années suivantes. Par G. Luesd'Aramon, Ambassadeur de France à Constantinople. Paris, 1739.3 vols. 4to.--This relates chiefly to the manners and customs; otherpieces are contained in these volumes, which relate, in a manner moreminute than important and edifying, the various journies in France,of the Kings of France, from Louis the Young to Louis XIV.inclusive.

112. Les Navigations, Pérégrinations, et Voyages,faits en Turquie. Par Nicholas Nicholai, Antwerp, fol. 1576.--Thisalso is instructive, relative to the manners, &c. of many partsof 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 Grèce,Terre Sainte. Egypte, qu'aux Royaumes de Tunis et Alger. Paris, 1628.4to. De Breves was ambassador from Henry IV. to the Porte, and sentafterwards on a special mission to Tunis and Algiers. What he relatesregarding these states is the most curious and valuable part of hiswork.

114. Les Voyages et Observations du Sieur Laboulaye-le-Goux,où sont décrits les Religion, Gouvernment, etSituation, des Etats et Royaumes d'Italie, Grèce, Natolie,Syrie, Perse, Palestine, &c.; Grand Mogul, Indes Orientales desPortugais, Arabie, Afrique, Hollande, Grande Bretagne, &c. Paris,1657. 4to.--This work bears a high character for veracity andexactness; and is very minute in its account of the casts andreligions of India. Prefixed to it is a short critical notice oftravellers who preceded him, written with great judgment andcandour.

115. Voyage de Paul Lucas au Levant. Paris, 1704. 2 vols.12mo.

116. Voyage de Paul Lucas, dans la Grèce, l'Asie Mineure,la Macedoine, et l' Afrique. Paris, 1712. 2 vols. 12mo.--The creditand veracity of this author, which was long suspected, has, in manyof his most suspicious parts, been confirmed by moderntravellers.

117. Mèmoire du Chevalier D'Arvieux: contenant ses Voyagesà Constantinople, dans l'Asie, la Palestine, l'Egypte, laBarbarie, &c. Paris, 1735. 6 vols. 12mo.--This author was wellqualified from his knowledge of the oriental languages, and from theofficial situations he filled, to gain an accurate and minuteknowledge of the people among whom he resided. His account of hissojourn among the Bedouin Arabs is particularly curious.

118. Viaggi di P. della Valle dall Anno 1614, fin al' 1626.Venice, 1671. 4 vols. 4to.--These travels comprehend Turkey, Egypt,Palestine, Persia, and the East Indies. They are written in apleasant, lively manner; what relates to Persia is most valuable.They have been translated into French, English, and German.

119. Schultz, Reisen durch Europa, Asien, und Africa. Halle,1771-75. 5 vols. 8vo.

120. Læflingii Petri iter Hispanicum. Stockholm, 1758.8vo.--This work, originally published in Swedish, was translated byC. Linnæus into German, under the following title: Reise nachden Spanischen Landern in Europa und Amerika, 1751--56. Berlin, 1776.8vo. It is chiefly valuable for its natural history information.

121. Voyage en Amérique, en Italie, en Sicile, et enEgypte, 1816--19. 2 vols. 8vo.

122. The true Travels of Captain J. Smith in Europe, Asia, Africa,and America, from 1593 to 1629. London, 1664. fol.--This work, likemost of the old travels, derives its principal value from enabling usto compare the countries visited, and their inhabitants, with theirpresent state; and its principal interest from the personaladventures of the author. To such works, as well as to minutebiography, time gives a value and utility, which they do notintrinsically possess.

123. Itinerarium Portugalensium e Lusitania in Indiam et inde inOccidentem et demum ad Aquilonem, ab. Arch. Madrignan. 1508.fol.--Originally published in Portuguese.

124. Josten, Reisebeschreibung durch die Turkey, Ungern, Polen,Reussen, Bohemen, &c. neue Jerusalem, Ost und West Indien. Lubec,1652. 4to.

125. Graaf, Reisen naer Asia, Africa, America, en Europa.Amsterdam, 1686. 8vo.

126. Historia y Viage del Mundo en los cincos Partes; de laEuropa, Africa, Asia, America y Magellanica. Par Levallos. Madrid,1691. 4to.

127. John Ovington's Voyage to Surat, with a Description of theIslands of Madeira and St. Helena. London, 1698. 8vo.

128. Le Bruyn's Voyage to the Levant. Translated from the French.London, 1702. fol.--This work bears a similar character as thepreceding travels of the author already noticed. The plates areexcellent.

129. Irwin's Adventures in a Voyage up the Red Sea; and a Routethrough the Thebaid hitherto unknown, in the year 1779. London, 4to.and 8vo.--Chiefly valuable for the information which his personaladventures necessarily gives of the manners, &c. of theArabians.

130. Memoirs and Travels of Count Beniousky. London, 1790. 2 vols.4to.--Amidst much that is trifling, and more that is doubtful, thiswork contains some curious and authentic information, especiallyrelating to Kamschatka and Madagascar: what he states on the subjectof his communications with Japan, is very suspicious.

131. Travels in Africa, Egypt, and Syria. By W.G. Browne. London,1799. 4to.--A most valuable work, and except in some fewpeculiarities of the author, a model for travellers: it isparticularly instructive in what relates to Darfour.

132. Travels in Asia and Africa. By A. Parsons. 4to. 1809.--Thesetravels were performed in 1772--78: they indicate good sense, and areevidently the result of attentive and careful observation andenquiry. From Scanderoon to Aleppo; over the desert to Bagdat: avoyage from Bussora to Bombay, and along the west coast of India;from Bombay to Mocha; and a journey from Suez to Cairo, are theprincipal contents.

133. Travels. By John Lewis Burckhardt. Vol.1. Nubia; vol. 2.Syria and the Holy Land; vol.3, in the Hedjaz. 1823. 4to.--Fewtravellers have done more for geography than this author:antiquities, manners, customs, &c., were examined andinvestigated by him, with a success which could only have beenensured by such zeal, perseverance, and judgment as he evidentlypossessed.

134. Lord Valentia's Travels in India. Ceylon, the Red Sea,Abyssinia, and Egypt. 1802-6. 3 vols. 4to.--It is not possible for aperson to travel so long, in such countries, without collectinginformation of a novel and important kind: such there is in this workon antiquities, geography, manners, &c.; but it might all havebeen comprised in one third of the size.

135. Travels along the Mediterranean and Parts adjacent,1816-17-18, extending as far as the second Cataract of the Nile,Jerusalem, Damascus, Balbec, &c. By Robert Richardson, M.D. 1822.2 vols. 8vo.--Much information may be gleaned from these volumes; butthere is a want of judgment, taste, and life in the narrative.

136. Travels in Morocco, Tripoli, Cyprus, Egypt, Arabia, Syria,and Turkey. 1803-7. By Ali Bey. 3 vols. 4to.--This traveller procuredaccess to many places, in his assumed character, to which Christianswere not permitted to go: from this cause the travels are instructiveand curious; but they certainly disappointed the expectations of thepublic.

137. Ludovici Patricii Romani Itinerarium Novum Ethiopiæ,Egypti, utriusque Arabiæ, Persidis, Syriæ, ac Indiæultra citraque Gangem. Milan, 1511. fol.--This work is supposed tohave been written originally in Italian. In the Spanish translation,published in Lisbon, 1576, the author's name is given, Barthema. Thisa very curious and rare work. It has been translated into German andDutch.

138. Baumgarten, Peregrinatio in Egyptum, Arabiam, Palestinam, etSyriam. Nuremberg, 1621. 4to.

139. Voyages au Levant, 1749-52. Par Fréd. Hasselquist.Paris, 1769. 1 vol. 12mo.--This, originally published in Swedish byLinnæus, and translated into German and Dutch, is uncommonlyvaluable to the natural historian.

140. Itinéraire de Paris a Jérusalem, et deJérusalem à Paris, en allant par la Grèce. ParChateaubriand. 3 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1810.

141. Le Nouveau Monde, et Navigations faites par Améric.Vespuce, dans les Pays nouvellement trouvés, tant en Ethiopiequ'en Arabie. Paris, 4to.--Translated from the Italian: both arerare. The claims and merits of Vespucius may be judged of from thefollowing works: Canovai Elogio di Amerigo Vespucci. Florence, 1798.;Tiraboschi Storia dell Litt. vol. 1. p. 1. lib. 1. c. 6.; the Lettersof Americo in Ramusio, 1. 138.; Bandini Vita del Amerigo, and anarticle in the North American Review, for 1822.

142. Voyage d'un Philosophe (M. Poivre). Paris, 1797. 18mo.--Thislittle work, which embraces remarks on the arts and people of Asia,Africa, and America, deserves the title it bears better than mostFrench works which claim it.

143. Langstadt, Reisen nach Sud-America, Asien, und Africa.Hildesheim, 1789. 8vo.

144. Recueil de divers Voyages faites en Afrique etAmérique. Paris, 1674. 4to.

145. Voyages du Cheval. Marchais en Guinée, Isles voisines,et à Cayenne. Par Labat. Paris, 1780. 4 vols. 12mo.

146. Voyage en Guinée et dans les Isles Caraïbes. ParIsert. 1793. 8vo. Translated from the German.

147. Voyage on the Coast of Africa, in the Straits of Magellan,Brazil, &c. in 1695-97. Translated from the French of Froger.London, 1698. 8vo.

148. Hans Sloane's Voyage to Madeira, Barbadoes, St. Christophers,&c. London, 2 vols. folio. 1707.--This work, generally knownunder the title of Sir Hans Sloane's History of Jamaica, is a richmine of natural history, aad contains upwards of 1200 engravings ofplants, &c.

149. The Four Years' Voyage of Captain G. Roberts to the IslandsCanaries, Cape Verde, and the Coast of Guinea, and Barbadoes. 1725.8vo.

150. Voyage to Guinea, Brazil, the West Indies, Madagascar,&c. By John Atkins. 1737. 8vo.

151. Voyage aux Indes Orientales, Maldives, Moluccas, etBrésil. Par Fr. Pyrard. Paris, 1619-8vo.--These voyages, whichoccupied the author from 1600 to 1611, are uncommonly well written,accurate, faithful, and circ*mstantial, especially regarding theMaldives, Cochin, Travancore, and Calicut. There is appended aparticular and methodical description of the animals and plants ofthe East Indies.

152. Curiosités de la Nature et de l'Art, apportésdans deux Voyages dans Indes: Indes Occ. 1698-9; Ind. Orient. 1701-2.Par C. Biron, Chirurgeon Major. Paris, 1703. 12mo.--Valuable for itsnatural history, and its account of the implements and arts of theinhabitants.

153. The History of Travels in the West and East Indies. By Edenand Willis. 1577. 4to.

154. Reise nach Ost und West Indien. Von R.C. Zimmerman. Hamburgh,1771. 8vo.

155. Variorum in Europa Itinerum deliciae. Collectae ab. A.Clytaeo. Bremen, 1605. 8vo.

156. Ponz Viage fuera de España in Europa. Madrid, 1785. 2vols. 12mo.

157. Moryson's Travels through Europe. 1617. fol.--A very curiouswork.

158. Itinera through the twelve Dominions of Germany, Bohemia,Prussia, Sweden, Turkey, France, Britain, &c. 1617. fol.

159. Ray's Observations, made in a Journey through Part of the LowCountries, Germany, Italy, and France. 1738. 2 vols. 8vo.--Valuablefor its botanical researches.

160. Travels in Hungary, Macedonia, Austria, Germany, the LowCountries, and Lombardy. By E. Browne, M.D. 1685. fol.--Naturalhistory, the mines, mineral waters, as well as manners and customs,are described in this work, which bears a good character. The authorwas physician to Charles II., to Bartholomew Hospital, and afterwardsPresident of the College of Physicians.

161. Bishop Burnet's Letters on Switzerland and Italy. 1686.8vo.

162. Travels through Holland, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. ByDe Blainville. 1749. 3 vols. 4to.

163. Smollet's Travels through France and Italy. 1766. 2 vols.8vo.

164. Barretti's Journey from London to Genoa, through Portugal,Spain, and France. 1770. 2 vols. 8vo.

165. Dr. Moore's View of the Customs and Manners of France,Germany, and Switzerland. 2 vols. 8vo.

166. Stolberg's (Count) Travels in Germany, Italy, and Sicily.1794. 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 notby any means confined to his favourite science, but comprehendwell-drawn and interesting sketches of manners, as well as notices ofthe 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 theLepantine Alps. 1800. fol.

169. Travels in Sicily, Greece, and Albania. By the Rev. T.S.Hughes. 1820. 2 vols. 4to.--Classical, antiquarian, and descriptiveof the state of society, political, civil, religious, and domestic;bearing marks of much information and enquiry, a sound judgment andgood education.

170. Letters from the Mediterranean. By Ed. Blaquiere. 1814. 2vols. 8vo.--The information in these volumes chiefly relates to thecivil and political state of Sicily, Malta, Tunis, and Tripoli.

171. The Diary of an Invalid, 1817--1819. By H. Matthews. 8vo.1820.--Light and pleasant sketches of manners, and other popularinformation, on Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, and France.

172. Travels through Holland, Germany, and Part of France, in1819. By W. Jacob, Esq. 4to. 1820.--Agriculture, Statistics, andManufactures.

173. Journal du Voyage de Montaigne en Italie, par la Suisse etl'Allemagne, en 1580-81. Paris, 1774. 4to.--Italy and the Tyrol areparticularly the objects of those travels, which are interesting,much more on account of the name of the author, and of the insightthey afford into his temper and feelings, than from the informationthey convey.

174. Lettres du Baron de Busbec. Paris, 1748. 3 vols. 12mo.--Theseare written from Turkey, whither the author was sent as ambassador byFerdinand King of Hungary, and from France, where he resided in anofficial character. The original is in Latin. There is a translationin English; but this comprises only the embassy to Turkey. They arerich in political information, and in depicting the manners, &c.of the people he visited, especially those inhabiting theneighbourhood of the Don, &c.

175. Relations Historiques des Voyages en Allemagne, Angleterre,Holland, Boheme, et Suisse. Par C. Patin. Lyon, 1674. 16mo.--Thisauthor was son of the celebrated physician, Guy Patin, anddistinguished for his knowledge of medals: his travels principallyrelate to antiquities.

176. Relation d'un Voyage de Paris, en Espagne, en Portugal, et enItalie, 1769, 1770. Par M. Silhouette. Paris, 1770. 4 vols.12mo.--This is the minister of finance, whose measures of economywere so much ridiculed by the Parisians, and from whom the portraits,called Silhouettes, took their name: his travels indicateconsiderable acquaintance with the arts and political affairs.

177. Lettres sur différens Sujets, écrites pendantle Cours d'un Voyage en Allemagne, en Suisse, dans la FranceMeridionelle, et en Italie. Par Bernouilli. Basle and Berlin, 1777. 3vols. 8vo.--The author of these letters, one of the celebrated familyof mathematicians of that name, has borrowed the greater part of hiswork that relates to natural history from a Spanish work, entitled,"Cartas familiares del Abbatè Juan Andres," of which there isan edition published in Madrid, in 6 vols. small 4to. Bernouilli has,however, added much information and interest to his letters, by hisdescription and account of collections of paintings.

178. Tableau de l'Angleterre et de l'Italie. Par Archenholz.Strasburgh, 1788. 3 vols. 12mo.--This work is translated from theGerman.

179. Voyage de Deux Français en Allemagne, en Danemarck, enSuède, en Russe, et en Pologne, 1790-1. Par Portia de Piles.Paris, 1796. 5 vols. 12mo.--This is a valuable work for all kinds ofstatistical information.

180. Voyage Philosophique et Pittoresque sur les Rives du Rhin,à Leige, dans la Flandre, le Brabant, la Hollande,augmentée d'une Voyage en Angleterre, et en France. Par G.Forster. Paris, 5 vols. 8vo.--The author (whose acquirements innatural history, and in general science and philosophical research,as well as whose peculiar temper, are well known from his connectionwith Captain Cook during his second voyage, and his works on thisvoyage) has here produced an interesting and instructive work;particularly so far as relates to his favourite study: it is alsointeresting as depicting the political state of the countries hevisited, and his strong, ardent, and sanguine views at thecommencement of the French Revolution.

181. Voyages en Sicile dans la Grande Grèce et au Levant.Par le Baron de Riedesel. Paris, 1802. 8vo.--This edition comprisesall his travels, which were previously published separately. Thetravels in Sicily are the most valuable.

182. Voyages de Guibert dans diverses Parties de la France et dela Suisse, 1775. 1785. Paris, 1805. 8vo.--The celebrated author ofthe "Essai sur la Tactique" was employed to visit the differentmilitary hospitals in France; his journeys with this object, as wellas when he went to join his regiment, were the occasion of thesetravels, in which there is much animated description of nature, andseveral well-drawn portraits of public men.

183. Voyage en Allemagne, dans le Tyrol et en Italie. 4 vols. 8vo.Paris, 1818.--This work is translated from the German of Mad. de laRecke, by Madame de Montelieu, and possesses much of that pleasingnarrative and description which characterize female writers oftalent.

184. Pauli Hertneri Itinera Germaniæ, Galliæ,Italitæ. Basle, 1611. 4to.

185. Joh. Bernouilli Reisen durch Brandenburgh, 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 FineArts;" and these travels, as well as those in the middle states ofEurope, and among the Alps, which he also published, are worthy ofhim.

187. Bauman, Reise durch Deutschland und Walschland. Augsb. 1782.8vo.--These travels in Germany and Italy contain observations on asubject little attended to by travellers; but one which they mightmuch benefit: we mean domestic economy, or the different modes,plans, &c. pursued by different nations in domestic life, asregards food, houses, clothing, &c.

188. Fred. Nicholai, Beschriebung einer Reise durch Deutschlandund de Schweitz, 1781. Berlin, 1783. 12 vols. 8vo.--This work isswelled beyond all due proportion with political disquisitions; butthough 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. Thesame author published "Travels of a German in England."

190. Reisen durch Deutschland, Danemarck, Schweden, Italien,1797--99. Von Kuttner. Leip. 4 vols. 8vo.--Statistical and politicalinformation, derived from authentic and official sources, especiallyas 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 thepeople of Trieste and Venice, and the principal objects of arts andindustry in all the countries described, give to this work a meritgreater than its brevity would seem to deserve.

192. Briefe woehrend meinis Aufenhalts en England und Portugal.Hamb. 1802. 8vo.--This work, by Mad. Barnard, is written with thatpeculiar charm and vivacity of style, which it would seem femalesonly can attain. There are in it curious notices of Berlin, Hanover,and Cuxhaven, besides those on England and Portugal.

193. Bemerkungen gesammelt auf einer Reise durch Holland, undeinin Theil Franchreichs, 1801. Von J.F. Droysen. Goetting. 1803.8vo.--Literary establishments and societies, especially those ofParis, and the state of mathematical, physical, and chemical science,are particularly attended to by this author.

194. Arndt, Reisen durch einer Theil Deutschlands, Ungaren,Italien, und Franckreichs, 1798, 1799. 4 vols. 8vo. Leip. 1804.

195. Reisen durch das Osterreich, Illyrien, Dalmatien, undAlbanien, 1818. 2 vols. 8vo. Meissen, 1822.

196. Reisen durch einen Theil Deutschlands, die Schweitz, Italien,und Griechenland. 8vo. Gotha, 1822.

197. Bemerkungen auf einer Reise aus Nord Deutschland, uberFrancfort, nach dem sudlichen Franckreich. 1819. 8vo. Leips.1822.

198. Lettere Scritte della Sicilia e della Turkia. Dall. Abbote D.Sestini, 1774-78. Florence, 1780. 3 vols. 8vo.--These travels, whichhave been translated into French, are very full on the agriculture ofSicily, and on its internal and external commerce.

199. Fred. Snedorfs Samlede Skrivter. Copenh. 1794. 4 vols.8vo.--Of this work only the first volume relates to our presentsubject, containing letters from Germany, Switzerland, France andEngland. The author, who travelled at two different times into thesecountries, pays particular attention to political and literarypersons, whose character he draws with great spirit, candour, andacuteness. As he travelled at the commencement of the FrenchRevolution, his sketches of political characters and events areespecially interesting and valuable. The universities of England andGermany also attract a deal of his attention, and on these he offerssome judicious remarks.

V.

VOYAGES AND TRAVELS IN THE ARCTIC SEAS AND COUNTRIES.

200. Chronological History of Voyages into the Polar Regions. ByJohn Barrow, 1819. 8vo.

201. History of North-Eastern Voyages of Discovery. By CaptainJos. Burney, 1819. 8vo.--These two works nearly exhaust the subjecton which they treat: the character of their authors sufficientlywarrants their accuracy and completeness.

202. J.R. Forster's History of Voyages and Discoveries made in theNorth, 1786. 4to.--This work is not confined to voyages anddiscoveries in the Arctic regions; but comprises those made in thecentral regions of Asia in the middle ages, as well as those in thenorthern parts of America. Its character is like that of allForster's productions, to some of which we have already had occasionto advert.

203. Russian Voyages of Discovery for a North-west Passage. ByMuller. London. 4to. 1800.--The following work, though relatingrather to discoveries in the sea between Asia and America, than toattempts for a north-east or north-west passage, may be placed here,as a continuation of the work of Muller, which comes no farther downthan the expedition of Behring, in 1741.

204. Account of the Russian Discoveries between Asia and America.By William Coxe, 1780. 8vo.--This work is interesting, not merelyfrom the particular subject which the title indicates, but also onaccount of the sketch it contains of the conquest of Siberia, and ofthe Russian commerce with China.

205. Historia Navigationis Mar. Frobisberi, 1577. Nuremburg, 1580.8vo.

206. Descriptio novi Freti, recens inventi, ab Hen. Hudson.Amsterdam, 1613. 4to.

207. Captain James's Voyage for the Discovery of the NorthwestPassage, in 1632. London, 1633. 4to.--This narrative contains someremarkable physical observations on the cold and ice; but no hint ofany discovery of importance.

208. Henry Ellis's Voyage for the Discovery of a North-westPassage, in 1746-7. London, 1748. 2 vols. 8vo.--Some important factsand remarks relating to Hudson's Bay are given in this voyage.

209. Account of a Voyage for the Discovery of a North-westPassage, by Hudson's Straits, in 1746-7, in the California. By theClerk of that Ship. 2 vols. 8vo. 1748.--This relates to the samevoyage as the work of Ellis.

210. Hearne's Journey from Prince of Wales' Fort, in Hudson's Bay,to the Northern Ocean. 1795. 4to.

211. Mackenzie's Voyage from Montreal, through the Continent ofNorth America to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans, in the Years 1789 and1793. 4to.--Besides the interesting details in these voyages,respecting the countries travelled over, and the manners of theinhabitants, they are important, particularly Mackenzie's, as havingeffected the discovery of the Polar Sea by land, and as introductoryto the following work:

212. Voyage of Discovery for a North-west Passage. By CaptainRoss, 1819. 4to.--Although the end was not accomplished, nor thatdone which might have been, yet this volume is valuable for itsscientific details on natural history and meteorology.

213. Voyage for the Discovery of a North-west Passage from theAtlantic to the Pacific. By Captain Parry, 1821. 4to.--Geography,natural history, and especially the sciences connected with, andcontributing to the improvement of navigation and geographicalknowledge, together with a most interesting narrative of soundjudgment, presence of mind, perseverance and passive courage,characterize this volume.

214. Narrative of a Journey from the Shores of Hudson's Bay to theMouth of the Copper Mine River, &c. By Captain. J. Franklin,1823. 4to.--A work of intense and indeed painful interest, from thesufferings of those who performed this journey; of value to geographyby no means proportional to those sufferings; but instructive inmeteorology and natural history.

215. Geschicte der Schiffahrten zur endeckung des Nordeest-lichenWegs nach Japan und China. Von J.C. Adelung. Halle, 1768. 4to.--Someof the above works, as well as others relating to attempts todiscover a north-west and north-east passage, are inserted in Harrisand Churchill's Collections.

216. Les Trois Navigations faites par les Hollandois auSeptentrion. Par Gerard de Ver. Paris, 1610. 8vo.--This containsBarentz's Voyages.

217. Histoire des Peches, des Découvertes, &c. desHollandois, dans la Mer du Nord. Paris, 1801. 3 vols. 8vo.--Thiswork, translated from the Dutch, is full of curious matter, not onlyrespecting the fish and fisheries of the North Sea, but alsorespecting Greenland, Spitzbergen, Nova Zembla, and on subjects ofnatural history.

218. Beschriebung des Alten und Neuen Grenland, nebist einembegrift der Reisen die Frobisher, &c. Nuremberg, 1679. 4to.

219. A Voyage towards the North Pole. By Lord Mulgrave, in 1773.4to.

220. An Account of the Arctic Regions. By W. Scoresby, 1820. 2vols. 8vo.--This, together with a voyage to Greenland, publishedsubsequently by the same author, is full of most valuable informationon the meteorology and natural history of this part of the World,besides containing interesting particulars on the Whale Fishery.

221. Déscription et Histoire Générale duGröenland. Par Egede, traduite du Danois. Genève, 1763.8vo.--In 1788-9, Egede published two other works on Greenland inDanish, which complete his description of this country.

222. Crantz's History of Greenland, translated from the HighDutch, 1767. 2 vols. 8vo.--A continuation of this history waspublished by Crantz, in German, 1770, which has not beentranslated.

VI. EUROPE.

LAPLAND AND THE SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES.

223. Canuti Leemii de Lapponibus. Copenhagen, 1767. 2 vols.4to.--This work, containing a rich mine from which travellers inLapland, particularly Acerbi, have drawn valuable materials, isseldom met with complete and with all the plates: there should be 100of them.

224. Histoire de la Lapponie, traduite du Latin de M. Schaeffer.Paris, 1678. 4to.

225. Journal d'un Voyage au Nord, 1736-7. Amsterdam, 1746.12mo.--This work, though principally and professedly an account ofthe labours of Maupertuis, to ascertain the figure of the earth, isinteresting to the general reader, from the descriptions it gives ofthe manners, &c. of the natives of Lapland, &c.

226. Mémoires sur les Samoyedes et les Lappous. Copenhagen,1766. 8vo.

227. Voyage dans le Nord de l'Europe, 1807. Par La Motte. 4to.Paris.--Norway and part of Sweden were visited by this traveller onfoot, and he gives details of scenery, &c. which only a foottraveller could procure.

228. The natural History of Iceland. By Horrebow, 1758. folio.

229. Von Troil's Letters from Iceland. 1780. 8vo.--Thistranslation is not nearly so accurate as that into French, publishedin Paris, 1781. 8vo.

230. Travels in Iceland during the Summer of 1810. By Sir G.Mackenzie, 1811. 4to.--Almost every topic on which a traveller isexpected to give information is here treated of: the history,religion, natural history, agriculture, manners, &c.; and allevidently the result of much previous knowledge, good sense, andinformation collected on the spot.

231. Hooker's Journal of a Tour in Iceland in 1809. 2 vols.8vo.--Natural History, especially Botany; the travels of this author,Mackenzie, and Henderson, would seem to leave nothing to be desiredon the subject of this extraordinary island and its inhabitants.

232. Journal of a Residence in Iceland, 1814-15. By Henderson. 2vols. 8vo.--The state of society, manners, domestic habits, andreligion, are here treated of; but there is too much minuteness, anda tediousness and dryness of style and manner.

233. Voyage en Islande. Par Olafsen et Povelsen. Paris, 1801. 5vols. 8vo.--This work, translated from the Danish, though tedious andprolix, supplies many curious particulars respecting the naturalhistory of the country and the manners of the people.

234. OEconomische Reise durch Island. Von Olavius. Leip. 4to.

235. Landt's Description of the Feroe Islands. Translated from theDanish. 8vo.--This work, which was published at Copenhagen in 1800,is the only accurate account of these islands since the FeroeReserata of Debes in 1673; but it is too minute and long for thesubjects it describes.

236. Coxes's Travels in Poland, Russia, Sweden and Denmark. 5vols. 8vo.--The substantial merits of this work are well known.

237. Acerbi's Travels through Sweden, Finland, and Lapland, to theNorth Cape, in 1798-9. 2 vols. 4to. 1801.--These travels areinteresting and attractive; but they bear evident marks of havingbeen made up by an editor. The author has been attacked by Rihs, aSwede, for misrepresenting the Swedes, and for having borrowedlargely without acknowledgment from Leemius; and by hisfellow-traveller, Skieldebrand, with having appropriated the viewsand designs which he made. The latter published in French aPicturesque Tour to the North Cape.

238. Lachesis Lapponica, or a Tour in Lapland. By Linnæus,1811. 2 vols. 8vo.--These travels were performed in 1732, whenLinnæus was very young. Botany of course forms the principalsubject; but the work is also instructive and interesting from thepicture it exhibits of the character of the author, and of themanners of the Laplanders.

239. Travels through Norway and Lapland. By Baron Von Buch; withNotes by Professor Jameson, 1818. 4to.--This work, translated fromthe German, contains much new and valuable information, chiefly onmineralogy and geology.

240. Thomson's Travels in Sweden, during the Autumn of 1812.4to.--Mineralogy, geology, satistics, and politics form the chieftopics: the work is carelessly written.

241. Travels through Sweden, Norway, and Finmark, to the NorthCape, 1820. By A. de Capell Brocke. 4to. 1823. Picturesque.

242. Nouveau Voyage vers le Septentrion. Amsterdam, 1708.12mo.--The customs, religion, character, domestic life, &c. ofthe Norwegians and Laplanders are here sketched in an interesting andpleasant manner.

243. Lettres sur le Danemark. Par Mallet. Genève, 1767. 2vols. 8vo.--This work is worthy of the author, whose introduction tothe History of Denmark is so advantageously known to English readers,by Bishop Percy's excellent translation of it. It gives an excellentand faithful picture of this country in the middle of the eighteenthcentury, and comprises also the southern provinces of Norway.

244. Voyage en Allemagne et en Suède. Par J.P. Catteau.Paris, 1810. 3 vols. 8vo.--Sensible and judicious on arts, manners,literature, literary men, statistics and economics; but more full andvaluable on Sweden than on Germany. Indeed few authors have collectedmore information on the North of Europe than M. Catteau; his Tableaudes Etats Danois, and his Tableau Général de laSuède, are excellent works, drawn up with great accuracy andjudgment. The same may be said of his Tableau de la Mer Baltique; inwhich every kind of information relative to the Baltic, its shores,islands, rivers, ports, produce, ancient and modern commerce, isgiven.

245. Voyage en Norwège, traduit de l'Allemand de J.Fabricius. Paris, 1803. 8vo.--This too is an excellent work,especially in what regards the natural history and economics of thecountry.

246. Reise en die Marschlander au der Nordsee. Von J.N. Tetens.Leip. 1788. 8vo.--Holstein, Jutland, and Sleswick, countries in whichwe possess few travels, are accurately described in this work.

247. Reise durch einige Schwedische Provinzen. Von J.W. Schmidt.Hamburgh, 1801.--These travels contain curious particulars respectingthe Nomadic Laplanders.

248. Arndt, Reise durch Schweden, 1804. 4 vols. 8vo. Berlin,1806.

There are several travels by Linnæus (besides the onepublished by Sir J. Smith, already noticed) and his pupils intodifferent provinces of Sweden, relating to their natural history,which botanists will value highly; but we omit them, as interestingonly to them. They are written in Swedish, but German translationshave appeared of most of them. There are also valuable travels byGermans, especially Huelfer and Gilberg, which give full and accuratedetails of the copper mines, and the processes pursued in them; butthese also we omit for a similar reason.

RUSSIA AND POLAND.

Whatever object has once been pursued by a Russian sovereign,seems to descend as a hereditary pursuit to his successors. This istrue, not only of their plans of conquest, but also of their means ofimproving their country; but it is evident of all countries, andespecially of such a vast extent of country as Russia exhibits, wherenew districts are from time to time added, the very limits of whichare scarcely known, that no sure and regular means of improvement canbe adopted, until the actual state and the capabilities of eachdistrict are fully known. The Empress Catherine gave great attentionand encouragement to these enquiries: a number of men, well qualifiedfor the undertaking, were sent to investigate the state of eachdistrict, especially its natural history, and the addition to thenational strength and wealth which might be drawn from it. When thename of Pallas is mentioned as one of the scientific men employed forthis purpose, and empowered to direct the enquiries of hisassociates, and to revise them, in it a sufficient pledge is given ofthe accuracy and value of their labours.

249. Michalonis Lithuani de Moribus Tartarorum, Lithuanorum etMoschorum Fragmenta. Basle, 1615. 4to.--We notice this work asexhibiting a lively picture of the manners of these nations at thisperiod. The same reason induces us to notice the following. Indeed,the chief interest of these old works, and it is no languid one, isderived from being introduced into the midst of ancient manners andpeople.

250. Ulfedii Legatio Moscovitica. Franck. 1617. 4to.--This work,which particularly notices the Tartar tribes at that time subject toRussia, proves, by a comparison with what Pallas relates of them,that their manners, customs, and acquirements had been quitestationary for nearly 150 years.

251. State of Russia. By Captain Perry. London, 1716.8vo.--Captain Perry, who visited Russia in 1706-12, at the request ofPeter the Great, to assist in the formation of a fleet, navigablecanals, &c., has in this work given an accurate account of thisvast empire; the first indeed that may be said to have introduced aknowledge of it into England.

252. View of the Russian Empire during the reign of Catherine II.By the Rev. W. Tooke. 3 vols. 8vo.--As this work is drawn up from apersonal knowledge of the country, and aided by access to the bestauthorities, we have admitted it into the Catalogue, though notexactly falling within the description of travels. It is full ofmatter, physical, statistical, political, commercial, &c.; butheavily written, and displaying rather extent and accuracy ofresearch, than a perspicuous and profound mind.

The following are the principal works by Pallas and hisassociates, or works undertaken with similar objects. They require noparticular criticism, after the general notice we have given ofthem.

253. Reisen durch verschiedene Provinzen des Russischen Reichs,1768. 1773. Peters. 3 vols. 4to.

254. Bemerkungen auf einer Reise in die SudlichenStatthalterschaften des Russischen Reichs, 1793, 1794.--Of thesetravels by Pallas, the last is more particularly devoted to science,and therefore is interesting to general readers. Both have beentranslated into French, and the travels in 1793-4, into English.

255. Georgi Bemerkungen 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, Physicalische und Naturhistorische,Beschriebung des Russischen Reichs. Koning. 3 vols. 4to.--This workof uncommon labour and research, treats of the geography, physical,and natural history of Russia, divided into zones, each of which willbe separately described, when the work is completed.

258. Gmelin, Reisen durch Russland. Peters. 1770-4. 3 vols.4to.--Of the Travels of Lepechin, the other associate of Pallas,which were performed 1768-1771, and published in Russian, there is aGerman translation. Altenburgh, 1774. 3 vols. 4to., of which we havenot been able to procure the exact title.

259. Reise von Volhynien nach Cherson en Russland, 1787. Von J.C.Mæller. Hamb. 8vo.

260. Bemerkungen uber Russland en rucksicht auf wissen-schaftenKunst, Religion. Von J.J. Bollerman. Erfurt. 1788. 8vo.

261. Mineralogische, Geographische, und andere vermischte,Nachrechten von der Altaischen Gebirgen. Von H.M. Renovanz. Freyberg.1789. 4to.

262. Tableau Historique et Statistique de l'Empire Russie àla fin du 18me siècle. Par H. Storch. Paris, 1800. 2 vols.8vo.--This work, by the author of the Picture of Petersburgh, wellknown to the English reader, is admitted here for the same reasonwhich gave insertion to Tooke's Russia. It is, however, we believe,not yet complete according to the original plan of the author; andthe French translation only comprises what relates to the physicaland civil state of the inhabitants. Storch's Work, in conjunctionwith that of Georgi, on the geography and natural history of Russia,will comprise all that is interesting respecting this vastcountry.

263. Polonia, sive de Situ, Populis Moribus, &c. Poloniæa Mart. Cromero. Cologne. 1578. 4to.

264. Sarmatiæ Europeæ Descriptio. ab Alex. Gaguin.Spire, 1581. fol.

265. Reise durch Pohlnische Provinzen. Von J.H. Carosi. Leip.8vo.--These travels are chiefly mineralogical.

266. Nachrichten uber Pohlen. Von J.J. Kausch. Saltz. 1793.8vo.

267 Letters, Literary and Political, on Poland. 1823. 8vo.--Ratherfeebly written, and too minute on uninteresting points; in otherrespects valuable, as relating to a country of which we knowcomparatively little.

TURKEY, GREECE, DALMATIA, &c.

The countries of Europe, the travels into which we have hithertoenumerated, do not present very various and numerous objects ofresearch. In Scandinavia the natural historian, especially themineralogist, will be chiefly interested. The vast extent of theRussian empire also affords objects of curious and novel research tothe botanist and zoologist, few to the mineralogist. The Salt Minesof Poland afford the principal objects of investigation to scientifictravellers in this country. Manners, habits, political institutions,and religion, of course, are interesting in all; and to those whosestudies and enquiries lead them to investigate the differences in thedifferent families of the human race, the opportunities afforded themby the Gothic Nations of Scandinavia; the Slavonic nations of Russiaand Poland; and the totally distinct and singular races which inhabitLapland and Finland, must be valuable and useful.

When we enter Turkey, the scene changes, or rather expands. Withinits European, as well as its Asiatic empire, travellers of alldescriptions, however various their objects, will find rich and amplematerials. Situated in a mild climate, with great variety of soil, init are found plants remarkable for their uses in medicine and thearts, or for their beauty: its mountainous districts containtreasures for the mineralogist; and to the politician and student ofhuman nature, it exhibits the decided effects of the Mahometanreligion, and of Asiatic despotism. But what principallydistinguishes it from the other countries which have hithertooccupied us, must be sought in its ruins of Grecian magnificence andtaste: in the traces and evidences it affords of ancient times,manners, and acquirements: in the hold it possesses over ourfeelings, and even over our judgment, as being classic ground--thesoil which nourished the heroes of Marathon and the bard ofTroy.--The language, the manners, the customs, the human form andcountenance of ancient Greece, are forcibly recalled to ourrecollection.

The travels in this part of the world have been so numerous, thatwe must be strict and limited in our selection, having regardprincipally to those which exhibit it under its various aspects withthe greatest fidelity, at various periods.

268. Nicholai Clenard Epistola de Rebus Mahomediis, in Itinerescriptis. Louvain, 1551. 8vo.

269. Petrus Gyllius de Bosphoro Thracio. Elzerer, 1561. 4to.--Thisis one of the first travellers who describes the antiquities of thispart of Turkey: manners and natural history, such as it was in histime, also come under his notice. Dallaway praises him.

270. Sandy's (Geo.) Travels, containing the State of the TurkishEmpire, of Greece, Egypt, and the Holy Land. 1673. fol.--Sandys wasan accomplished gentleman, well prepared by previous study for hisTravels, which are distinguished by erudition, sagacity, and a loveof 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 Portein 1661. The Mahometan religion, the seraglio, the maritime and landforces of Turkey are particularly noticed by him. An excellenttranslation into French, with most valuable notes, by Bespier, waspublished at Rouen, in 1677. 2 vols. 12mo.

272. Lady Mary Wortley Montague's Letters.--A great number ofeditions of these Letters have been published. In 1805, her Workswere published in 5 vols. 12mo., containing Letters which had notpreviously appeared. The character of her work, which principallyrelates to Turkey, is well known.

273. Porter's Observations on the Religion, Laws, Government, andManners of the Turks. 1768. 2 vols. 12mo.--Sir James Porter wasBritish ambassador at the Porte; his work is faithful and accurate,and is chiefly illustrative of the political state, manners, andhabits of the Turks.

274. Eton's Survey of the Turkish Empire. 1801. 8vo.--This work isdivided into four parts: government, finances, religion, arts,manners, commerce, and population; state of the provinces, especiallyGreece; causes of the decline of Turkey; and British commerce withTurkey. As it is the result of personal observation, and of excellentopportunities, it falls within our notice. Many of the opinions,however, and some of the statements of the author, have beencontroverted, particularly by Thornton in his Present State ofTurkey. 2 vols. 8vo. 1809. In a note to the preface, Mr. Etonenumerates the best authors who have written on Turkey.

275. History of the Russian Embassy to Constantinople. By M.Reimers, Secretary to the Embassy, 1804. 3 vols. 4to.--This work istranslated from the German. Though the title in its original languagewould lead the reader to suppose that it principally related to theRussian 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 important division of these volumes; inall that relates to the Turks there is much curious information; thework is also interesting from the picture it exhibits of the mannerin which the embassy, consisting of a caravan of 650 persons,travelled. They were six months in going from one capital to theother.

276. Tour in 1795-6 through the Crimea. By Maria Guthrie. 1800. 2vols. 4to.--This work contains a lively description of the varioustribes that inhabit the Crimea; their manners, institutions, andpolitical state; the antiquities, monuments, and natural history, andremarks on the migrations of the Asiatic tribes. That part of thework which relates to antiquities was written by her husband, Dr.Guthrie.

277. Walpole's Memoirs relative to European and Asiatic Turkey.Edited from MS. journals.

278. Travels in various Countries of the East, being aContinuation of the Memoirs. 2 vols. 4to. 1817 and 1820.--Theinformation in these volumes is very various, classical, antiquarian,and statistical: on natural history, manners, religion, politics; andmost of it valuable.

279. Wheeler and Spon's Travels into Greece, 1681. fol--This workrelates chiefly to the antiquities of Greece and Asia Minor, and isvaluable for its plates of them, and of medals, inscriptions,&c.

280. A Journey into Greece, &c. By Wheeler, 1688. fol.--Thiswork (which embraces, in some degree, the same countries as theformer, but which takes in also Dalmatia) is also devoted toantiquities, descriptions, and medals, and bears a good character inthese respects.

281. Travels in Asia Minor, &c. By Richard Chandler, 1775-6. 2vols. 4to.--These are valuable travels to the antiquarian. Theauthor, guided by Pausanias, as respects Greece, Strabo for thatcountry and Asia Minor, and Pliny, has described with wonderfulaccuracy and perspicuity the ruins of the cities of Asia Minor, itstemples, theatres, &c.

282. Savary's Letters on Greece. Translated from the French,8vo.--Rhodes and Candia are most particularly described in thisvolume,--islands of which we previously had meagre accounts.

283. Fortis' Travels in Dalmatia. 4to.--The geology, naturalhistory, and antiquities of this country, with curious andinstructive notices on the singular races which inhabit it, form thesubject of this volume, which is translated from the Italian.

284. Travels in Hungary. By Rob. Townson, M.D. 1796. 4to.--This isa valuable work to the natural historian, particularly themineralogist: it also contains a very particular account of the Tokaywines.

285. Travels in the Ionian Islands, Albania, Thessaly, and Greece,1812-13. By Dr. Holland. 4to. 1815.--Classical, antiquarian, andstatistical information is here intermixed with valuable remarks onthe natural history, manners, political state, &c. of thecountries visited, especially Albania.

286. Dodwell's Classical and Topographical Tour through Greece,1801. 1805 and 6. 2 vols. 4to. 1819.--This work displays greatresearch, aided and directed by much preparatory knowledge, and asound judgment and good taste.

287. Hobhouse's Journey through Albania and other Provinces ofTurkey, to Constantinople, in 1809-10. 4to. 1813.--Classical,antiquarian, and statistical, with sketches of manners, nationalcharacter, &c.

288. Tableau Général de l'Empire Ottoman.--Of thissplendid and celebrated work 2 volumes folio were published in 1787,which comprised the religious code of Turkey. The 3d volume waspublished in 1821, divided into two parts: the first part on thepolitical, military, civil, and judicial code; the second part on thestate of the Ottoman empire. This completes the plan of the authorD'Ohsson. Under all the heads, into which he has divided his work, hehas introduced authentic and curious notices of the agriculture,arts, manners, domestic life, &c. of the Turks. The third volumewas published under the superintendence of his son.

289. Voyage dans la Grèce Asiatique. Par Sestini. Paris,1789, 8vo.--This work, translated from the Italian, comprises anaccount of the environs of Constantinople, the peninsula of Cyzicum,formerly an island in the Propontis, to which it was united byAlexander the Great; and the districts of Brusa and Nice. Theantiquities of the peninsula, but especially the botany of thecountries he visited, are treated of in a masterly manner.

290. Voyage de Vienne à Belgrade. Par N.E. Kleeman,1768--1770. Neufchâtel, 1780. 8vo.--This work, translated fromthe German, comprehends an account of the Crimea, and of the Tartartribes who inhabit it, full, minute, and accurate.

291. Traité sur le Commerce de la Mer Noire. Par M. dePeysonnel. Paris, 1783. 2 vols. 8vo.--Besides the commerce of theCrimea, its soil, agriculture, and productions, and its politicalstate before it was annexed to Russia, are treated of in thesevolumes.

292. Description Physique de la Tauride. La Haye. 8vo.--This work,translated from the Russian, is intended to complete the survey ofthe Russian empire: it relates chiefly to natural history in all itsthree branches.

293. Voyage en Crimea, 1803. Par J. Reuilly. Paris, 1806.8vo.--The author was assisted by the celebrated Pallas, who, at thistime, lived in the Crimea. The physical as well as political state ofthis country are comprised in this work.

294. Les Ruins des plus beaux Monumens de la Grèce,considérés du côté de l'Histoire et ducôté de l'Architecture. Par M. Le Roi. Paris, 1770.fol.

295. Voyage Littéraire de la Grèce, ou Lettres surles Grecs Anciens et Modernes, avec un parallèle de leursMoeurs. Par M. Guys. Paris, 1783. 4 vols. 8vo.

The peculiar nature of these two works is sufficiently indicatedby their respective title: they are both interesting.

296. Voyage en Grèce et en Turquie. Par Sonnini. Paris,1801. 4to.--This work, which is translated into English, is rich innatural history, commerce, and manners, particularly regarding someof the islands of the Archipelago, Rhodes, Macedonia, the Morea, andAsia Minor.

297. Voyage en Morea, à Constantinople, en Albania, &c.1799--1801. Par Pouqueville.

298. Voyage dans la Grèce. Par Pouqueville. vol. 1. 4to.Paris, 1820.--The first work has been translated into English: theyare both full of information, especially respecting Albania, thoughmore accurate investigations, or perhaps different views andopinions, have induced subsequent travellers to differ from him insome respects.

299. Bartholdy, Voyage en Grèce, 1803-4. 2 vols. 8vo.Paris, 1807.

300. Moeurs, Usages, Costumes des Ottomans. Par Castellan. Paris,1812. 6 vols.12mo.--The value of this work is enhanced by theillustrations supplied by Langles from oriental authors.

301. Lettres sur la Grèce. Par Castellan. Paris, 1810.8vo.--The Hellespont and Constantinople are the principal subjects ofthese letters, which are lively and amusing in their pictures ofmanners and life. The same character applies to his "Lettres surl'Italie." Paris, 1819. 3 vols. 8vo.

302. Voyage à l'Embouchure de la Mer Noire. Par Andreossy.Paris, 1818. 8vo.--A valuable work on physical geography, and to theengineer and architect, and such as might have been expected from theprofessional pursuits and favourable opportunities of the author.

303. Lettres sur le Bosphore, 1816--19. 8vo. 1821.

304. Voyage Pittoresque et Historique de l'Istrie et de laDalmatie, rédigé d'après l'Itineraire de L.F.Cassas, peintre. Par J. Lavallée. Paris, 1802. fol.--Thissplendid work, as its title indicates, principally relates toantiquities: there are, however, interspersed notices on manners,commerce, &c. Zara, celebrated for its marasquin, is particularlydescribed.

305. Scrofani, Reise en Griechenland, 1794-5. Leip. 1801.8vo.--The German translation of this work, originally published inItalian, is superior to the original, and to the French translation,by the addition of valuable notes by the translator, and the omissionof irrelevant matter. Scrofani pays particular attention tocommercial details respecting the Ionian Isles, Dalmatia, the Morea,&c.

The Germans were celebrated for their skill in metallurgy, andtheir knowledge of mineralogy, at a period when the rest of Europepaid little attention to these subjects; and German travels incountries celebrated for their mines are, therefore, valuable. Of theGerman travels in Hungary and Transylvania, the greater part aremineralogical. We shall select a few.

306. Born, Briefe uber Mineralogische gegenstande auf einer Reisedurch den Temeswarer Bannat, &c. Leip. 1774. 8vo.--Thismineralogical tour in Hungary and Transylvania by Born, and publishedby Ferber, possesess a sufficient guarantee of its accuracy and valuefrom the names of the author and editor. It is, however, not confinedto mineralogy, but contains curious notices on some tribes inhabitingTransylvania and the adjacent districts, very little known: it istranslated into French.

307. Ferber, Physikalisch-metallurgische Abhandlunger uber dieGebirge and Bergewecke in Ungarn. Berlin, 1780. 8vo.

308. Balthazar Hacquet, Reise von dem Berge Terglou in Krain, auden Berg Glokner in Tyrol, 1779--1781. Vienne, 1784. 8vo.

309. Neueste Reisen, 1788--1795, durch die Daceschen undSarmateschen Carpathen. Von B. Hacquet. Nuremb. 1796. 4 vols.8vo.

310. Briefe uber Triestes, Krain, Kærnthen, Steyermark, undSaltzburgh. Franck. 1793. 8vo.

311. Briefe uber das Bannet. Von Steube, 1793. 8vo.

312. F. Grisselini, Lettere di Venetea, Trieste, Carinthia,Carnioli e Temeswar. Milan, 1780. 4to.--Natural history and mannersare here described.

GERMANY.

This large district of Europe offers, not only from its extent,but also from numerous causes of diversity among its parts,--someestablished by nature, and others introduced by man--various numerousand important objects to the research and observation of thetraveller. Its mines,-- the productions of its soil and itsmanufactures,--the shades of its expressive, copious, and mostphilosophical language,--from the classical idiom of Saxony, to thecomparatively rude and uncultivated dialect of Austria,--the effectson manners, habits, feeling, and intellectual and moral acquirements,produced by the different species of the Christian religionprofessed,--and the different forms of government prevailing in itsdifferent parts;--all these circ*mstances, and others of a moreevanescent and subtle, though still an influential nature, renderGermany a vast field for enquiry and observation.

The travels in this country, especially by its native inhabitants,are so numerous, that we must content ourselves with a scrupulous andlimited selection;--referring such of our readers as wish to consulta more copious catalogue, to "Ersch's Literatur der Geschichte undderen Hulfswissenschaften." We shall follow our usual plan, selectingthose travels which give the best idea of the country, at remote,intervening, and late periods.

313. Martini Zeilleri, Itinerarium Germaniænov-antiquæ. Strasb. 1632. 4to.

314. Christ. Dorrington's Reflections on a Journey through someProvinces of Germany in 1698. Lond. 1699. 8vo.

315. The German Spy. By Thomas Ledyart. 1740. 8vo.

316. Keysler's Travels through Germany, Bohemia, Hungary,Switzerland, Italy, and Lorrain. Translated from the German, 1756. 2vols. 4to.--Keysler, though a German, was educated at St. Edmund'sHall: he travelled with the Count of Gleich and other noblemen. Hisfavourite study was antiquities; but his judgment, in those parts ofhis travels which relate to them, has been questioned. His work,though heavy, is interesting from the picture it exhibits of Germany,&c. in the middle of the 18th century.

317. Adams's Letters on Silesia, during a Tour in 1800-2.Philadelphia, 3 vols. 8vo.--Mr. Adams was ambassador from the UnitedStates to Berlin: his work contains some interesting information,especially on the manufactures of Silesia.

318. Cogan's Journey up the Rhine, from Utrecht to Frankfort. 2vols. 8vo. 1794.--The style of this work is lively and interesting:its pictures of manners and scenery good; and it contains a learneddisquisition on the origin of printing. Dr. Cogan resided the greaterpart of his life in Holland.

319. Travels in the North of Germany. By Thomas Hodgskin, Esq. 2vols. 8vo. 1820.--That part, of Germany between the Elbe and thefrontiers of Holland is here described: the topic is rather new; andMr. H. has given us much information on the agriculture, state ofsociety, political institutions, manners, &c.; interspersed withremarks, not in the best taste, or indicating the soundest judgmentor principles.

320. Letters from Mecklenberg and Holstein, 1820. By G. Downes.8vo.--This being a part of Germany seldom visited, every thingrelating to it is acceptable. Mr. Downes's work is, however, not sofull and various as might have been expected: on manners and Germanliterature it is most instructive.

321. An Autumn near the Rhine, or Sketches of Courts, Scenery, andSociety, in Germany, near the Rhine, 1821. 8vo.--The title indicatesthe objects of this volume, which bespeaks an observant andintelligent mind.

322. Travels from Vienna, through Lower Hungary. By Dr. Bright.1817. 4to.--Agriculture and statistics form the principal topics ofthis volume, which would have been equally valuable and much moreinteresting if the matter had been more compressed.

323. Historical and Statistical Account of Wallachia and Moldavia.By W. Wilkinson. 1820. 8vo.--Mr. Wilkinson, from his situation asBritish Consul, has been enabled to collect much information on theseportions of Europe, chiefly such as the title indicates, and also ofa political nature.

324. Voyages de Reisbeck en Allemagne. Paris, 1793. 2 vols.8vo.--This work was originally published in German, under the titleof Briefe eines reisenden Franzosen durch Deutschland: there is alsoan English translation. The travels took place in 1782: and thecharacter of a French traveller, in the German original, was assumed,to secure the author from the probable effects of his severe remarkson the government, manners, and customs of Germany. To thesesubjects, and others connected with man, his agriculture, commerce,and other pursuits, Baron Reisbeck has chiefly confined hisattention: perhaps the truth and impartiality of his strictures wouldbe more readily acknowledged, if they were not so stronglyimpregnated with a satirical feeling.

325. Journal d'un Voyage en Allemagne, 1773. Par M. Guibert.Paris, 1802. 2 vols. 8vo.--The celebrated author of the "EssaiGeneral sur la Tactique," naturally directed his attention during histravels to military affairs, and to an examination and description ofthe sites of famous battles. But this work by no means is confined tosuch topics; and the remarks with which it abounds on moreinteresting subjects, are so evidently the fruit of an acute andoriginal mind, that they equally command our attention, and instructus.

326. Voyage en Hanovre, 1803-4. Par M.A.B. Mangourit. Paris, 1805.8vo.--Politics, religion, agriculture, commerce, mineralogy, manners,and customs, are discussed in this volume; and in general with goodsense and information. Hamburgh, Hanover, its government,universities, and especially its mines, are particularlydescribed.

327. Voyage dans quelques Parties de la Basse-Saxe, pour laRecherche des Antiquités Slaves ou Wendes, 1794. Par J.Potocky. Hambro. 1795. 4to.

328. Journal d'un Voyage dans les Cercles du Rhin. Par Collini.Paris, 1777. 8vo.--Chiefly mineralogical.

329. Voyage sur le Rhin, depuis Mayence jusqu'à Dusseldorf.Newied, 1791. 8vo.--This tour contains some curious details on thesubject of the wines of the Rhingau.

330. Voyage en Autriche, &c. Par De Serres. Paris, 1814. 4vols. 8vo.--An immense mass of geographical and statisticalinformation, in a great measure drawn from German authors, onAustria, Hungary, and Bohemia.

331. Viaggio sul Reno e ne suoi contorni di P. Bertolo. 1795.8vo.--These travels, performed in the autumn of 1787, are elegantlywritten, rather than very instructive. They contain, however, somevaluable notices respecting the volcanic appearances in the districtof Andernach.

332. Briefe auf einer reise durch Deutschland, 1791. Leignitz,1793. 2 vols. 8vo.--Arts, manufactures, and economy, are theprincipal topics of these letters.

333. Die Donnau reise. Ratesbonne. 1760. 8vo.--These travelsdescribe the banks of the Danube, and the streams which flow intoit.

334. Donnau Reise von Regensburgh bis Wein. Montag. 1802.8vo.--The same remark applies to this work, only, as the titleindicates, it is confined to the river and its streams, from Ratisbonto Vienna.

335. Reise durch Ober-Deutschland, OEsterreich, Nieder Bayern,Ober Schwaben, Wirtemberg, Baden, &c. Saltz. 1778. 8vo.

336. Litterarische reisen durch einen theil von Bayern, Frankenund die Schweitz, 1780-2.; Von Zapf. Aug. 1782. 8vo.--The same authorpublished another literary tour among the convents of Swabia, andSwitzerland, and Bavaria; and in other parts of Franconia, Bavaria,and Swabia, in 1782. These tours are strictly literary; that is, haveregard to MSS. and scarce editions, and are not scientific.

337. Reise durch einige Deutsche Provinzen, von Hollenberg.Stendal, 1782. 8vo.--Architecture and mechanics are the topics ofthese travels.

The following travels relate to the Hartz:

338. Geographische und Historische, Merkwurdigkeften des OberHartz. Leip. 1741. 8vo.

339. Reise nach dem Oberhartz. Von J.C. Sulzer.--Inserted in acollection of travels published by J. Bernouilli.

340. Reise nach dern Unterhartz. 1783. Von Burgsdorf.--In thenatural history collection of Berlin.

341. Reise durch Ober Saxen und Hessen, von J. Apelbad. Berlin,1785. 8vo.--Apelbad, a learned Swede, published a Collection ofVoyages in different Parts of Europe, in Swedish, Stockholm, 1762,8vo; and Travels in Saxony, in the same language, Stockholm, 1757,8vo. There seems to have been another of the same surname, JonasApelbad, who published in Swedish, Travels in Pomerania andBrandenberg, Stockholm, 1757, 8vo. The work, of which we have giventhe title in German, was translated by Bernouilli, who has greatlyenhanced the merits and utility of the original by his remarks.Bernoulli's Collection of Travels,--Samlung kleiner reisebeschriebungen, Leips. 1781-7, 18 vols. 8vo., contains manyinteresting short narratives and descriptions, particularly relatingto Germany.

342. Reise durch die Norischen Alpen. Von Hacquet. Leips. 8vo.1791.--These travels, like the former by the same author, which wehave mentioned, are chiefly botanical and mineralogical.

343. Ausfluge nach dern Schnee-Berg in Unter-OEsterreich. Vienna,1800. 8vo.--Botany, mineralogy, and what the Germans call economy,and technology, are principally attended to in this work.

344. Wanderrungen und Spazierfahrten in die gegenden um Wien.Vienna, 1802-4. 5 vols. 8vo.--The title of this work would not leadthe reader to expect what he will find; valuable notices onmineralogy, agriculture, arts, and manufactures, in the midst oflight and lively sketches of manners, places of amusem*nt,&c.

345. Reise durch Sacksen. Von N.G. Leske. Leips. 1785.4to.--Natural history and economy.

346. Beobachtungen uber Natur und Menschen. Von F.E. Lieberoth.Frankfort, 1791. 8vo.

347. Economische und Statische reisen durch Chur-Sacksen, &c.Von H. Engel. Leips. 1803. 8vo.

348. Bemerkungen einer Reisenden durch die Prussischen Staaten.Von J.H. Ulrich. Altenb. 1781. 8vo.

349. Briefe uber Schlesien Krakau, und die Glatz. 1791. Von J.L.Zoellner. Berlin, 1793. 2 vols. 8vo.

350. Reise durch einer Theil Preussen, Hambro, 1801. 2 vols.8vo.--This work was drawn up by two travellers: one of whom suppliedthe statistical remarks, and the other, who traversed Prussia onfoot, the remarks on entomology, amber, the sturgeon fishery, andother branches of natural history and economics.

351. Wanderrungen durch Rugen. Von Carl. Nernst. Dusseld. 1801.8vo.--This island affords interesting notices on manners, ancientsuperstitions, particularly the worship of Ertha, besides statisticaland geographical remarks.

352. Rhein-Reise. Von A.J. Von Wakerbert. Halberstadt, 1794.8vo.

353. Ansichten des Rheins. Von Jno. Vogt. Bremen, 1805. 8vo.--Thisis a strange mixture of the picturesque, the romantic, and theinstructive: the instructive parts contain historical andtopographical notices of the cities on the Rhine, and curious detailson its most famous wines.

354. Historische Jaarbocken, von oud nieven Friesland door FoekeSiverd. Leowarden, 1769. 8vo.--We insert the title of this work,though not strictly within our plan, because it gives an accurateaccount of a part of Germany, the dialect of which more resembles oldEnglish than any other German dialect; and in which there still lurkmany very curious traditions, customs, and superstitions, which throwmuch light on our Saxon ancestors.

SWITZERLAND.

Perhaps no country in the world, certainly no district within sucha small circuit, presents so many interesting objects to a travelleras Switzerland. Be he natural historian, and geologist, drawn byhabit, feeling, and taste, to the contemplation of all that is grand,romantic, and picturesque in natural scenery, or attached to thestudy of man in that state, in which civilization and knowledge havebrought with them the least intermixture of artifice, luxury, anddissoluteness--in Switzerland, he will find an ample and rich feast.It does not often happen that one and the same country attracts to itthe abstract and cold man of science, the ardent imagination of thepoet, and the strong, enthusiastic, and sanguine sympathies of thephilanthropist.

355. Descriptio Helvetiæ, a Marso, 1555-9. 4to.--Marsus wasambassador from the Emperor and King of Spain, Charles V., to theSwiss, and gives a curious picture of their manners at thisperiod.

356. Helvetia Profana et Sacra. 1642. 4to.--This work by Scotti,which is written in English, depicts the manners of the Swiss acentury after Marsus.

357. Travels through the Rhætian Alps. By Beaumont, 1782,fol.--Travels through the Pennine Alps, by the same, 1788. smallfolio, both translated from the French.

358. Travels in Switzerland, and in the country of the Grisons, bythe Rev. W. Coxe, 1791. 3 vols. 8vo.--These travels were performed in1776, and again in 1785 and 1787, and bear and deserve the samecharacter as the author's travels in Russia, &c., of which wehave already spoken. Mr. Coxe gives a list of books on Switzerland atthe end of his 3d volume, which may be consulted with advantage.There is a similar list at the end of his travels in Russia,&c.

359. A Walk through Switzerland, in Sept. 1816. 12mo.--The sceneryand manners sketched with much feeling, taste, and judgment, in ananimated style.

360. Journal of a Tour and Residence in Switzerland. By L. Simond.1822. 2 vols. 8vo.--A description of Switzerland and the Swiss, whichbrings them in a clearer and stronger point of view, to the presenceand comprehension of the reader than most travels in this country:though the range of observation and remark is not so extensive inthis work, as in the author's work on Great Britain; in every otherrespect it is equal to it. The second volume is entirelyhistorical.

The following French works particularly and accurately describethe natural history and the meteorology of the Swiss mountains andglaciers; the names of at least two of their authors must be familiarto our readers, as men of distinguished science.

361. Histoire Naturelle des Glaciers de Suisse. Paris, 1770. 4to.Translated from the German of Gruner.

362. Nouvelle Description des Glaciers. Par M. Bourrit. Geneva,1785. 3 vols. 8vo.--This work of Bourrit is chiefly confined to theValais and Savoy, and its most important contents are given in thefollowing work by the same author.

363. Nouvelle Description des Glaciers de la Savoie,particulièrement de la Vallèe de Chamouny et du MontBlanc. 1785, 8vo.--This work contains an account of the author'ssuccessful attempt to ascend the summit of Mont Blanc. There areseveral other works of Bourrit on the Glaciers and Mountains ofSavoy: the latest and most complete is the following:

364. Descriptions des Cols ou Passages des Alpes. Geneva, 1803. 2vols. 8vo.

365. Voyage dans les Alpes, précédé d'unEssai sur l'Histoire Naturelle des Environs de Geneva. Par Saussure.Geneva, 1787--1796. 8 vols. 8vo.

366. Relation abrégée d'un Voyage à la Cimedu Mont Blanc, en Aout, 1787. Par Saussure, Geneva. 8vo.

367. Voyage Minéralogique en Suisse. Lausanne, 1783-4.8vo.

368. Voyage Minéralogique dans le Gouvernement de l'Argh,et ne partie du Valais. Lausanne, 1783. 8vo.--The first of theseworks by Razoumousky, and the other by Behoumwesky, are valuable, asnoticing those parts which Saussure has not noticed.

369. Lettres sur quelques Parties de la Suisse, &c. Par J.A.de Luc. Paris, 1785. 8vo. Geological.

370. Voyage de J.M. Roland en Suisse, 1787: incribed in the 3dvol. of her works. Paris, 1800.--This celebrated, but mistaken andunfortunate woman, has thrown into her narrative much information onthe manners of the Swiss, anecdotes of Lavater, &c. besidesgiving a most lively account of her visit to the glaciers.

371. Descriptions des Alpes Grecques et Cottiennes. Par Beaumont.2 vols. 4to.--Part of this work is historical; the remainder embracesnatural history, mineralogy, statistics, and manners.--The samecharacter applies to No. 357.

372. Histoire Naturelle du Jurat et de ses Environs. Par le Comtede Razoumousky. Lausanne, 1789. 2 vols. 8vo.--The lakes ofNeufchàtel, Morat, and Bienne, and part of the Pays de Vaud,are described in this work, which contains valuable information inmeteorology, commerce, &c. besides natural history.

373. Journal du dernier Voyage de Dolomieu dans les Alpes. ParJ.C. Bruien-Neergard. Paris, 1803. 8vo.--The French governmentdirected Dolomieu to examine the Simplon; he was accompanied by theauthor, a young Dane, his pupil. Dolomieu died soon after his return:this work, therefore, is not nearly so full as it would have been,had he lived to give his observations to the public.

374. Lettre sur le Valais. Par M. Eschasseraux. Paris, 1806.8vo.--This work, written in a pleasing style, gives importantinformation on the manners and natural history of this mostinteresting part of Switzerland.

375. Voyage dans l'Oberland Bernois. Par J.R. Wyss. Leipsic, 1818.8vo.--This work, translated from the German, is chieflypicturesque.

376. Fodere, Voyage aux Alpes Maritimes. Paris, 1820. 2 vols.8vo.--Agriculture, natural history, and the state of medicine, arethe principal topics.

377. Briefe aus der Schweitz, &c. Von Andreæ. Zurich,1776. 4to.--Natural history, and a particular description of thecelebrated bridge of Schaffhausen, and its mechanism, are whatrecommend this volume. Bernouilli, in his travels in Switzerland, hascopied Andreæ in what relates to mineralogy and cabinets ofnatural history; but he has added some interesting descriptions ofpaintings.

378. Kleine reisen durch einige Schweizer-Cantons. Bâle,1780. 8vo.

379. Letters on a Pastoral District, (the Valley of Samen inFribourg). By Bonstellen (in German). Zurich, 1792. 8vo.

380. Physikalesch-Politische Reisen, aus der Dinarischen durch dieJulischen, &c. in die Norischen. Alpen, 1781-83. Von B. Hacquet.Leipsic, 1784. 8vo.

381. Malerische Reise in die Italianische Schweitz. Von J.H.Mayer. Zurich, 1793. 8vo.--Mayer, in this work, as well as in travelsin Italy, has been very happy in picturesque description.

382. Meine Wanderungen durch die Romanische Schweitz, Unterwallerund Savoyen. 1791. Tubingen, 1793. 8vo.

383. Kleine Fuss-reisen durch die Schweitz. Zurich, 1804. 2 vols.8vo.--Parts of Switzerland are here described, which are seldomvisited, and can be thoroughly known only by foot travellers.

384. Anleitung auf die nuzlichste und genussvollste art dieSchweitz zu Bereisen. Von J.C. Ebel. Zurich, 1804-5. 4 vols.8vo.--This most excellent work affords every kind of informationwhich a person proposing to travel, or reside in Switzerland, wouldwish to acquire. It has been translated into French under the titleof Manuel du Voyageur en Suisse. Zurich, 1818. 3 vols. 8vo. Thiscontains all the additions of the 3d German edition.

ITALY.

As the traveller descends the Alps, the first regions of Italyinto which he passes present him with mountains subdued in size, andgradually passing from magnificence to grandeur and beauty; then therich and luxuriant plains of Lombardy meet him with their improvedagriculture, and in some places curious geology. He next advances tothose parts of Italy which are rich in the finest monuments of art,and associated with all that is interesting in the period of therevival of literature; with Dante, Boccacio, Petrarch, Ariosto,Tasso, and the Medici. The proofs of commercial wealth, united withmagnificence and taste, present themselves to him in the palaces ofGenoa, Venice, and Florence; and he hears, on every side, the mostclassical tongue of modern Europe.

Rome, with which, in conjunction with Greece, the associations ofhis frank and enthusiastic youth have been deeply formed, next risesto view: to the classical scholar, the antiquarian, the man of tasteand virtue, the admirer of all that is most perfect in humanconception, as brought into existence by the genius of MichaelAngelo, and Raphael, this city affords rich and ample materials forstudy and description, though it is unable to excite that grandestfeeling of the human breast, which is raised by the land of Leonidasand of Socrates. Greece fought for liberty! Rome for conquest! Thephilosophy of Rome is less original, less pure and disinterested,less practical than that of Greece.

Through all this part of Italy the geologist finds materials forexamination and conjecture, in the ridge of the Appennines: andthese, rendered still more interesting, accompany him into theNeapolitan territory, both continental and insular.

Such are the principal subjects to which travellers have directedtheir attention in Italy; and the travels which chiefly relate tothese subjects, and treat of them in the best manner, we shallselect.

385. Les Observations Antiques du Seigneur Symion, Florentin, enson dernier Voyage d'Italie, 1557. Lyons, 1558. 4to--The principalmerit of this work consists in the description and engravings ofseveral remains of antiquity, which no longer exist.

386. An Itinerary of a Voyage through Italy, 1646, 1647. By JohnRaymond. 1648. 12mo.

387. Misson's New Voyage to Italy, 1704. 4 vols. 8vo.--This workis translated from the French; and contains the first general accountof this country which appeared, but in many places incorrect andprejudiced. Addison's remarks on Italy are published with thisedition of Misson; they are classical; and in fact a commentary madeon the spot, on the descriptions of Virgil. Subsequent travellers,however, in some places differ from him in opinion, and in othersquestion his accuracy and judgment.

388. Grosley's Observations on Italy. 2 vols. 8vo.--Chieflypolitical and anecdotal; in some parts of doubtful authority:translated from the French.

389. Sharp's Letters on Italy. 1769. 4 vols. 8vo.--Barretti'sAccount of the Manners and Customs of Italy. 1770. 2 vols.8vo.--These works are noticed principally because they afford acurious and instructive proof of the very different views which maybe taken of the same objects, according to the extent and accuracy ofthe knowledge, and the preconceived opinions and feelings of theobserver. Barretti's work is certainly more accurate than that ofSharp, but in opposing him, he has sometimes gone into the oppositeextreme: from comparing both, perhaps the reality may often beextracted. Manners and national character are their chief topics.

390. View of Society and Manners in Italy. By Dr. Moore, 1781. 2vols. 8vo.--The peculiar felicity of description and style with whichthis author paints manners, render these travels, as well as hisothers, extremely interesting.

391. Observations on Mount Vesuvius, Mount Etna, and otherVolcanoes. 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 theFrench. 8vo.--Denon, an artist, accompanied Swinburne in hisexcursions to the vicinity of Naples, and into Sicily. These worksare historical, geographical, and antiquarian, but heavilywritten.

394. Spallanzani's Travels in the Two Sicilies, and some parts ofthe Apennines, 1798. 4 vols. 8vo.--Translated from the Italian.Natural history forms the principal subject of these volumes, whichare worthy of the author, who was esteemed one of the first naturalhistorians of His age.

395. Boisgelin's Ancient and Modern Malta. 3 vols. 4to. translatedfrom the French.--Only the first part of this work is descriptive,and it certainly contains an interesting account of Malta and theMaltese; 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 inan easy and elegant style, has rendered these volumes extremelypopular, notwithstanding they do not display much learning orknowledge, and are even sometimes superficial and inaccurate.

397. Boswell's Account of Corsica. 1768. 8vo.--Interesting detailsrespecting Paoli, as well as on the island and its inhabitants.

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 thesubject which the title indicates; it is written in good taste, butin rather a prolix style; his statements, however, are not always tobe depended on, especially where his political or religious opinionsinterfere. Sir R. Hoare's work is meant as a supplement to Mr.Eustace's.

400. Remarks on Antiquities, Arts and Letters, during an excursionin Italy, in 1802-3. By Joseph Forsyth. 1816. 8vo.--This is anadmirable work, giving in a short compass much information, andindicating strong powers of mind, and a correct taste.

401. Sketches Descriptive of Italy, 1816-17. 4 vols. 12mo.1820.

402. Letters from the North of Italy. By W.S. Rose, 1819. 2 vols.8vo.--Free and judicious remarks on the political degradation of thisfair 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 ofmanners and character, together with notices on the productions ofthe 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 accuratesurvey of this island.

405. Tour through Elba. By Sir R.C. Hoare, bart. 1814. 4to.--Onlyseventeen pages are devoted to the journal, the remainder of thebooks consists of 8 views and a map: and a sketch of the character ofBuonaparte.

406. Le Voyage et Observations de plusieurs Choses qui se peuventremarquer en Italie. Par le Sieur Adelier. Paris, 1656.8vo.--Interesting, from exhibiting a well-drawn picture of themanners of Italy at this period: with greater attention to naturalhistory than was usual when Adelier wrote.

407. Voyage en Italie. Par M. de Lalande. Geneve, 1790. 7 vols.8vo.--This large work embraces a vast variety of subjects, and ingeneral 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.--Chieflyremarks on the government and political situation of the variousstates of Italy, with anecdotes and facts relating to these topics;expressed with an open and unshrinking boldness, not to have beenexpected from one who was the historiographer of France at the periodwhen Duclos travelled, 1766-7.

409. Lettres Historiques 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 Australes, and otherworks, hardly are equal to the literary reputation of the author;they paint with considerable force, though sometimes in too strongcolours, the imperfections, follies, and vices of the Italians; anddisplay good taste and judgment respecting the fine arts.

410. Voyage en Italie. De M. L'Abbé Barthelemi. Paris,1802. 8vp.--The author of the travels of Anacharsis has hereexhibited himself in the midst of his favourite pursuits; theprecious remains of antiquity are described with an accuracy seldomequalled, and in a style which renders the description attractive,even to those who are not particularly conversant or interested inthese topics. The work is grounded on letters written to CountCaylus; and contains, in an Appendix, some remarks of Winkelman,Jacquier, &c. This work has been translated into English. Thetravels of De Brosses and Barthelemi were performed in the middle ofthe eighteenth century.

411. Voyage dans 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 Scène des six derniers livres deL'Eneide. Par C.V. de Bonstetten. Geneva, 1805. 8vo.--The first partof this work, the nature of which is expressed by the title, is muchsuperior to the travels of Addison, in extent of classical research,in originality of views, and in clearness of description: in thispart there are also interesting particulars respecting Latium. In thesecond part, the author principally dwells on the Campagna, thecauses of its depopulation, and its agriculture; this introduces someexcellent observations on the agriculture of the ancient Romans, andthe connection between it and their manners and religion; othertopics are introduced, and treated in an able manner.

413. Voyages Physiques et Lithologiques dans la Campagna. ParScipion Brieslack. Paris, 1800. 2 vols. 8vo.--Facts and conjectureson the formation of the Campagna, and on the soil of the territoryand neighbourhood of Rome; on the extinct craters betwixt Naples andCanna, and on that of Vesuvius, render this work instructive andinteresting to the geologist, while the picture of the Lazaroni mustrender this portion of his work attractive to the general reader.

414. Voyage en Sicile et dans la Grande-Grèce. Par le Baronde Riedesel, Paris, 1773. 12mo.--This work, translated from theGerman, is formed of letters addressed to Winkelman, describingminutely, and with great taste, learning, and accuracy, themagnificent views with which the scene of his travels abounds, andcontrasting them in ruins with their original perfection, asdelineated in ancient authors. Interspersed are remarks on themanners and character of the inhabitants.

415. Lettres sur la Sicile et sur Malta, de M. le Comte de Borch,1777. Turin, 1782. 2 vols. 8vo.--The object of the author is tosupply the omissions and correct the mistakes of Brydon.

416. Voyage aux Isles Lipari, 1781. Par D. Dolomieu. Paris, 1788,8vo..--The character of Dolomieu sufficiently points out the natureand value of this work. A Supplement was published the same year,under the title of Mémoire sur les Isles Ponces. Par Dolomieu.Paris. 8vo.

417. Voyage Historique Littéraire et Pittoresque dans lesIsles et Possessions ci-devant Venétiennes du Levant. Par A.Grasset-Saint-Sauveur, jun. Paris, 1800. 3 vols. 8vo.--The author wasFrench Consul at the Ionian Islands for many years; and hence he hadopportunities which he seems to have employed with diligence andjudgment, of gathering materials for this work, which, besides whatit* title indicates, enters fully into the agriculture, navigation,commerce, manners, &c.

418. Histoire Géographique, Politique, et Naturelle, de laSardignie. Par D.A. Azami. Paris, 1801. 2 vols. 8vo.--Of this islandwe know less than of any other part of Europe; it has been seldomexplored, and still seldomer described. There is certainly no work weare acquainted with, that gives such a complete and accurate accountof this island and its inhabitants as Azami's.

419. Moeurs' et Coutumes des Corses. Par G. Faydel. Paris, 1798.8vo.--Agriculture and natural history, rather popular thanscientific; commerce and other similar topics are treated of in thiswork, though the title would lead us to expect only description ofmanners and customs.

420. Voyage Antique à l'Etna, en 1819. Par Gourbillon.1820.--Chiefly relating to the natural history, and meteorology ofthe mountain.

421. Historisch Kritische Nachrichten von Italien. Von J.J.Volkman. Leipsic, 1770--1778. 3 vols. 8vo.--Manners, customs,politics, commerce, the state of the arts and sciences are treated ofin these volumes.

422. Zusætze zu der Neusten Reise Beschriebung von Italien.Von J. Bernouilli. Leip. 1777--1782. 3 vols. 8vo.

423. Darstellungen aus Italien. Von F.J.L. Meyer. Berlin, 1792.8vo.--This is a romantic work for a German; the author actuallyluxuriates in the recollections called up by the country of MichaelAngelo, Raphael, Palladio, &c., and in his contemplation of thescenes of the convulsions of nature, and of the most strikingincidents in the classical and middle ages. Independently of thisextravagance of style, this work is valuable, especially in whatrelates to the Tyrol, where indeed his style is more simple. It istranslated into French.

424. Briefe uber Calabrien und Sicilien. Von J.H. Bartels.Gottingen, 1789-1792. 3 vols. 8vo.--This is an excellent work on apart of the continent of Italy little known; the physicalconstitution of the country, natural productions, agriculture,manners, &c. are treated of in a sensible and pleasantmanner.

425. Brieven over Italien. Door W.R. Jansen. Lugden, 1793.8vo.--We notice this work, principally because it relates to thestate of medicine, as well as the natural history of Italy.

426. Eichholz, neue Briefe uber italien. 4 vols. 8vo. Zurich,1806.

427. Reise nach Dalmatien und Ragusa. Von. E.F. Germar, 8vo. Leip.1817.

428. Viaggio Geologico sur diversi Parti Meriodinali dell Italia.Milan, 1804. 8vo.--This work, by Pini, a naturalist of reputation, isinstructive in the geology of the country between Modena andFlorence, of the Campagna, and of part of Naples; there are alsoremarks on the antiquity and extent of the Italian Volcanoes.

429. Viaggio da Milano ai tre Laghi Maggiore, di Lugano, e diComo. Del C. Amoretti. Milan, 1803. 4to.--Mineralogy, and especiallythe various species of marble, zoology, and manners and customs, arehere described, as well as the celebrated lakes mentioned in thetitle.

430. Spallanzani Lettere al Sig. Marchese Luchesini, Sopre leCoste dell Adriatico. Paris, 1789. 4 vols. 4to.

FRANCE

The author of the Bibliothèque des Voyages remarks, that nocountry in Europe has been so imperfectly described by travellers asFrance: certainly, if we compare the descriptions they give of itwith the descriptions given by travellers of other countries, thereappears good ground for this observation. And yet France offers arich harvest for travellers of almost all kinds: the customs andusages of the people; the general character so strongly stamped onthe whole nation, and the various shades of it in differentprovinces; the effects that have been produced by the differentevents of their history, and especially by their revolution; allthese things present to the traveller, who studies human nature, richand ample materials. To the geologist, the mineralogist, andbotanist, especially to the former, France also is an interestingcountry, especially since Cuvier and other learned men in thisdepartment of science, have displayed the stores of important factswhich France offers on this subject: her agriculture, and especiallyher vine districts, present a source of interest of a different kind;while, in the southern provinces, her antiquities, though notnumerous, attract by their beauty the man of taste.

431. Matthæi Quadt Delicicæ Gallicæ, seuItinerarium per Universam Galliam. Frankfort, 1603. fol.

432. Deliciæ Galliae, seu Itinerarium in Universam Galliam,a Gasp. Ens. Cologne, 1609. 8vo.

433. A Tour through the Western, Southern, and Interior Provincesof France. By N.W. Wraxall. London, 1772. 8vo.--This work bears allthe characters of Mr. Wraxall's other productions: slight andsuperficial so far as manners are concerned: offering no informationon agriculture, statistics, or natural history; with, however, someinteresting historical details. It is noticed here, because thetravels in France are so few, that even those of moderate merit mustbe admitted.

434. Travels through France: to which is added, a Register of aTour into Spain in 1787-89. By Arthur Young. 2 vols. 4to. 1792.--Thisis a most valuable and useful work; for though the professed objectof Mr. Young was agriculture, yet it abounds in well-drawn picturesof manners and national character, and it derives additional interestfrom having been performed at the commencement of the revolution.

435. Journal during a Residence in France, from the beginning ofAugust to the middle of December 1792. By Dr. John Moore. 2 vols.8vo.--This work may be regarded in some measure as historical; yet itmay also properly be placed here as exhibiting a strong picture ofmanners and feelings, as well as of events, at this interestingperiod.

436. Tour through several of the Midland and Western Departmentsof France, in the Summer of 1802. By the Rev. H. Hughes. London,1802. 8vo.

437. Bugge's Travels in France. 1798-99. 12mo.--This work waswritten originally in Danish, and was afterwards translated intoFrench. The author, a celebrated astronomer and professor ofmathematics at Copenhagen, was sent to Paris to attend a committee onweights and measures. His travels are particularly interesting fromthe account they give of the different scientific and literaryestablishments in France.

438. Anglo-Norman Antiquities considered, in a Tour throughNormandy. By A.C. Ducarel. Fol. 1767.--A valuable work on thisparticular subject.

439. Narrative of a Three Years' Residence in France, principallyin the Southern Departments. 1802-5. By Anne Plumptree. 3 vols.8vo.--Some useful information on the productions, scenery, andmanners of this part of France, may be collected from thesevolumes.

440. Travels through the South of France, 1807-8. By Lieut.-Col.Pinckney. 4to.--These travels were performed in a part of France notoften visited. They give light and amusing sketches of the manners,customs, and state of society there; but there is a manifest tendencyto exaggeration in them.

441. Account of a Tour in Normandy. By Dawson Turner. 1821. 2vols. 8vo.--Architectural antiquities form the chief topic;historical notices and manners are also given: all indicating awell-informed and intelligent mind.

442. Letters written during a Tour through Normandy, Brittany, andother Parts of France, in 1818. By Mrs. C. Stothard. 4to. 1821.--Muchinformation on the manners, habits, &c. of the inhabitants ofBrittany, a part of France not much visited by travellers; besideslocal and historical descriptions.

443. Itinerary of Provence and the Rhine. 1819. By J. Hughes.8vo.--A useful book, and some parts of it very interesting.

444. Voyage Littéraire de la France. Par DeuxBénédictins. (D.D. Martine et Durand.) Paris, 1730. 2vols. 4to.--This work relates to monuments and inscriptions, of whichit gives an accurate account.

445. Voyage Géographique et Pittoresque desDépartements de la France. Paris, 1794-97, 11 vols. fol.

446. Voyage dans les Départements de la France. Par LaVallée, pour le Texte; Brun père, pour la PartieGéographique; Brun fils, pour celle de Dessein. Paris,1790--1800. 100 cahiers, 8vo.

447. Voyage en France, enrichi de belles Gravures. Paris, 1798. 4vols. 18mo.--These works, in conjunction with the following, thoughnot strictly within our plan, as being not the result of theobservations of the authors themselves, are noticed here, becausethey give the most full and satisfactory information respectingFrance, geographical, descriptive, statistical, &c. StatistiqueGénérale et Particulière de la France. Par uneSociété des Gens de Lettres. Paris, 1805. 7 vols.8vo.

448. Collection des Statistiques de chaque Département,imprimée par Ordre du Ministère du l'Intérieure,au nombre de trente-quatre.

449. Recherches Economiques et Statistiques sur le Departement dela Loire Inférieure. Par J.R. Heuet. Nantes, 1804. 8vo.

450. Statistique Elémentaire de la France. Par J. Peuchet.Paris, 1805. 8vo.

451. Essai sur les Volcans éteints du Vivarais. Par Faujasde Saint Fond. Paris, 1778. fol.

452. Histoire Naturelle du Dauphiné. Par le Méme.Grenoble, 1781. 4to.--These works, the result of travels in thedistrict to which they allude, are valuable to the mineralogist andgeologist.

453. Voyage en Provence. Par M. l'Abbé Papou. Paris, 1787.2 vols. 12mo.--The objects of these travels are historical, literary,and picturesque.

454. Observations faites dans les Pyrenées. Par Ramond.Paris, 1789. 8vo.

455. Voyage au Mont Perdu, et dans les Partes adjacentes desHautes Pyrennées. Par Raymond. Paris, 1801. 8vo.--Althoughthese works principally relate to the formation, natural history, andmeteorology of the Pyrennees, yet the dryness of scientificobservation and research is most agreeably relieved by a livelypicture of manners, as well as by the interesting personal adventuresof the author in his attempts to reach the summit of the mountains.There is an English translation of the former of these works.

456. Voyage en 1787-88, dans la ci-devant Haute et Basse Auvergne.Par Le Grand D'Aussy. Paris, 1795. 3 vols. 8vo.

457. Tableau de la ci-devant Provence D'Auvergne. Par RabineBeauregard, et P.M. Gault. Paris, 1802. 8vo.--No district in Francepresents such a variety of interesting objects as Auvergne; itsinhabitants, in their language, dress, manners, and mode of life; itsagriculture, its natural history, and its antiquities of theclassical and middle ages. Le Grand D'Aussy treats well of all butthe last, and this is supplied by the other work; its agriculture ismore fully considered in the following:

458. Voyage Agronomique en Auvergne. Paris, 8vo. 1803.

459. Description du Département de l'Oise. Par Cambri.Paris, 1803. 2 vols. 8vo.--Agriculture, roads, canals, manufactures,commerce, antiquities, are treated of in this work in such asatisfactory manner, that the author of the Bibiothèqueexpresses a wish that all the departments were described as well asthis, and the department of Finisterre by the same author, andAuvergne by Le Grand D'Aussy.

460. Voyage Agronomique dans la Senatorerie de Dijon. Par N.Francais de Neufchâteau. Paris, 1806. 8vo.

461. Voyage dans le Jura. Par Lequinio. Paris, 1801. 8vo.--Muchinformation in agriculture, natural history, &c. is given by thisauthor, in an unpleasant style, and with little regard to method.

462. Voyage de Paris à Strasbourg. Paris, 1802.8vo.--Relates to the agriculture and statistics of the departmentsthrough which the author travelled, and particularly the LowerRhine.

463. Voyage dans la ci-devant Belgique, et sur la Rive Gauche duRhin. Par Briton, et Brun père et fils. Paris, 1802. 2 vols.8vo.--Commerce, manufactures, arts, manners, and mineralogy, enterinto these volumes. Sometimes, however, rather in a desultory andsuperficial style.

464. Voyage dans les Départements nouvellementréunis, et dans le Départements du Bas Rhin, du Nord,du Pas de Calais, et de la Somme. 1802. Par A.G. Camus. Paris, 2vols. 8vo.--Camus was sent by the French government to examine thearchives and titles of the new departments: the Institute at the sametime deputed him to examine into the state of science, literature,and manufactures: on the latter topics, and on the state of thehospitals, the work is full of details. The information he collectedrespecting the archives, he does not give.

465. Briefe eines Sudlanders, von Fischer. Leipsic, 1805.8vo.--Besides descriptions of the principal cities in France, thiswork contains an account of the fisheries of the Mediterranean; thearsenal of Toulon; the department of Vaucluse; the Provencallanguage, &c. The same author has published Travels in thePyrennees, drawn up from the works of most scientific travellersamong these mountains.

466. Reise durch eine theil des Westlichen Franckreichs. Leipsic,1803. 8vo.--This is also by the same author, and contains anexcellent statistical description of Britanny, a full account ofBrest and its maritime establishments, and of the famous lead minesof Poulavoine, and of Huelgeat. The first part of this word,huel, is exactly the prefix to the names of many of the minesin Cornwall.

467. Reise door Frankryk. Door Van der Willigen. Haarlem, 8vo.

468. Reisen durch die Sudlichen, Westlichen und Nordlichen,Provinzen. Von Frankreich. 1807-9. und 1815. Frank. 2 vols. 8vo.1816.--French literature, the Spanish revolution in 1808, and theBasque language, are chiefly treated of.

469. Remarques faites dans un Voyage de Paris jusqu'àMunich. Par Depping. Paris, 1814. 8vo.--A most judicious andinstructive book, noticing all that is really interesting in thisroute, and nothing else, and thus conveying much information in asmall compass.

THE NETHERLANDS.

This portion of Europe presents to the traveller fewer varietiesfor his research and observation than any other part of Europe: inalmost every other part the mineralogist and geologist find richmaterials for the increase of their knowledge or the formation oftheir theories; and the admirer of the beautiful, the picturesque, orthe sublime, is gratified. The Netherlands are barren to both thesetravellers; yet in some respects it is a highly interesting country:and the interest it excites, chiefly arises from circ*mstancespeculiar to it. The northern division discovers a district won fromthe sea by most laborious, persevering, and unremitted industry, andkept from it by the same means. The middle division recalls thoseages, when it formed the link between the feeble commerce of thesouth of Europe, and of Asia and of the Baltic districts. Antwerp,Ghent, and Bruges then were populous and rich above most cities inEurope. The whole of the Netherlands, especially Flanders, may beregarded as the birth-place of modern agriculture, which spread fromit to England, where alone it flourishes in a vigorous and advancedstate, but still in some points not to be compared to that of thecountry from which it came. Such, with the admirable paintings of theDutch School, are the chief objects that attract the traveller to theNetherlands, independently of the desire to study human nature, whichhere also will find ample materials.

470. Descrizione di Ludovico Guicciardini di tutti Paesi Bassi.Antwerp, 1501. fol.--This work, which was translated into Latin,French, and Dutch, was written by the nephew of the historian; it isthe result of his own travels in the Netherlands, and contains a fulldescription of them, particularly of their principal towns, and theircommerce.

471. Observations on the United Provinces. By Sir W. Temple. 8vo.& 12mo.--Sir W. Temple was embassador at the Hague in 1668: hislittle work contains much information on the history, government,manners, religion, commerce, &c. of the United Provinces.

472. Travels in Flanders and Holland in 1781. By Sir JoshuaReynolds. Confined to pictures.

473. Tour through the Batavian Republic during the last part ofthe year 1800. By R. Fell. 1801. 8vo.--This work gives an interestingpicture of Holland and the Dutch at this period, besides historicaland political details and observations on its connexion withFrance.

474. Neue Beschriebung des Burgundischen und Neiderlan dischenKreises. Von Mart. Leiller. Ulm, 1649. 8vo.

475. Statische-Geographische, Beschriebung der SemtlichenEsterreichischen Niederlande. Von Crome. Dessau, 1785. 8vo.

476. Neueste Reisen durch die Sieben Vereinigten-Provinzen. VonVolkman. Leip. 1783. 8vo.--This is a valuable work, comprising thearts, manufactures, agriculture, economy, manners, &c. of theUnited Provinces.

477. Briefe uber die Vereinigten Niederlande. Von Grabner. Gothen,1792. 8vo.

478. Lettres sur la Hollande Ancienne et Moderne. ParBeaumarchais. Frankfort, 1738. 8vo.--A good description of Hollandand the Dutch, by a sensible and observant author: principallyrelating to manners and politics.

479. Lettres sur la Hollande, 1777-79. La Haye, 1780. 2 vols.12mo.--This is by far the fullest, most minute, and, we believe, themost accurate picture of the Dutch national character, as exhibitedin their manners, customs, cities, villages, houses, gardens, canals,domestic economy, pursuits, amusem*nts, religion, &c.

480. Histoire Géographique, Physique, Nationelle et Civilede la Hollande. Par M. Le Francq de Berkhey, 1782. 4 vols.12mo.--This work was written in Dutch by the professor of NaturalHistory in the University of Leyden, and on this topic and manners itis particularly instructive and interesting.

481. Statistique de la Batavie. Par M. Estienne. Paris, 1803.8vo.--In a short compass, this work contains, not only statisticalinformation, strictly so called, but also much information in naturalhistory, the state of the arts and sciences, manners andpolitics.

482. Voyage Historique et Pittoresque dans les Pays Bas, 1811-13.Par Syphorien. Paris, 1813. 2 vols. 8vo.

GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

When we reflect on the political institutions of our own country;the circ*mstances in our history to which their origin, improvement,and modifications may be traced; the influence they have had on ourhabits of thought, our feelings, our domestic and public life, andthe other elements of our national character, as well as onagriculture, manufactures, commerce, and influence and power;--weshall not be accused of vanity or presumption, if, so far as man isconcerned, we deem our native country rich in materials for thephilosophical traveller. But besides the study of our nationalcharacter and institutions, and our agriculture, manufactures,commerce and arts, Britain is deserving of the careful and repeatedobservation of the natural historian, especially of the mineralogistand geologist; whilst her Roman remains and her Gothic edificesrender her interesting to the antiquarian and the man of taste.

We must confess, however, that hitherto there are few books oftravels in our country that are worthy of it: till very lately, itsmineralogy and geology have been much neglected; and even at present,they must be studied rather in professed works on these subjects, orin the transactions of societies, instituted for their express andpeculiar investigation, than in books of travels. With respect to ournational character, it is obvious, that will be found more carefullystudied, and more frequently attended to, in the travels offoreigners in Britain, than in native travels, though necessarily inthe former there must be much mistake and misapprehension, and thereis often much prejudice and misrepresentation.

In one department of travels Britain is, we believe, original andpeculiar; we allude to picturesque travels, of which those of Gilpinare an interesting and most favourable specimen. These differessentially from the picturesque travels of foreigners, which areconfined to the description of antiquities, buildings, and works ofart; whereas our picturesque travels are devoted to the descriptionof the sublimities and beauties of nature. To these beauties, theBritish seem particularly sensible, and Britain, perhaps, if weregard both what nature has done for her, and the assistance whichtasteful art has bestowed on nature, is as favourable a country forthe picturesque traveller as most in Europe.

483. Paul Hentzer's Journey into England in 1598. London, 1600.8vo. In Dodsley's Fugitive Pieces, vol. 2. Also published at theStrawberry Hill Press. By Horace Walpole.--Interesting from thedescription of our manners, &c. in the reign of Elizabeth.

484. Travels of Cosmo, Grand Duke of Tuscany, through England,1669. 4to. 1822.--Amidst much that is very tedious and stupid,relative to the ceremonies observed in receiving this prince, and allhis most minute movements and actions, there are curious notices ofthe state of England, the mode of life, manners, and agriculture atthis period.

485. Letters on the English Nation. By Baptista Angeloni,translated from the Italian. 1756. 2 vols. 8vo.

486. Grosley's Tour to London, translated by Nugent, 1772. 2 vols.8vo.--These two works exhibit much misrepresentation of ourcharacter; at the same time they are instructive in so far as they,in several respects, paint accurately our national and domesticmanners, in the middle of the last century, and exhibit them asviewed by foreigners.

487. Historical Account of Three Years' Travels over England andWales. By Rogers. 1694. 12mo.

488. Gilpin's Tour in South Wales: his Tour in North Wales:Observations on the Western Parts of England: Observations on theLakes of Cumberland and Westmoreland: Observations on the River Wye:Tour in Norfolk and South Wales.--All these works display a deep andsincere feeling of the beauties of nature; a pure taste and soundjudgment; and are written in a style appropriate to the subject, andworthy of the matter.

489. Warner's Tour through Wales--Warner's Second Tour throughWales--Topographical Remarks on the South Western Parts of Hampshire.2 vols.--History of the Isle of Wight--Tour through the NorthernParts of England and the Borders of Scotland. 2 vols.--Excursionsfrom Bath--Walk through some of the Western Counties of England--Tourthrough Cornwall.-- These travels, generally performed on foot,contain good accounts of the antiquities, and some notices of thenatural history, manners, &c. of those parts of England and Walesto which they respectively relate.

490. Pennant's Tours from Downing to Alston Moor--from Alston Moorto Harrowgate and Brimham Cross--Journey from London to the Isle ofWight. 2 vols.--Journey from Chester to London--Tour in Wales. 3vols.--These travels are written in a dry style; but they abound inaccurate descriptions of antiquities.

491. Bingley's Tour round North Wales in 1798. 2 vols. 8vo.--Thelanguage, manners, customs, antiquities, and botany, are particularlyattended to and well described.

492. Rev. J. Evans's Tour through Part of North Wales in 1798;Tour through South Wales in 1803.--These works likewise are valuablefor botanical information, as well as for descriptions of scenery,manners, agriculture, manufactures, antiquities, &c. and formineralogy.

493. Barber's Tour in South Wales, 1802. 8vo.--This work ischiefly picturesque, and descriptive of manners.

494. The Scenery, Antiquities, and Biography of South Wales. ByB.H. Malkin. 1805, 4to.--This work is hardly valuable in proportionto its size; but from it may be gleaned interesting notices on thehistory and antiquities of this part of Wales, as well as manners,&c.

495. Arthur Aikin's Journal of a Tour through North Wales, andpart of Shropshire. 12mo.--An admirable specimen of a mineralogicaland geological tour, in which the purely scientific information isintermixed with notices of manufactures, and pictures of manners,&c.

From the above list of Tours in Wales which comprehends, webelieve, the best, it will be seen that this part of the unitedkingdom has not been neglected by travellers. Indeed, its naturalscenery, mineralogy, geology, botany, antiquities, manners, &c.have been more frequently and better described by travellers, thanthose of any other portion of the British empire.

496. The History and Antiquities of Selborne, in the County ofSouthampton. By the Rev. Gil. White. 1789, 4to.--This most delightfulwork has lately been republished in 2 vols. 8vo. It is an admirablespecimen of topography, both as to matter and style; and proves inhow laudable and useful a manner a parish priest may employ hisleisure time, and how serviceable he may be to the natural historyand antiquities of his country.

497. Six Weeks' Tour through the Southern Counties of England andWales. By Arthur Young.--Six Months' Tour through the North ofEngland. 4 vols.--Farmer's Tour through the East of England.--Thoughthese works are almost entirely directed to agriculture, yet theycontain much information on the subject of manufactures, population,&c. as they were about the middle of the last century.

498. Hassel's Tour in the Isle of Wight, 1790. 2 vols. 4to.--1798.2 vols. 8vo.--Picturesque.

499. A Picture of the Isle of Wight. By Penruddocke Wyndham,1794.--This author also wrote a Tour in Monmouthshire and Wales; theyare both principally picturesque.

500. Observations relative chiefly to the Natural History,Picturesque Scenery, and Antiquities of the Western Counties ofEngland, 1794-96. By W. George Maton. 1796, 2 vols. 8vo.--The titlesufficiently indicates the nature of the work, which is valuable,especially in what relates to natural history.

501. Journal of Tour and Residence in Great Britain, 1810-11. By aFrenchman. M. Simond. 2 vols. 8vo.--There are few Travels superior tothese: literature, politics, political economy, statistics, scenery,manners, &c. are treated of in a manner that displays much talentand knowledge, and less prejudice than foreigners usually exhibit.The only branch of natural history, on which the author descants, ismineralogy and geology.

502. Itinerarium Magnæ Brittaniæ, oder ReiseBeschrievbung durch Engel. Schott. und Irland. Strasburg, 1672.8vo.

503. Reise durch England. Von Volkman. Leipsic, 1781-2. 4 vols.8vo.--Arts, manufactures, economy, and natural history.

504. Der Lustand der Staats, der Religion, &c. in GrosBritanien. Von Wendeborn. Berlin. 4 vols. 8vo.--This work, whichexhibits a pretty accurate picture of the statistics, religion,literature, &c. of Britain, at the close of the eighteenthcentury, has been translated into English.

505. Beschriebung einer Reise, von Hamburgh nach England. Von P. ANemnich. Tubingen, 1801. 8vo.--The state of our principalmanufactures is the almost exclusive object of this work.

506. Mineralogische und Technologische Bemerkungen auf einer Reisedurch verschiedene Provinzen in England und Schottland. Von J.C.Fabricius. Leipsic, 1784. 8vo.--This work, the nature of which isindicated in the title, is enriched by the notes of thatdistinguished mineralogist Ferber.

507. Reise nach Paris, London, &c. Von. Franck. Vienna, 1804.2 vols. 8vo--This work of Dr. Franks, which is chiefly confined toEngland and Scotland, is principally interesting to medical men, asit contains an account of hospitals, prisons, poor-houses,infirmaries, &c.

508. Gedenkwaardije a antkeningen gedaan door en reisiger, vangeghel England, Schottland, ent Irland. Utrecht, 1699. fol.

509. Kort Journel eller Reise beskrievelse til England, ved ChristGram. Christiana, 1760. 4to.

510. Reise durch einen Theil von England und Schottland, 1802-3.8vo. Marburg, 1811.--These travels,--which, like all travels in ourown country by foreigners, are interesting, independently of anyintrinsic merit, because they exhibit the impressions made on them bywhat to us is either common or proper,--are translated from theSwedish: the author's name is Svedensgerna.

511. Erinnerungen von einer Reise durch England, 1803-5. VonJohanna Schopenhauser. 2 vols. 8vo. Rudolst, 1813.--Light and livelysketches.

512. P. Coronelli Viaggio nell' Enghilterra. Venice, 1697.8vo.--These three works, Nos. 509, 510, and 512, by a Dutchman, aDane, and Italian, are interesting from the picture they exhibit ofBritain at the close of the seventeenth, and in the middle of theeighteenth century.

513. Journée faite en 1788 dans la Grande Bretagne. Paris,1790. 8vo.--The author, who recommends himself by stating that hecould speak English, principally directs his enquiries to agricultureand manufactures.

514. Voyages dans les Trois Royaumes d'Angleterre, d'Ecosse, etd'Irlande, 1788-89. Par Chantreau. Paris, 1792. 3 vols. 8vo.--Thepolitical constitution, religious opinions, manners, prejudices,state of arts and sciences, &c. of Britain, are treated of herewith considerable talent for observation, and on the whole notunfairly.

515. Tableau de la Grande Bretagne et de l'Irlande. Par A. Baert.Paris, 1800. 4 vols. 8vo.--This author frequently visited England,and resided here for some time: his work relates to our commerce,finances, naval and military force, religious opinions, literature,arts and manufactures, and physical and moral character.

516. Voyage de trois Mois en Angleterre, en Ecosse, et en Irlande.Par M.A. Pictet. Paris, 1802. 8vo.--The state of the arts andsciences principally, and the state of agriculture, and the naturalhistory, especially geology, are the objects of this work. Theliterary character of the author is well known; this work, perhaps,hardly is worthy of it.

517. Londres et les Anglais. Par Saint Constant. Paris, 1804. 4vols. 8vo.--Manners, government, religion, domestic life, and thestate of agriculture, the arts, sciences, manufactures, and ofliterature in general,--all fall within the observation of ourauthor, and are treated of fully, and with fewer mistakes andprejudices than Frenchmen generally discover when writing onEngland.

518. Voyage en Ecosse, &c. Par L.A. Necker-Saussure. Paris,1821. 3 vols. 8vo.--These travels, by the honorary professor ofmineralogy and geology at Geneva, were performed in 1806--8. Theyrelate chiefly to the geology of the country, and the character andusages of the Highlanders, and will be found interesting to thegeneral reader, as well as instructive to the scientific.

519. Faujas St. Fond's Travels in England, Scotland, and theHebrides, 1797. 2 vols. 8vo.--Amidst much mineralogical andgeological information (the latter, perhaps, led sometimes astray bytheory), there are some interesting notices of the arts and sciences,and of literary men.

520. Monroe's Description of the Western Isles of Scotland, in1549. Edin. 1774. 12mo.

521. Account of the Orkney Islands. By James Wallace. Edin. 1693.8vo.

522. Martin's Voyage to St. Kilda. Lond. 1698. 2 vols. 8vo.

523. Martin's Description of the Western Islands of Scotland, andof the Orkney and Shetland Isles. 1716. 8vo.

524. Edmonstone's View of the Ancient and Present State of theShetland Islands. 2 vols. 8vo. 1809.--Dr. E. is a native of theseIslands, and has long resided there: perhaps, if these favourablecirc*mstances had been aided by a sounder judgment, a better taste,and more knowledge, this work would have been improved. As it is, itmay advantageously be consulted for what relates to the civil,political, and natural history; agriculture, fisheries, and commerce;antiquities, manners, &c. of these islands.

525. Description of the Shetland Islands, comprising an Account oftheir Geology, Scenery, Antiquities, and Superstitions. By Dr.Hibbert. 4to.--The title indicates the objects of the work: theinformation is valuable: some of it new; but not sufficiently selector condensed.

526. The Rev. Dr. Barry's History of the Orkney Islands.4to.--Besides historical information, Dr. B. gives full notices onthe inhabitants and natural history: in the latter respect, however,this work is improved in the Second Edition, published by Mr.Headrich.

527. Description of the Western Islands of Scotland, including theIsle of Man. By Dr. J. Macculloch. 2 vols. 8vo. and 1 vol. of plates,4to. 1819.--Although, as might be expected from the pursuits of theauthor, mineralogy and geology are particularly attended to, yet thiswork is valuable and instructive also on the subjects of theagriculture, scenery, antiquities, and economy of these islands, andis indeed a work of great merit.

528. Sibbald's History and Description of Fife. 1720. fol.

529. Sibbald's History and Description of Lithgow andStirlingshires. 1710. fol.

These works are curious from the description they give of theseparts of Scotland, at a period when manners, customs, sentiments,feelings, and superstitions, had not been acted upon by muchcivilization, knowledge, or intercourse with England. Sir RobertSibbald's works also are valuable, even yet, for their naturalhistory.

530. Letters from the North of Scotland. Written by a Gentleman tohis Friend in London. 2 vols. 8vo.--These letters, which describe theHighlanders a century ago, are extremely curious and interesting.They seem to have been little known, till the author of Waverleyintroduced them to public approbation. Since that they have beentwice republished; once with dissertations and notes.

531. Pennant's Tour to Scotland and Voyage to the Hebrides. 3vols. 4to. 1774.

532. Dr. Johnson's Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland.1775. 8vo.

533. Account of the present State of the Hebrides and WesternCoast of Scotland. By John Anderson. Edin. 1785.--Written expresslyto point out means of improvement. The two following works had thesame object in view:

534. Knox's Tour in the Highlands of Scotland and the Hebrides.1786. 2 vols. 8vo.

535. Buchanan's Travels in the Western Hebrides, 1782-90. Lond.1793. 8vo.

536. Cardonnel's Antiquities and Picturesque Scenery of the Northof Scotland. 1798. 4to.

537. Stoddart's Remarks on the Local Scenery and Manners ofScotland, 1799-1800. Lond. 1801. 2 vols.8vo.--The principal design ofthese two works is sufficiently indicated in their titles.

538. Dr. Garnett's Tour through the Highlands and Part of theWestern Islands of Scotland. 1800. 2 vols. 4to.--Agriculture,manufactures, commerce, antiquities, botany, and manners, are treatedof, though not in a masterly manner.

539. Travels in Scotland and Ireland, 1769-72. Chester, 1774. 2vols. 4to.

540. Tour in Scotland and Ireland, 1775, 8vo.

541. Ed. Spencer's View of the State of Ireland, 1633.folio.--Also in his works, and in a collection of old tracts latelypublished on this kingdom.

542. A Natural History of Ireland, in Three Parts. By severalhands. Boate and Molyneaux. Dublin, 1726.--This work contains muchcurious information, sound and accurate, considering when it waswritten.

543. Tour in Ireland, in 1715. London, 1716. 8vo.

544. Bush's Hiberna Curiosa. Dublin. 4to.--The materials of thiswork, which chiefly is occupied with a view of manners, agriculture,trade, natural curiosities, &c. were collected during a tour in1764-69.

545. Hamilton's Letters on the Northern Coast of Ireland, 1764.8vo.--This is a valuable work respecting the mineralogy and geology,and especially the Giant's Causeway.

546. Campbell's Philosophical Survey of the South of Ireland,1777. 8vo.

547. Arthur Young's Tour in Ireland, 1776-79. 2 vols. 8vo.--Anadmirable picture of the agriculture and general state of Ireland atthis period.

548. Cooper's Letters on the Irish Nation, 1800. 8vo.--Manners,national character, government, religion principally; with notices onagriculture, commerce, &c.

549. Account of Ireland, Statistical and Political. By EdwardWakefield, 1812. 4to.--An immense mass of information, chieflyrelating to the agriculture, statistics, political and religiousstate of Ireland, not well arranged; and the bulk much increased byirrelevant matter.

550. Robertson's Tour through the Isle of Man, 1794. 8vo.

551. Wood's Account of the Past and Present State of the Isle ofMan, 1811. 8vo.

552. Falle's Account of Jersey, 1734, 8vo.

553. Berry's History of Guernsey, with particulars of Alderney,Sark, and Jersey, 1815. 4to.

554. Dicey's Account of Guernsey, 1751. 12mo.

555. Neueste reisen durch Schottland and Ireland. Von Volkman.Leip. 1784. 8vo.--Economy, manufactures, and natural history.

556. Briefe uber Ireland. Von Kuttner, Leip. 1785, 8vo.--Thisauthor published Travels in Holland and England, which, as well asthe present, indicate an attentive, careful, and well-informedobserver of manners, national character, and statistics.

PORTUGAL AND SPAIN.

Good travels in the Peninsula, especially in the English language,are by no means numerous, yet there are portions of it highlyinteresting in a physical point of view; and the Spanish nationalcharacter, and manners, as well as the Roman and Arabian antiquitiesin Spain and Portugal, furnish ample and rich materials to thetraveller.

557. Memoirs of Lord Carrington, containing a Description of theGovernment and Manners of the present Portuguese, 1782. 8vo.

558. Murphy's Travels in Portugal, 1789-90. 4to.--Monuments,public edifices, antiquities principally; the physical state of thecountry, its agriculture, commerce, arts, literature, &c.sensibly but not extensively.

559. Link's Travels in Portugal, 1797-99. 8vo.--This work,originally published in German, consists in that language of 2 vols.8vo. There was likewise published in French, Paris, 1805. 1 vol.8vo., Voyage en Portugal, par M. le Comte de Hoffmansegg,--as acontinuation of Link's Travels, the Count having travelled in thiscountry with Mr. Link, and continued in it after the latter left it.Mr. Link being a distinguished natural historian, directed hisattention chiefly to geology, mineralogy and botany; but he does notneglect other topics, and he has added a dissertation on theliterature of Portugal, and on the Spanish and Portuguese languages.The supplemental volume is also rich in natural history, and extendsto an account of the manufactures, political institutions, &c. ofPortugal.

560. Twiss's Travels through Portugal and Spain, 1772-73.4to.--Literary, antiquarian, and descriptive of manners, customs, andnational characters.

561. Dalrymple's Travels through Spain and Portugal, 1774. Dublin,1777. 12mo.

562. Southey's Letters on Spain and Portugal, 1797.8vo.--Literature and manners; but in a manner not worthy of theauthor's talents and reputation.

563. Ed. Clarke's Letters on the Spanish Nation, 1765. 4to.--Theauthor was chaplain to Lord Bristol, in his Spanish Embassy.Antiquities and Spanish literature; in the Appendix there is acatalogue of MSS. in the library of the Escurial.

564. Swinburne's Travels through Spain, 1775-76. 2 vols. 8vo.Roman and Moorish architecture are particularly attended to; thiswork is also valuable and instructive for its full details in everything relating to Catalonia and Grenada, two of the most interestingprovinces in Spain.

565. Dillon's Travels through Spain, 1782. 4to.--Natural historyand physical geography.

566. Bourgoing's Travels in Spain, with Extracts from the Essayson Spain. By M. Peyren, 1789. 3 vols. 8vo.--This is an excellentwork, translated from the French. The author, however, did not visitCatalonia or Grenada. Natural history is not attended to; but allthat relates to manufactures, the civil, political, and religiousstate of Spain, manners, literature and similar topics, is treated offully and well. The work of M. Peyren, from which extracts are given,is entitled Nouveau Voyage en Espagne, Paris, 1782. 2 vols. 8vo. andtreats of antiquities, manners, commerce, public tribunals, &c.;it notices some cities and parts of Spain omitted, or but partiallynoticed by Swinburne and Bourgoing. The work of the latter has alsobeen added to by the following work, Voyage en Espagne, 1797-8. ParC. A. Fischer. Paris, 1800. 2 vols. 8vo. Fischer also published in1804. 8vo., Description de Valence, to complete his Travels in Spain.Both these were originally published in German, and translated intoFrench, by Cramer; and they both are most valuable additions toBourgoing's works.

567. Townshend's Journey through Spain, in 1786. 3 vols. 8vo.--Anexcellent work, particularly on the economy, agriculture,manufactures, commerce, and general statistics of Spain.

568. Voyage du ci-devant duc du Chatelet en Portugal, 1777. Paris,1798. 2 vols. 8vo.--This work, which has been translated intoEnglish, was in reality written by M. Cormartin, one of the Vendeanchiefs; it is very full and various, as well as excellent in itscontents, embracing physical geography, agriculture, arts, sciencesand manufactures, government, manners, religion, literature, &c.,in short, every thing but antiquities and public buildings.

569. Observations du Physique et de Médecine, faites endifférens lieux de l'Espagne. Par M. Thiery. Paris, 1791. 2vols. 8vo.--This medical Tour contains much information on theclimate, soils, geology of Spain; and on the food, domestic life ofits inhabitants, particularly relating to Castile, Arragon, Navarre,Biscay, Gallicia and Asturia. There is also a particular descriptionof the quicksilver mine at Almaden, in La Mancha.

570. Voyage Pittoresque et Historique de l'Espagne. Par La Borde.Paris, 4 vols. fol.

571. Itinéraire Descriptif de l'Espagne. Par La Borde.Paris, 1809. 5 vols. 8vo.

572. Lettres sur l'Espagne, ou Essais sur les Moeurs, les Usages,et la Litérature de ce Royaume. Par Beauharnois. Paris, 1810.2 vols. 8vo.

573. A Visit to Spain in the latter part of 1822, and the firstfour Months of 1823. By Michael Quin. 8vo. 1823.--A sensible andimpartial view of the state of Spain at this interesting period;giving much insight into the character of the Spaniards.

574. Reise beschriebung durch Spanien und Portugal. Von M.Zeiller. Ulm, 1631. 8vo.

575. Reise beschrieburg nach Spanien. Franchfort, 1676.8vo.--These two works are chiefly valuable for that which givesinterest and value to all old travels; as describing manners, &c.at a distant period.

576. Neueste reise durch Spanien. Von Volkman. Leipsic, 1785. 2vols. 8vo.--Arts, manufactures, commerce and economy.

577. Nieuve Historikal en Geographische Reise beschryving vanSpanien en Portugal. Don W. Van den Burge. Hague, 1705. 2 vols.4to.

578. Descripcion de España de Harif Alcides Coneido.Madrid, 1799. 4to.--This work, by the geographer of Nubia, as he isgenerally called, is extremely interesting from the picture it givesof Spain under the Moors. It was translated by D.J.A. Condé,who has added notes, comparing its state at that remote period, andin 1799.

579. Ponz Viage de España. 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 delReyno de España. Par D. Guill. Bowles.--The Italiantranslation of this work, Parma, 1783. 8vo. (the nature of which issufficiently indicated by the title) contains a commentary and notesby the translator, A. Zara, which adds to its value, in itself notsmall.

581. Descrizione della Spagna di Don A. Conca. Parma, 1793-7. 4vols. 8vo.--This work is chiefly devoted to the fine arts, of whichit enters into a full and minute description. There are also noticesof antiquities, and natural history. It is admirably printed byBodoni.

VII. AFRICA.

AFRICA IN GENERAL.

582. Historical Account of Discoveries and Travels in Africa. Bythe late John Leyden, M.D., enlarged and completed to the presenttime by Hugh Murray, Esq., 2 vols. 8vo. 1817.--A useful, correct,and, in general, accurate and complete compilation, which satisfiesthe purpose and promise held out in the title.

583. Leoni Africani totius Africæ Descriptionis. Lib. VIII.Leyd. 1682. 8vo.--This work was originally written in Arabic, thentranslated into Italian by the author, and from Italian into Latin,French, Dutch, and English. The Italian translation is the onlycorrect one: to the French, which is expanded into 2 vols. folio, andwas published at Lyons in 1566, there are appended several accountsof Voyages and Travels in Africa. Leo was a Spanish Moor, who leftSpain at the reduction of Grenada, and travelled a long time inEurope, Asia, and Africa: his description of the northern parts ofAfrica is the most full and accurate.

584. L'Afrique de Marmol. Paris, 1669. 3 vols. 4to.--Thistranslation, by D'Ablancourt, of a very scarce Portuguese writer, isnot made with fidelity. The subsequent discoveries in Africa havedetailed several inaccuracies in Marmol; but it is nevertheless avaluable work: the original was published in the middle of thesixteenth century.

585. Geschichte der neuestin Portugeiesischen Entdeckungen enAfrica, von 1410, bis 1460. Von M.C. Sprengel. Halle, 1783.8vo.--This account of the discoveries of Prince Henry is drawn upwith much judgment and learning.

586. Neue Beitrage zur Keuntniss von Africa. Von J.R. Forster.Berlin, 1794. 2 vols. 8vo.

587. Neue Systematescke Erd-beschriebung von Africa. Von Bruns.Nurem. 1793-99. 6 vols. 8vo.--A most valuable work on Africa ingeneral.

THE NORTH OF AFRICA.

Those portions of Africa which are washed by the Mediterraneansea, possess strong and peculiar attractions for the traveller. It isonly necessary to name Egypt, to call up associations with the mostremote antiquity,--knowledge, civilization, and arts, at a periodwhen the rest of the world had scarcely, as it were, burst intoexistence. From the earliest records to the present day, Egypt hasnever ceased to be an interesting country, and to afford richmaterials for the labours, learning, and researches of travellers.The rest of the Mediterranean coast of Africa, where Carthage firstexhibited to the world the wonderful resources of Commerce, and Romeestablished some of her most valuable and rich possessions, areclothed with an interest and importance scarcely inferior to thatwhich Egypt claims and enjoys. While the countries on the north-east,washed by the Red Sea, in addition to sources of interest andimportance common to them, and to Egypt and Barbary, are celebratedon account of their having witnessed and assisted the first maritimecommercial intercourse between Asia, and Africa, and Europe.

588. Relation d'un Voyage de Barbarie, fait à Alger, pourla Redemption des Captifs. Paris, 1616. 8vo.

589. Relation de la Captivité à Alger d'Emmanueld'Arande. Paris, 1665. 16mo.--This work, originally published inSpanish, contains, as well as the preceding one, some curiousparticulars regarding the manners of Algiers, especially the court,in the middle of the seventeenth century.

590. Voyage en Barbarie, 1785-88, par Poiret. Paris, 1789. 2 vols.8vo.--This work, which was translated into English in 1791, ischiefly confined to that part of Barbary which constituted theancient Numidia, and is interesting from the picture it exhibits ofthe Bedouin Arabs, and from the details into which it entersregarding the natural history of the country, especially thebotany.

591. Relations des Royaumes de Fez et de Maroc, traduites deCastellan de Diego Torrez. Paris, 1636. 4to.

592. Histoire de la Mission des Pères Capuchins, au royaumede Maroc. 1644. 12mo.

593. Relation des Etats du Roi de Fez et de Maroc, par Frejus.Paris, 1682. 12mo.--Frejus was sent by the French King to Fez in1666, for the purpose of establishing a commercial intercourse: hiswork is full and particular on the manners, customs, &c., of thecountry and people of this part of Africa; there is, besides, muchcurious information drawn from the observations of M. Charant, wholived 25 years in Fez and Morocco, respecting the trade to Tombuctoo.The coasts, currents, harbours, &c., are also minutely described.The French edition of 1682, and the English translation of 1771,contain the letters of M. Charant, giving the results of hisinformation on these points.

594. Recherches Historiques sur les Maures, et Histoire del'Empereur de Maroc, par Chenier. Paris, 1788. 3 vols. 8vo. M.Chenier was Charge des Affaires from the King of France to theEmperor of Morocco. The two first volumes are historical; in thethird volume there is much valuable information on the physical,moral, intellectual, commercial, and political state of thiskingdom.

595. Histoire du Naufrage, et de la Captivité de M. deBrisson. Paris, 1789. 8vo. This work, together with the travels ofSaugnier, is translated into English; it contains a description ofthe great desert. This singular portion of Africa is alsoparticularly described in the following works.

596. Voyage dans les Deserts de Sahara, par M. Follies Paris,1792. 8vo.

597. Travels or Observations relating to several parts of Barbaryand the Levant, by T. Shaw. 1757. 4to.--The character of this work,for the information it contains in antiquities and natural history,is too well known and firmly established to require any particularnotice or commendation. Algiers, Tunis, Syria, Egypt, and ArabiaPetrea, were the scene of these travels and researches.

598. A Journey to Mequinez, by J. Windhus. 1723. 8vo. In 1721,Captain Stewart was sent by the English government to Fez and Moroccoto redeem some captives; this work, drawn up from the observationsmade during this journey, is curious: the same remark appliesgenerally to the other works, which are drawn from similar sources,and of which there are several in French and English.

599. History of the Revolution in the Empire of Morocco in 1727-8,by Captain Braithwaite. 1729. 8vo. Besides the historical details,the accuracy of which is undoubted, as Braithwaite was an eye-witnessof the events he describes, this work gives us some valuableinformation on the physical and moral state of the people.

600. Lemprieres Tour from Gibraltar to Tangier, Sals, Mogador,&c., and over Mount Atlas, Morocco, &c. 1791.--The author ofthis work, (who was a medical man, sent by the Governor of Gibraltarat the request of the Emperor of Morocco, whose son was dangerouslyill,) possessed, from the peculiar circ*mstances in which he wasplaced, excellent opportunities of procuring information; the mostinteresting and novel parts of his work relate to the haram of theEmperor, to which, in his medical character, he had access; thedetails into which he enters, respecting its internal arrangementsand the manners of its inhabitants, are very full and curious.

601. Tully's Letters from Tripoly. 3 vols. 8vo.--Much curiousinformation on the domestic life and manners of the inhabitants, andmore insight into female manners and character, than is generallygained respecting the females of this part of Africa.

602. Captain Lyons' Travels in Northern Africa, from Tripoly toMouzzook. 1821. 4to.--Though the object of these travels was notaccomplished, they contain much information on the geography ofcentral Africa collected during them. On this important point, theQuarterly Review should be consulted.

603. Schousboe Betrachtungen uber das Gewæsrich, en Marokko.Copenhag. 1802. 8vo.--This work, translated from the Danish, relateschiefly to the botany, metereology, soil and productions of Morocco;and on other topics it gives accurate and valuable information.

604. Viaggio da Tripoli alto Frontiere dell' Egitto. 1817. P.Della Cella.--The scene of these travels must give them an interestand value, since they embrace "one of the oldest and most celebratedof the Greek colonies," and a country "untrodden by Christian feetsince the expulsion of the Romans, the Huns, and the Vandals, by theenterprising disciples of Mahomet," The work, however, proves thatit* author was not qualified to avail himself of such a new andinteresting field of enquiry, remark, and research, to the extentwhich might have been expected.

EGYPT

Whoever wishes to be informed respecting the state of Egypt andits inhabitants during the remotest ages to which they can be traced,must have recourse to the accounts given of them in the Scriptures,and by Herodotus and other ancient writers. During the dark andmiddle ages, as they are called, information may be drawn from thefollowing sources.

605. Abdollatiphi Historiæ Egypti Compendium, Arabice etLatine. Oxford, 1800. 4to.--There are several editions of this work:the one, the title of which we have just given, was edited byProfessor White. He also published a preceding one without the Latinversion; which was republished at Tubingen, with a preface by Paulus.An interesting and instructive "Notice de cet ouvrage," was publishedby Sacy, the celebrated orientalist, at Paris, in 1803. The Arabianauthor relates what he himself saw and learnt in Egypt, and isparticularly full on the plants of the country; the historical partoccupies only the two last chapters; he lived towards the end of thetwelfth century.

606. Abulfedæ Descriptio Egypti, Arabice et Latine, notasadjecit J. Michaelis. Gottingen, 1776. 4to.--This author lived in thefourteenth century, and was celebrated for his geographicalknowledge, of which this work is a valuable proof.

607. L'Egypti de Murtadi. Paris, 1666. 12mo.--This work of themiddle ages, translated from an Arabic manuscript belonging toCardinal Mazarin, is curious, but extremely rare.

608. Nouvelle Relation d'un Voyage en Egypte. Par Wansleb.1672-73. Paris, 1678. 12mo.--Wansleb was a German, sent into Egyptand Ethiopia by the Duke of Saxe Gotha, to examine the religiousrites and ceremonies of the Christians there. He was afterwards sentagain into Egypt by Colbert; the fruit of this journey was a greatnumber of curious and valuable manuscripts, which were deposited inthe Royal Library at Paris. Besides the work just stated, hepublished in Italian "Relatione dello Stato presente dell' Egypto".Pans, 1671. 12mo.--Both these works are particularly useful andinstructive on the subject of antiquities, and for the accuracy ofthe descriptions and names he gives to the different places andruins.

609. Description de l'Egypte, composée sur lesMémoires de M. Maillet. Paris, 1741. 2 vols. 12mo.--Mailletwas French Consul at Cairo for sixteen years: his work is valuable onantiquities, and the religion of the ancient and modern Egyptians. Itmay also be consulted with advantage for information on the mannersand customs; but in what he relates regarding the Nile and naturalhistory, he is not so accurate and judicious.

610. Lettres sur l'Egypte. Par M. Savary. Paris, 1786. 3 vols.8vo.--This work, very celebrated and much read for some time after itappeared, and translated into English, German, Dutch, and Swedish,gradually lost the character it had acquired; partly because hisdescriptions were found to be overcharged and too favourable, andpartly because he describes Upper Egypt as if he had visited it,whereas he never did. Nevertheless, the learning and judgment whichthis author displays in drawing from scarce and little known Arabicauthors, curious notices respecting ancient and modern Egypt, give tothe work an intrinsic and real value, which is not affected by theobservations we have made.

611. Voyage dans la Haute et Basse Egypte. Par Sonnini. Paris,1799. 3 vols. 8vo.--This work deservedly bears a high character forthe accuracy and fulness of its natural history; especially itsornithology: antiquities, manners and customs, are by no meansoverlooked: there are two translations into English,--the onepublished by Debrett, 1800, 4to. is the best; it was afterwardspublished in 3 vols. 8vo.

612. Voyage dans la Haute et Basse Egypte. Par Denon. Paris, 1802.2 vols. folio.

613. Description de l'Egypte, ou Recueil des Observations, &c.faites pendant l'Expédition de l'Armie Française, en 3livraisons. Paris, 1809, &c.

These magnificent works, the result of the observations andresearches of the savans who accompanied Bonaparte, undoubtedly addmuch to our knowledge of Egypt; but they are more decidedly specimensof French vanity and philosophism, than of sober and real science.Denon's work is translated into English and German: the best Englishtranslation is by Aikin.

614. Norden's Travels in Egypt and Nubia, with Templeman's notes,published and translated under the inspection of the Royal Society ofLondon, 1757, 2 vols. folio.--Norden was a Danish physician; his workwas originally published in that language. A French translation waspublished at Copenhagen, in 1755; and a subsequent one at Paris in1795-98, in 3 vols. 4to. with very valuable notes and illustrationsfrom ancient and modern authors, and Arabian geographers, by Langles.The merits of Norden's work, are of the most enduring and substantialkind, so far as relates to the Antiquities of Egypt, and theCataracts: it is high and unequivocal commendation of this author,that subsequent travellers have found him a judicious and sureguide.

615. Legh's Journey in Egypt, and the Country beyond the Cataract,1816, 4to.--In a small compass, there is much new information inthese Travels, though not so much respecting the ancient country ofthe Ethiopians, in which Mr. Legh went beyond most former travellers,as could have been wished. Some parts of the personal narrative areuncommonly interesting.

616. Belzoni's Operations and Discoveries in Egypt, 4to.1820.--Whoever has read this book, (and who has not?) will agree withus in opinion, that its interest is derived, not less from the mannerin which it is written, the personal adventures, and the picture itexhibits of the author's character, than from its splendid andpopular antiquarian discoveries.

617. Edmonston's Journey to two of the Oases of Upper Egypt, 1823.8vo.

618. Notes during a Visit to Egypt, Nubia, &c. By Sir F.Henniker, 8vo. 1823.

619. Waddington's Journal of a Visit to some parts of Ethiopia,1823. 4to.

620. Narrative of the Expedition to Dangda and Sennaar. By AnAmerican. 1823. 8vo.--These works, and especially the last, make usacquainted with parts of Africa inaccessible to Europeans till verylately, and add considerably to our stock of physical and moralgeography. Sir F. Henniker's work brings us in contact, in a verylively and pleasing manner, with many points in the character andhabits of the natives of the country he visited.

WESTERN AFRICA, AND THE ADJACENT ISLES.

622. Voyages de Aloysio Cadamosto aux Isles Madère, et desCanaries au Cap Blanc, au Sénégal, &c. en 1455.4to. Paris, 1508.--This work was originally published in Italian; itsauthor was employed by Don Henry of Portugal, to prosecute discoveryon the Western Coast of Africa. Besides an interesting detail of thevoyage, it makes us acquainted with the manners and habits of thepeople, before they had been accustomed to European intercourse.

622. Voyage de Lybie, ou du Royaume de Sénégal, faitet composé par C. Jannequin, de retour en France, in 1659.Paris, 1645. 8vo.--This also is an interesting work, as depictingwith great naïveté and force the manners of theinhabitants, and affording some curious particulars respecting theirdiseases.

623. Nouvelle Relation de l'Afrique occidentale. Par Labat. Paris,1728. 5 vols. 12mo.--Though Labat never visited the countries hedescribes, which are, Senegal, and those that lie behind Cape Blancand Sierra Leone; yet as he derived his information from the DirectorGeneral of the French African Company, it may be depended upon. Thiswork enters into full particulars on the subject of African commerce,especially that carried on by the Moors in the interior. The plants,animals, soil, &c. as well as the religion, government, customs,manufactures are also described.

624. Histoire Naturelle du Sénégal. Par M. Adanson.Paris. 1757. 4to.--M. Adanson was in this part of Africa, from 1749to 1753; his chief study and investigation seems to have beendirected to conchology; and the descriptions and admirable plates inhis book, certainly leave little to be desired on this subject. Thereare besides remarks on the temperature, productions, economy, andmanufactures of the country.

625. Nouvelle Histoire de l'Afrique Française. Par M.l'Abbé Dumanet. Paris, 1767. 2 vols. 12mo.--Dumanet was amissionary in Africa, and seems to have united to religious zeal,much information, and an ardent desire to gain all the knowledge,which his residence and character placed within his reach. Hisnotices regarding Senegal in particular, are very valuable, but hiswork is not distinguished for order or method.

626. Relations de plusieurs Voyages entrepris à laCôte d'Afrique, au Sénégal, à Goree,&c. tirées des Journeaux de M. Saugnier. Paris, 1799.8vo.--M. Saugnier was shipwrecked on the Coast of Africa, along withM. Follies, and was a long time a slave to the Moors, and the Emperorof Morocco: he afterwards, on his liberation, made a voyage to Galam.The first part of his work relates to the great desert, and has beenalready noticed; the second part describes the manners, &c. ofseveral tribes near Galam; and the third relates to the commerce ofGalam and Senegal.

627. Voyage au Sénégal, 1784-5. Paris, 1802.8vo.--The materials of this work were drawn from the Memoirs of LaJaille, who was sent by the French Government to examine the coastsfrom Cape Blanc, to Sierra Leone. The editor, La Barthe, had accessto the MS. in the bureau of the minister of marine and colonies, andwas thus enabled to add to the accuracy and value of the work. Itchiefly relates to geography, navigation, and commerce, and on allthese topics gives full and accurate information.

628. Fragmens d'un Voyage dans l'Afrique occidentale, 1785-87. ParGolbery. Paris, 1802. 2 vols. 8vo.--The French commercialestablishments in Senegal, the tribes in their vicinity, and thediseases to which Europeans are liable in this part of Africa, andmore particularly the topics of this work, which has been translatedinto English.

629. Account of the native Africans in the neighbourhood of SierraLeone. By T. Winterbottom, 1803. 2 vols. 8vo.--A very instructivework, entering into many details on subjects not generally noticed bytravellers, 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, translatedfrom the Dutch, 1703. 8vo.--This work is very full on most topicsrelating to Guinea, not only in its physical, but also its economicaland commercial state; and deservedly bears the character of one ofthe best old accounts of this part of Africa.

631. New Accounts of some parts of Guinea and the Slave Trade. ByWm. Snelgrave, 1727. 8vo.--Works that describe the Slave Trade,before it roused the notice and indignation of England, are valuableand useful, because in them no exaggeration can be suspected in thedetail, either of its extent or its horrors: on this account, as wellas for its other commercial information, this work deserves to beread.

632. New Voyage to Guinea. By W. Smith, 1750. 8vo.--The authorembraces almost every thing relating to Guinea, and has succeeded, ina short compass, to give much information.

633. Observations on the Coast of Guinea. By John Atkin, 1758.8vo.--Personal adventures, which however let the reader into themanners and habits of the people, and are told in an interestingmanner, nearly fill this volume.

634. Historical Account of Guinea. By An. Benezet, Philadelphia,1771, 12mo.--This is one of the first works, which exposed the horridiniquity of the Slave Trade.

635. History of Dahomy, an inland Kingdom of Africa. By And.Dalzell, 1789. 4to.--The official situation which the author held,gave him opportunities of gaining much valuable information in thiskingdom and its inhabitants, the accuracy of which may be dependedon.

636. Bowditch's Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee, 1819.4to.--This work is full and minute, but we suspect exaggeratedrespecting the Court of Ashantee; on the mass of the people it giveslittle information. The part that relates to the geography of middleAfrica, is confused and unsatisfactory.

637. Tuckey's Narrative of an Expedition to explore the RiverZaire, in 1816. 4to. The Quarterly Review very justly remarks, thatthis volume "contains an important and valuable addition to therecords of African discovery." Natural history was especiallyadvanced 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, whichwas originally published in Italian, and forms part of the GrandsVoyages. It it very full on the different races of people, theirmanners, government, religion, traffic, &c. as well as on theproductions of the soil.

640. Histoire de Loango, Kakougo, et autres Royaumes d'Afrique.Paris, 1776. 12mo.--This work, which is drawn up from the Memoirs ofthe French Missionaries, describes the physical state of the country,the manners, language, government, laws, commerce, &c. of theinhabitants, with great care; a large portion of it, however, isdevoted to an account of the labours of the missionaries.

641. Voyage à la Côte Méridionale d'Afrique,1786-7. Par L. de Grandpiè. Paris, 1802. 2 vols. 8vo.--Muchinformation on the Slave Trade, and a plan for abolishing it, byintroducing civilization and a love of commerce into this part ofAfrica, occupy the greater part of the first volume; the secondvolume, which comprises the Cape of Good Hope, gives details whichwill be found useful to those who navigate and trade in these parts.The manners, &c. of the people are by no means overlooked.

INTERIOR OF AFRICA.

642. Travels in the inland parts of Africa, to which is added,Captain Stubbs's Voyage up the Gambia, in 1723. By Francis Moore,1758. 4to.--1742. 8vo.--This is a valuable work, and introduces thereader to many parts and tribes of Africa, which even yet are littleknown, partly drawn from the accounts of an African prince who cameto England. Of this information, and that collected by CaptainStubbs, Moore, who was superintendant of the African Company'sestablishments in the Gambia, availed himself in drawing up thiswork.

Little additional information respecting the interior of Africawas obtained, till the establishment of the African Association in1788. It is unnecessary to give an individual and particularcharacter of the works which were drawn up under their auspices; thepersons they employed, were, in many respects, in general admirablycalculated for the ardous enterprize, and certainly by their labourshave added not a little to our knowledge of the geography, manners,trade, &c. of this part of Africa. But it is to be regretted,that they were not qualified to investigate the natural history ofthe countries they visited, especially as these must be extremelyrich in all the departments of this branch of science. To thesepreliminary observations and general character, we add the titles ofthe principal travels undertaken under the auspices of the AfricanAssociation.

643. African Association, their Proceedings for prosecuting thediscovery of the interior parts of Africa, containing the Journals ofLedyard, Lucas, Houghton, Horneman, Nicholls, &c. 1810. 2 vols.8vo.

644. Park's Travels in the interior districts of Africa, 1795-97,with geographical illustrations, by Major Rennell, 1799. 4to.

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 ofHorneman's Travels, with notes, and a memoir on the Oases, byLangles. Those notes and memoirs were principally drawn from Arabianauthors; and, together with the rectification of the names of places,render the translation valuable.

646. Jackson's account of Tombuctoo and Housa, with Travelsthrough West and South Barbary, and across the Mountains of Atlas,8vo. 1820.--So long as it is so extremely dangerous and difficult forEuropeans to penetrate into the interior of Africa, we must becontent to derive our information regarding it, from Africans whohave travelled thither; and it is evident that those will be bestcalculated to collect accurate information from them, who areacquainted with their language and character, and who have residedamong them. On these accounts, Mr. Jackson's work is valuable andimportant; the same remarks apply to his Account of Morocco, 1809.4to.

647. Riley's Loss of the Brig Commerce, on the west Coast ofAfrica, 1815. With an account of Tombuctoo and Wassanah, 4to.

648. Adam's Narrative of a Residence in Tombuctoo. 4to. If theseNarratives can be perfectly depended upon, they add considerably toour information respecting the Great Desert and the interior ofAfrica.

649. Sammlung Merkwurdiger Reisen in das innere von Africa, herausgegeben. Von E.W. Kuher. Leips. 1790. 8vo.

650. Descrizione dell' Isola della Madera, scritta nella LinguaLatina dal Conte Julio Laedi, tradotta in volgare da Alemano Fini.Plaisance, 1574. 4to.

651. Histoire de la première Découverte etConquête des Canaries, 1412. Par J. Bethancourt: écritedu temps même. Par P. Bouthier, et J. Leverier. Paris, 1630.12mo.--This curious and rare work, depicts with great fidelity andnaïveté, the manners, opinions, government, religion,&c. that prevailed in the Canaries, when they were firstconquered.

652. Essai sur les Isles Fortunées, et l'Antique Atlantide.Par Borry de Saint Vincent. Paris, 1803. 4to. The author of this workresided for some time in these Islands; and his work, besideshistorical information, bears testimony to his having employed hisresidence in gaining minute information respecting their soil,climate, natural history, and productions; and likewise respectingthe manners, &c. of the inhabitants. There is much learneddiscussion respecting the origin of the Guanches, and interestinginformation regarding their civilization and knowledge.

653. Noticias de la Historia general de las Islas de Canaria. ParD.J. Dariera y Clavigo. Madrid, 1771. 3 vols. 8vo. Borry de SaintVincent, who derived much of his information from this work, justlycharacterizes it as a valuable and accurate performance.

The Islands of Madeira, Teneriffe, St. Jago, &c. are describedin many Voyages to the East Indies, particularly in Barrow's Voyageto 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 tothe East Indies and China, there are many accounts of it and theadjacent country, in the relation of voyages to those parts. Since itcame into the possession of the British, this part of Africa hasfrequently become the ultimate and special object of travellers. Theoldest accounts were published in the Dutch and German languages.

654. Reise Beschriebung, 1660-1667 unter die AfricaniskenVælker 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, originally published inDutch, was abridged and published in French, in 3 vols. 12mo. Fromthis abridgment, an English translation was published in 2 vols. 8vo.in 1738. Both the entire and abridged work have been frequentlypublished. The reason for this popularity and general sale, must besought in Kolben's work, being, for a long time, the only detailedaccount of this part of Africa, and from its enjoying a reputationfor accuracy, which subsequent travellers have destroyed, especiallyDe la Caille, the celebrated astronomer, in the following work.

656. Journal du Voyage fait au Cap de Bonne Espérance.Paris, 1673. 12mo.--This work is well known to astronomers; but italso deserves to be perused by those who wish to detect the errors ofKolben, and by the light which it throws on the manners of theHottentots.

657. Description du Cap de Bonne Espérance. Amsterdam,1778. 8vo.--This work, translated from the Dutch, contains a Journalof Travels into the interior, undertaken by order of the DutchGovernor. The first part gives a short description of the Cape, andthe adjacent districts, which seems drawn from the authority ofKolben, in too many particulars; the second part contains the Journalof the Travels: and it is more full and instructive on objects ofnatural history, than on the customs and manners of the people. Theplates of these are very valuable.

658. Voyage de M. Levaillant, dans l'Intérieur del'Afrique, 1780-85. Paris, 2 vols. 8vo.

659. Second Voyage, 1783-1785. Paris, 3 vols. 8vo.--These Travels,which have been translated into English, possess a wonderful charm inthe narrative, attained, however, too often by the sacrifice of plainand unadorned truth, to the love of romance and effect.Notwithstanding this drawback, Levaillant's Travels are valuable forthe light they throw on the natural history of the South ofAfrica.

660. Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, 1772-1776. By Sparman, 1785.2 vols. 4to.--This work was originally published in Swedish; it isinteresting, not only on account of the valuable information itconveys on natural history, especially botany, and on the manners,&c. of the people, but likewise for the perseverance and zealwith which Sparman, without friends, assistance, and almost withoutpecuniary assistance, forced his way into remote and barbarousdistricts.

661. Barrows Travels into the interior of Southern Africa,1797-1798. 4to. 2 vols. Very few writers of travels have possessedsuch a variety and extent of information, both political andscientific, as Mr. Barrow; hence these volumes are acceptable andinstructive to all classes of readers, and have attained a celebritynot greater than they deserve. In Mr. Barrow's voyage to CochinChina, there is some information respecting the Cape, especially anaccount of a journey to the Booshuana nation. In Thunberg's voyage toJapan, there is also much information on the geography, naturalhistory, manners, &c. of the South of Africa.

662. La Trobe's Journal of a Visit to South Africa, in 1815.4to.

663. Lichtenstein's Travels in Southern Africa, 1803-06. 2 vols.4to.

664. Campbell's Travels in Africa, by order of the MissionarySociety. 2 vols. 8vo.

Additional information may be gleaned from these travels,respecting South Africa; Campbell penetrated farthest, and discoveredsome populous tribes and large towns. La Trobe's is the mostinteresting narrative.

665. Histoire de la Grande Isle de Madagascar. Par du Flacourt.Paris, 1661. 4to.

666. Relation des Premiers Voyages de la Compagnée desIndes, faits en l'Isle de Madagascar. Par de Rennefort. Paris, 1668.16mo.

667. Voyage à l'Isle de France, à l'Isle de Bourbon,&c. Par Bernardin de St. Pierre. Paris, 1773. 8vo.--This work isfull. of accurate and detailed information on the soil, climate,productions, &c. of the Isle of France, and on the manners andmorals of its inhabitants: on the other Island it is lessinstructive.

668. Voyage à l'Isle de Madagascar, et aux IndesOrientates. Par Rochon. Paris, 1791. 8vo.--This work enters intoevery subject relating to this isle and its inhabitants, which can beinteresting and instructive to the naturalist, the politicaleconomist, and the moralist; and the information bears all the marksof accuracy and completeness.

669. Voyages dans les quatre principales Isles des Mers d'AAfrique, 1801-2. Par Borry de Saint Vincent. Paris, 1804. 3 vols.8vo.--The author was chief naturalist in the voyage of discovery,under the command of Captain Baudin. The isles of France and Bourbonare most minutely described in this work; and the isles of Teneriffeand St. Helena in a less detailed manner. The information, as mightbe imagined, relates principally to natural history, on all thebranches of which the author is very full and instructive; he alsoextends his remarks to the soil, climate, agriculture, topography,commerce, manners, &c.

670. Grant's History of Mauritius, or the Isle of France. 1801.4to.--This work is drawn principally from the memoirs of Baron Grant,by his son. The Baron resided nearly twenty years in the island:hence, and from his acquaintance with most of the scientific andnautical men who visited the island, he has been enabled to collectmuch information connected with its physical state, its harbours,climate, soil, productions, and the manners of its inhabitants.

ABYSSINIA, NUBIA, &c.

The most ancient descriptions of these countries are to be foundin the collections of M. Thevenot, and Ramusio, already noticed.

671. Lobos's Voyage to Abyssinia, with fifteen Dissertationsrelating to Abyssinia. By Le Grand. 8vo. 1789.--This account ofAbyssinia during the middle of the seventeenth century, thoughprincipally relating to church affairs, is yet valuable for itsinformation on the government and manners of the people, and curious,as giving indications or descriptions of several animals and birds,the existence of which had been previously doubted.

672. Travels in Abyssinia. By James Barretti. 1670. 8vo.

673. A new History of Ethiopia. By Joseph Ludolphus. fol.1684.--Though Ludolphus did not visit this country, yet his work,originally published in Latin, with a commentary and appendix byhimself, is well worthy of perusal, as it is full of recondite andimportant information on the origin of the Abyssinians, the climate,soil, productions, and the natural history, physical and moral stateof the inhabitants, &c.

674. Bruce's Travels to discover the Source of the Nile. 5 vols.4to. 1790.--Account of his Life and Writings, and additions to hisTravels. By Alex. Murray. 4to. 1808.

675. Observations on Bruce's Travels. By Warton. 1799, 4to.

676. Observations on the authenticity of Bruce's Travels.Newcastle. 1800. 4to. We have added to the title of Bruce's work,those of two works which remarked on its authenticity; there werealso some acute papers on the subject in the Monthly Magazine: theresult of these, and of the researches of subsequent travellers,seems to have established the credit of Bruce generally, though it isnow known he did not reach the source of the real Nile, and that insome descriptions he coloured too highly. After all these drawbacks,however, his Travels are very valuable, and, with the exception ofthe tedious annals of Abyssinia, may be perused with interest andprofit.

677. Salt's Voyage to Abyssinia, and Travels into the interior ofthat country. 1809-10: with an account of the Portuguese Settlementson the east coast of Africa. 4to. 1814.

678. Pearce's true account of the ways and manners of theAbyssinians. (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 itmight have been expected we should have acquired regarding a countryformerly so inaccessible. Mr. Salt's zeal, and opportunities ofinformation and observation, have left little to be desired: and fromMr. Pearce, who resided fourteen years in the country, manyparticulars may be gathered, which only a long residence, and thatintimacy and amalgamation with the natives which Mr. Pearceaccomplished, can furnish accurately, minutely, and fully.

VIII. ASIA.

Several circ*mstances concurred to direct the travels of the darkand middle ages to Asia. Pilgrimages to the Holy Land;--the wish toingratiate the Tartar chiefs, which was naturally felt by theEuropean powers, when the former were advancing towards the westernlimits of Asia; and subsequently, and perhaps consequently, thespirit of commercial enterprise, were amongst the most obvious andinfluential circ*mstances which led to travels into this quarter ofthe world, from the ninth to the fifteenth centuries. Although thetravellers during this period were by no means, in general, qualifiedto investigate the physical peculiarities of the countries theyvisited, and are even meagre, and often inaccurate in detailing whatwas level to their information and capacities, yet, as has beenjustly observed, "there is a simplicity in the old writers, whichdelights us more than the studied compositions of modern travellers;"to say nothing of the interest which the first glimpses of a newlydiscovered country never fail to impart.

We shall therefore annex the titles of the most interesting andinstructive of these travels, which were performed between the ninthand fifteenth centuries, referring such of our readers who wish for amore complete list or fuller information on the subject, to theBibliothèque des Voyages, Vol. I. p. 32., &c.; Murray'sAsiatic Discoveries; the Review of Murray's work in the 48th numberof the Quarterly Review; Forster's Voyages and Discoveries in theNorth; and Collection portative de Voyages. Par C. Langles.

679. Ancient accounts of India and China. By Two MahomedanTravellers in the ninth century; translated from the Arabic by E.Renaudot. 8vo. 1733.--The authenticity of this work is established byM. de Guignes, having found the original in the Royal Library atParis: and the information it contains, though mixed with much thatis fabulous, is very curious and valuable, especially in what relatesto China.

680. Voyages faites principalement dans les 12, 13, 14, and 15siècles, par Benjamin de Tudela, Carpin, Ancilin, Rubruquis,Marco Polo, Haiton, Mandeville, et Contarini; publiés par P.Bergerin, avec des Cartes Géographiques. La Haye, 1735. 2vols. 4to.

This is a valuable collection, except so far as regards MarcoPolos' Travels, the translation of which is neither elegant norfaithful. The most elaborate and instructive edition of thisexcellent traveller is the following:

681. Marco Polos' Travels, translated from the Italian, withnotes. By W. Marsden. 4to. 1818.--"The reproach of dealing too muchin the marvellous, which had been attached to the name of Marco Polo,was gradually wearing away, as later experience continued toelucidate his veracity; but Mr. Marsden (who has rendered a specialservice to literature by his elegant and faithful translation ofthese remarkable travels,) has completely rescued his memory from allstain on that score, and proved him to be not only an accurateobserver, but a faithful reporter of what he saw, and what he learnedfrom others."--(Quarterly Review, No. 48. page 325.)

682. Marco Polo Reisen en der Orient, 1272-1295. 8vo. Ronneburgh,1802.--This translation is accompanied by a learned commentary by theEditor, F.B. Peregrin.

683. Sauveboeuf, Mémoires des ses Voyages en Turque, enPerse, et en Arabic. 2 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1807.

VOYAGES AND TRAVELS IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF ASIA.

684. Voyages célèbres et remarquables, faits dePerse aux Indes Orientates. Par J.A. De Mandeso. Amsterdam, folio,1727.--This work, originally published in German, exhibits a curiouspicture of Indostan, the Mogul empire, Siam, Japan, China, &c.,as they existed in the seventeenth century.

685. Les Voyages et Missions de P. Alex. de Rhodes. Paris, 1682.4to.--This is one of the most valuable of the missionary travels inAsia, comprising Goa, Malacca, Macao, Cochin China, Tonkin,&c.

686. Amenitatum exoticarum fasciculi. Autore E. Koempfer. Lemgo,1712. 4to.--This work relates principally to Persia, and theeasternmost parts of Asia: M. Langles justly characterizes it as arich mine of information of all kinds respecting this portion of theworld.

687. Samlung der murkwurdigsten Reisen in den Orient. Von E.Panlus. Jena, 1792-1798. 10 vols. 8vo.--This collection contains manyscarce and curious articles, and is illustrated by learned andjudicious notes.

688. Asiatic Researches. 12 vols. 8vo. 1801. 1818.--Though many ofthe articles in this valuable work do not strictly and immediatelycome under the description of travels, yet even these are soessentially necessary to a full acquaintance with the mostinteresting parts of Asia, that we have deemed it proper to insertthe title of this work. A valuable translation of most of the volumeshas been published in Paris, enriched by the oriental literature ofM. Langles; the astronomical and physical knowledge of M. Delambre;and the natural history knowledge of Cuvier, Lamark, and Olivier.

689. De la Roque, Voyage de Syrie et du Mont Liban. 2 vols. 12mo.Paris, 1722.

690. Voyage de l'Arabie heureuse par l'Océan Oriental.12mo. Paris, 1716.

691. Voyage de M. d'Arvieux dans la Palestine, avec Description del'Arabie, par Abulfeda. Mémoires du Chevalier d'Arvieux,contenant ses Voyages à Constantinople, dans l'Asie, laPalestine, l'Egypte, la Barbarie, &c. Paris, 6 vols. 12mo.1735.--These are all valuable works, containing much and accurateinformation on almost every topic of physical, statistical,commercial, political and moral geography; the result of longpersonal observation, enquiry, and experience. The travels of laRoque into Arabia are particularly full respecting the history ofcoffee in Asia and Europe. The Voyage de M. d'Arvieux was publishedseparately from his Mémoires, and previously to it, by laRoque, and is very interesting not only from the simplicity of itsstyle and manner, but also from the vivid picture which it exhibitsof the Bedouins.

692. Voyage en Syrie et en Egypte, 1783-1785. Par Volney. Paris,1800. 2 vols. 8vo.--The character of this work, of which there is anEnglish translation, is too well known to be insisted upon here. Whatrelates to Syria is the most detailed and important, and has beenless superseded by subsequent travellers.

693. A Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, in 1697. By H.Maundrel.

694. The Natural History of Aleppo, and parts adjacent. By Alex.Rumel. 2 vols. 4to. 1794.--This excellent work was translated intoGerman by Gmelin, with valuable annotations.

695. Mariti's Travels through Cyprus, Syria, and Palestine. 3vols. 8vo.--The original work in Italian consists of 5 volumes. Onall that relates to Cyprus, this work is particularly interesting andfull; there is also much information regarding it in Sonnini'sTravels.

696. Kinnear's Journey though Asia Minor, Armenia, and Koordestan,1812-14. 8vo.--This work will be particularly interesting to thosewho wish to trace the marches of Alexander, and the retreat of theten thousand, on which points of history Mr. Kinnear has made somejudicious remarks.

697. Beaufort's Karamania. 1818. 8vo.--A valuable addition to themaritime geography and antiquities of a part of Asia Minor not oftendescribed.

698. Reisebescriebung von Arabien. Von C. Niebuhr. Copenhagen,1772. 4to.

699. Reisebescriebung nach Arabien. Von C. Niebuhr. Copenhagen1774-1778. 2 vols. 4to.

700. Recueil des Questions proposées à unesociété des Savans, qui, par ordre de S.M. Danoise,font le Voyage de l'Arabie. Par M. Michaelis. Frankfort, 1753.4to.

701. Pet. Forskal Descriptiones Animalium, Avium, &c. &c.in Itinere Orientale observatorum. Hafnioe, 1775. 4to.

702. Pet. Forskal Icones rerum naturalium, quas in Itinere Orient,depingi curavit. Hafnioe, 1776. 4to.--Every thing preparatory to, andconnected with the travels of Niebuhr and his associate, wasjudiciously and well planned and executed: the selection of Michaelisto draw up the enquiries and observations to be made; those heactually proposed: and the learned men sent out, who wererespectively conversant in physics, natural history, geography, andthe connected and auxiliary branches of science. Hence resulted mostadmirable works on Arabia: those of Niebuhr, together with Michaelis,have been translated into French, in 4 vols. 4to. The Englishtranslation, besides omitting the most valuable and scientific parts,is, in other respects, totally unworthy of the original.

703. Il Viaggio dell Ambrosio Contarini, Ambasciatore dellaSigniora di Venetia, al Uxam Cassan, Re de Persia. Ven. 1543,12mo.

704. Relacion de Don Juan de Persia, en III Libros. Vallad. 1604.4to.

705. Chardin, Voyages en Persie, et autres lieux de l'Orient.Amsterd. 3 vols. 4to. 1711.--It may justly be said of these travels,that by means of them, Persia was made better known in every thingrelating 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 moreto be depended upon than Chardin.

706. Tavernier, Voyages en Turquie, en Perse, et aux Indes. 6Vols. 12mo. Rouen, 1713.--The credit of this traveller, which hadbeen for some time suspected, is recovering itself since it has beenascertained that many points in which he was supposed to have beeninaccurate or credulous, are well founded. As his object wascommercial, especially for the purchase of diamonds, his travels maybe consulted with advantage on the subject of the diamond mines, thetraffic in these precious stones, and the various monies of Asia, andother topics not to be found in other travellers.

707. Observations made on a Tour from Bengal to Persia. By W.Franklin. 1790. 8vo.--The most original and valuable portion of thiswork relates to Persia, especially the province of Farsistan; itcontains also much information respecting Goa, Bombay, &c., M.Langles translated it into French, and added a learned memoir onPersepolis.

The same orientalist, M. Langles, has added to the value andinterest of his translation of G. Forster's Journey from Bengal toEngland, by his judicious and instructive notes.

708. Waring's Tour to Sheeraz. 1807. 4to.--This work is chieflyconfined to the manners, laws, religion, language, and literature ofthe Persians; on all of which it is instructive and interesting.

709. Morier's Two Journeys through Persia, Armenia, and AsiaMinor. 1808-1816. 2 vols. 4to.--The opportunities which M. Morierpossessed from his residence in Persia being much superior to thoseof a mere traveller, his work is justly regarded as one of authorityon the civil, political, domestic, and commercial circ*mstances ofthe Persians.

710. Sir W. Ousely's Travels in Persia. 1810-12. 4to.--Theconnexion between England and Persia, formed, or rather strengthened,in consequence of the vicinity of our East India possessions to thatcountry, has much extended our knowledge of it, and this work hascontributed not a little to that knowledge.

711. Kotzebue's Narrative of a Journey into Persia, in the Suiteof the Imperial Embassy, in 1817. 8vo.--It is always desirable tohave travels performed in the same country, especially if it be oneremote and little known, by persons of different nations: thus,different views of the same circ*mstances are given, and the truth iselicited. These travels are interesting in this and other points ofview.

712. Ker Porter's Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia, AncientBabylonia, &c. 2. vols. 4to.--A severer judgment, by suppressingmuch that is minute and uninteresting, and dwelling more on importantmatters, and a knowledge of natural history, would have enhanced thevalue of these travels, which, however, are much more creditable tothe author than his Travels in Russia.

713. Reise in den Kaukasies und nach Georgien, 1807-8. 2 vols.8vo. Halle, 1812.--These travels were undertaken by command of theRussian government, and are similar in design to those of Pallas;there is an English translation, but it is indifferentlyexecuted.

714. Reisen nach Georgien und Imerethi. Von J.A. Guldenstadt. 8vo.Berlin, 1813.--This work is edited by Klaproth, and is chieflymineralogical.

715. Lettres sur la Caucase et la Georgie, et un Voyage en Perseen 1812. 8vo.

THE EAST INDIES.

The histories of the discoveries and conquests of the Portuguesein the East Indies are interspersed with various and numerousparticulars regarding the political state of that country, and themanners, customs, religion, &c. of the inhabitants. The followingFrench work is valuable in this respect.

716. Histoire de Portugal; contenant les Entreprises, &c. desPortugais, tant en la Conquête des Indes Orientales par euxdécouvertes, qu'en Guerres d'Afrique et autres Exploits:nouvellement mise en Français. Par S. Goullard. Paris, 1581.4to.

717. Navigatio et Itinerarium in Orientalem Indiam, &c. AutoreJoanne Linschot. Amsterd. 1614. folio.

718. Premier Livre de l'Histoire de la Navigation aux IndesOrientales, par les Hollandois. Amsterd, folio, 1558.

719. Le Second Livre. Amsterd. 1609, folio.

720. Relatio de Rebus in India Orientale, a Patribus. Soc. Jesu.1598-1599, peractis, Mayence, 1601. 8vo.--The preceding works give aninteresting picture of the East Indies during the 16th century.

721. Beschrievyng van oude niewe Ostinden. Von. F. Valyntyn.Amster. 1724-1726. 8 vol. fol.--This work appears to be little known,except in Holland; the author resided upwards of twenty years inIndia, and has most industriously, though not always with a goodtaste, or scrupulous judgment, collected much minute information onits natural, civil, and religious state.

722. Alex. Hamilton's Account of the East Indies, 2 vols. 8vo.1744.

723. Grose'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 supposedwork of Zoroaster, an account of his travels in the East Indies, inwhich there is much valuable information, especially on antiquariansubjects. The Germans have translated and published separately, thispart of M. Anquetil's work.

725. Voyages dans les Mers de l'Inde. Par M. Legentil, 1781. 5vols. 8vo.--M. Legentil's object was to observe the transit of Venus,in 1761 and 1769. His work, besides entering into the subject ofIndian astronomy, gives many important details on antiquities andnatural history.

726. Description Historique et Geographique de l'Inde. Par J.Tieffenthaler. Recherches Historiques et Geographiques sur l'Inde.Par Anquetil du Perrin. Publiées par J. Bernouilli. Berlin,1785. 3 vols. 4to.--The most curious and original portion of thiswork is that which relates to the Seiks, by the missionaryTieffenthaler.

727. Forrest's Voyage from Calcutta to the Menguy Archipelago,1792. 2 vols. 4to.--This work is justly of great authority, for itsdetails in maritime geography,

728. Stavorinus's Voyages to the East Indies, comprising anaccount of all the possessions of the Dutch in India, and at the Capeof 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, in1805, by Anquetil du Perrin, in 3 Vols. 8vo. There are few workswhich throw more light than this does, on the religious antiquitiesof India.

730. Rennel's Memoir of a Map of Indostan. 2 Vols. 4to. 1793.--Forgeographical research, this work justly bears the highestcharacter.

Particular parts of the East Indies are specially described in thefollowing works:

731. Nouvelle Relation d'un Voyage fait aux Indes Orientales. ParM. Dellen. Amsterd. 1699. 12mo.---Malabar, Calecut, and Goa, areparticularly noticed by this author, who, being a medical man, isfull and instructive on the poisonous animals, and the diseases.

732. Voyage de Francois Bernier, contenant la Description desEtats du Grand Mogul. Amsterd. 1725. 2 Vols. 12mo.--This author wasalso a medical man, and from that circ*mstance obtained favour fromthe Mogul, and an opportunity of visiting parts of Asia, at that timelittle known, particularly Cachemere, of which he gives a full andinteresting description.

733. Voyage aux Indes Orientales, 1802-6, revu et augmentéde notes. Par Sonnini. 2 Vols. 8vo. Paris, 1810.--The notes bySonnini sufficiently point out the nature and character of thiswork.

734. Voyage dans la Peninsule Occidentale de l'Inde, et dansl'Isle de Ceylon. 2 Vols. 8vo. Paris, 1811.--This work is translatedfrom the Dutch of Haafner; and as latterly few, except the English,have published accounts of India, it is for this reasoninteresting.

735. A Journey from Madras, through Mysore, Canara, and Malabar.By F. Buchanan. 1811, 4to.--Much information, not well arranged oragreeably communicated, on the most valuable productions of thesedistricts, on their climate, manufactures, and the manners, religion,&c. of their inhabitants.

736. Heyne's Tracts, historical and statistical, on India; withJournals of several Tours: and an account of Sumatra. 1814, 4to. Awork not so well known, as from its information, particularlystatistical, it deserves to be.

737. Forbes's Oriental Memoirs. 1813, 4 Vols. 4to.--It is to beregretted that this very splendid and expensive work was notpublished in a cheaper form, as it abounds in most striking picturesof the manners, customs, &c. of India.

738. Major Symes's Account of an Embassy to the Kingdom of Ava, in1795. 4to 1800--Little was known in Europe respecting Pegu and Avabefore the travels of Hunter, and Loset and Erkelskrom werepublished; these travels, translated respectively from the Englishand German, were published together in Paris, in 1793. From these,and Major Symes's works, much may be gathered respecting the manners,religion, and government of the inhabitants of this part of Asia; butunfortunately, these travellers do not instruct us on the topics ofnatural history. We are indebted for most that we know respectingSiam, to a notion that was put into Louis XIV.'s mind, that the Kingof Siam was desirous of becoming a convert to Christianity. Underthis idea, Louis sent an embassy and missionaries, from whomproceeded the following works: in which, allowing for a littleexaggeration, in order to flatter the vanity of the French monarch,there is a deal of curious and valuable information of all kinds.

739. Premier Voyage de Siam des P.P. Jésuites.Redigé par Tachard.--Second Voyage du P. Tachard, Paris,1686-89. 2 Vols. 12mo.

740. Histoire Naturelle et Civile de Siam. Par Gervaise. Paris,1688, 4to.

741. Description du Royaume de Siam. Par M. de la Loubere,Envoyé Extraordinaire du Roi auprès du Roi de Siam.Amsterd. 1714. 2 Vols. 12mo.

742. Barrow's Voyage to Cochin China, 1792-93. 4to. 1806. This isperhaps the most valuable of Mr. Barrow's works, as it relates to acountry not previously known, except by the accounts of themissionaries, and which has been scarcely visited since Mr. Barrow'stime.

743. Relation Nouvelle et Curieuse du Royaume de Tonquin, et deLaos. Traduite de l'Italien du P. de Marini. Paris, 1666, 4to. Thiswork 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 themanners, religion, &c. of the inhabitants,

744. Histoire Naturelle et Civile du Tonquin. Par l'AbbéRichard. Paris, 1788. 2 Vols. 12mo.--The first volume of this work,which describes Tonquin and its inhabitants, is drawn from theaccounts of the missionary St. Phalte, and from other sources, withconsiderable neatness and judgment; the second volume is confined toa history of the missions thither.

745. Exposé Statistique du Tunkin. London, 2 Vols. 8vo.1811. This work is drawn up from the papers of M. de la Bessachere,who resided 18 years in Tunkin; and it is rich in new and curiousinformation on the physical properties of the country, and thenational character.

746. Letters on the Nicobar Islands. By the Rev C.G. Haensel,Missionary of the United Brethren. 1812. 8vo.--This short account iswritten with great simplicity and appearance of truth, and conveysmuch information on the inhabitants, as well as the soil, climate,&c. of these islands.

747. A Description of Prince of Wales Island. By Sir Home Popham.1806, 8vo.

748. Sir George Leith's Account of the Settlement, Produce, andCommerce of Prince of Wales Island. 8vo. 1805.

INDIAN ISLANDS.

749. Historical Relation of Ceylon. By Robert Knox. 1681.folio.--This work, though published so long ago, and by one who was aprisoner, still retains its character, as the fullest and mostinteresting account of the inhabitants of Ceylon in the Englishlanguage. The voluminous work of Valyntyn, in Dutch, which we havealready noticed, may be advantageously consulted on this island, aswell 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 ismerely personal, contains some curious notices on Ceylon and itsinhabitants. To the English translation is appended an account byErkelskrom, which is valuable, as describing the island at the periodwhen it passed from the Dutch to the English.

751. Davy's Account of the Interior of Ceylon. 1821, 4to.--This isan excellent work, though like many other works of excellence, toobulky; its chief and peculiar merit and recommendation consist in itsdetails on the natural history of Ceylon.

752. Marsden's History of Sumatra. 1783. 4to.--This is a mostexcellent work in the plan and execution, embracing almost everytopic connected with the island and its inhabitants.

753. Voyage to the Isle of Borneo. By Capt. Beckman. 1718,8vo.--Of this large island, so little known, this volume, and anarticle inserted in the Transactions of the Batavian Society of Java,gives us many interesting particulars; there are also some notices ofit in Forrest's Voyage.

754. The Narrative of Captain Woodward, with a Description of theIsland of Celebes. 1804, 8vo.--Woodward was an American captain whowas taken prisoner by the Malays of Celebes: this work is the resultof his observations and experience during his captivity; but it isconfined to the western division of the isle: of this, however, itgives many particulars, respecting the produce, animals, inhabitants,&c. Stavorinus's works may also be consulted regardingCelebes.

755. Crawfurd's History of the Indian Archipelago. 1820. 3 vols.8vo.--This is a valuable work, particularly in what relates to theactual commerce and commercial capabilities of these islands: it alsotreats of the manners, religion, language, &c. of theinhabitants; but on some of these points not with the soundestjudgment, or the most accurate information.

756. Raffles's History of Java. 1817. 2 vols. 4to.--Had this workbeen compressed into a smaller compass, by a judicious abridgment ofthe historical part, its value as well as interest would have beenenhanced; these, however, are not small, as it gives by far thefullest and most accurate account of Java, and its inhabitants, thathas appeared; and as the author, from his residence and high officialsituation, possessed every advantage, its accuracy may be dependedon. When the natural history illustrations of Java, by Mr. Horsfield,are completed, they will, in conjunction with this work, and theTransactions of the Batavian Society, leave nothing to be desired onthe subject of this part of Asia.

757. E. Koempfer's Geschichte und Beschriebung von Japan. Lemgo,1777-79. 2 vols. 4to.--This edition of Koempfer's celebrated work onJapan contains several things which are not to be found in theEnglish translation.

758. Histoire du Japan. Par Charlevoix. Paris, 1754, 6 vols.12mo.--This is the best edition of Charlevoix's work, many parts ofwhich, especially what relates to natural history, are drawn fromKoempfer. Charlevoix has added important details on theadministration of justice in Japan, and on the moral character of theJapanese; but the bulk of the work is swelled by tiresomeecclesiastical details.

759. Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa. By Thunberg. 1794, 4vols. 8vo.--This work relates principally to Japan; and it may justlybe remarked, that few parts of the world have met with sucn admirabledescribers as Japan has done, in Koempfer and Thunberg. Certainly thenatural history of no part, so rich in this respect, has been sofully and scientifically investigated. A French translation of thiswork was published in Paris in 1796, in 2 vols. 4to. enriched by thenotes of Langles and La Marck.

760. Golownin's Narrative of his Captivity in Japan, 1811-13. 2vols. 8vo.--Japan is a country so little accessible, that every workon it is acceptable. This work does not add very much to whatKoempfer and Thunberg have told, but perhaps quite as much as theauthor, under his circ*mstances, could collect or observe. The sameremarks 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 Frenchlanguages, towards the end of the sixteenth, and the beginning of theseventeenth century, is interspersed with some curious and valuableinformation regarding these countries; the titles and character ofthe principal of these may be found in the Bibliothèque, vol.5. p. 264, 272, &c.

761. Voyage to China and the East Indies, by Rel. Osbeck; with aVoyage to Surat, by Torreens; and an Account of the ChineseHusbandry, by Ekelberg. Translated from the German by J.R. Forster.To which is added a Fauna et Flora Sinensis. 1777, 2 vols.8vo.--Travels, embracing scientific natural history, by competentpersons, are so rare and valuable, that the titles of such should notbe omitted: the nature of this work is sufficiently indicated by thetitle, and its merit by its having been translated by Forster.

762. Sonnerat, Voyage aux Indes Orientals et à laChiné, 1774. 1781. Paris, 1806. 4 vols. 8vo.--This work isparticularly full and minute on the theography of the Hindoos:besides the East Indies and China, it embraces Pegu, the Cape of GoodHope, Ceylon, Malacca, &c. A translation of part of it intoEnglish was printed at Calcutta.

763. Nouvelles Mémoires sur l'État present de laChine. Par Le Comte. Paris, 1701, 3 vols. 12mo--The best account ofChina previous to Duhalde's work, though in many particularsextremely partial to the Chinese.

764. Mémoires concernant l'Histoire, les Sciences, et lesArts des Chinois. Par les Missionaires de Pekin. Paris, 1775, &c.15 vols. 4to.--In this voluminous work is contained a wonderful dealof information on China; the continuation of the work was put a stopto by the French Revolution: it is by far the best the Jesuits haveproduced on China; and if there are materials for perfecting it, theyought to be given to the public.

765. Description Geographique, Historique, Chronologique,Politique, et Physique de la Chiné et de Tartarie Chinoise.Par Duhalde. Le Hague, 1736, 4 vols. 4to.--Of this work there is anEnglish translation. Duhalde has drawn his materials from a varietyof sources, especially from the printed and manuscript accounts ofthe missionaries; but he has failed to exercise a sound judgment, anda scrupulous examination into the truth of many facts and opinionswhich he has admitted into his work.

But though the public are certainly much indebted to themissionaries for the information they have given respecting thissingular country, yet there are obvious circ*mstances which renderedtheir accounts suspicious in some points, and defective in others, sothat the publication of the accounts of the Dutch and BritishEmbassies added much to our stock of accurate knowledge regardingChina. The following is the title of the French translation of partof the Dutch Embassy:

766. Voyage de la Campagne des Indes Orientales vers l'Empire dela Chiné, 1794-5. Tiré du Journal de Van Braam.Philadelphe. 1797, 4to.--There is also an English translation.

767. Sir George Staunton's Account of the Embassy of the Earl ofMacartney to China. 2 vols. 4to. 1797.

768. John Barrow's Travels to China. 4to. 1804.

These works, especially the latter, together with Lord Macartney'sown journal in the second volume of his life, contain a deal ofinformation, considering the jealousy of the Chinese; some additions,corrections, and different views of the same circ*mstances, as wellas a further insight into the manners of the Chinese, as indicated bytheir conduct, will be found in the two following works which relateto the Embassy of Lord Amherst. The first is by the naturalist to theEmbassy.

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 toChina. 4to.

771. Relation du Naufrage sur la Côte de l'Isle deQuælpeart, avec la Description de Coree. Paris, 1670,12mo.--This work, translated from the Dutch, besides the interestwhich personal adventures in a foreign country, and under unusualcirc*mstances, always inspires, gives much information regarding themanners of the inhabitants, and the ceremonies, &c. of the courtof Corea,--a part of Asia very little known.

772. Captain Hall's Voyage of Discovery to the West Coast ofCorea, and the Great Loo-choo Island. 4to.--A work not less valuablefor its maritime geography and science, than for the pleasinginterest which it excites on behalf of the natives of Loo-choo, andthe favourable impression it leaves of Captain Hall, his officers andseamen.

TARTARY, &c.

773. Noord-Oost Tartarie. Par Nic. Witsen. Amsterd. 1705, 2 vols.folio.--Forster, an excellent and seldom too favourable a judge,speaks highly of this work.

774. Nomadische Streifereisen unter den Kalmuken. Von B. Borgman.Riga, 1805-6, 4 vols. 8vo.--The author of this work resided some timewith the Kalmucks, at the command of the Emperor of Russia; and heseems to have employed his time well, in gaining informationrespecting the past and present state of their country, and theirmanners, intellectual, moral, and religious state.

THIBET, &c.

775. Antonio de Andrada novo Descubrimento de Grao Catayo ou dosRegnos de Tibet. Lisbon, 1626, 4to.--This work has been translatedinto French, Italian, Flemish, and Spanish; it contains the narrativeof the first passage of the Himalaya Mountains. (See QuarterlyReview, No. 48. page 337, &c.)

776. Turner's Account of an Embassy to the Court of the TeeshoLama, in Thibet. 1800, 4to.--This work is full of information andinterest: it relates to the soil, climate, and produce of Thibet; themoral character, and especially the singular religion of theinhabitants, and their institutions, manufactures, disorders,&c.

777. Kirkpatrick's Account of Nepaul in 1793. 4to.--This is one ofthe best accessions to our information respecting this part of Asiawhich has been produced by our establishments in India.

778. Account of the Kingdom of Nepaul. By Francis Hamilton,(formerly Buchanan). 1819, 4to.--The same character applies to thisas to the other work by the same author.

779. Fraser's Journal of a Tour through part of the Snowy Ridge ofthe Himalaya Mountains. 1820. 4to.--Notwithstanding Mr. Fraser'signorance of natural history, in a country quite new, and full ofmost interesting objects in this science, and that he had no means ofmeasuring heights, or ascertaining the temperature or pressure of theair; and notwithstanding a want of method, and a heaviness andprolixity in the style, this book possesses great interest, from thescenes of nature and pictures of manners which it exhibits.

780. Elphinstone's Account of Caubul and its Dependencies. 1815.4to.--The interest and value of this work arises more from thesubject of it, than from the manner in which it is executed;respecting such countries, however, as Caubul, and others as littleknown and remote, we are glad of all accessions of information.

ASIATIC RUSSIA.

781. Reisen durch Siberien, 1733-1743. Von J.G. Gmelin. Gott. 4vols. 8vo.--This work is worthy of the name which it bears: it isfull and particular on the physical and moral geography of Siberia,but especially on its mines and iron foundries.

782. Voyage en Siberie, 1761. Par Chappe d'Auteroche. Paris, 1768.3 vols. 4-to.--This work gave rise to a severe attack on it, underthe title of Antidote. D'Auteroche's object on his travels wasprincipally scientific, but he has entered fully into the characterof the inhabitants, and especially those of the capital, and into thecharacter, and intellectual and moral state of the Russians ingeneral.

783. Relation d'un Voyage aux Monts d'Altai en Siberie, 1781. ParPatrin. Peters. 1785, 8vo.--Mineralogical.

784. Recherches Historiques sur les Principales NationsÉtablies en Siberie. Paris, 1801. 8vo.--This work, translatedfrom the Russian of Fischer, displays a great deal of research, andis not unworthy of an author who imitated Pallas, Gmelin,Müller, &c.

785. Recherches sur les Principales Nations en Siberie. Traduit duRusse de Stollenweck. 8vo.

786. Description de Kamschatcha. Par Krascheninnikof. Amsterd.1770. 2 vols. 8vo.--The soil, climate, productions, minerals, furs,habitations, manners, employments, religious ceremonies and opinions,&c., and even the dialect spoken in different parts, are heretreated of.

787. Journal Historique du Voyage de M. Lesseps. Paris, 1790. 2vols. 8vo.--Lesseps sailed with Le Peyrouse, but left him inKamschatcha, and travelled by land to France with despatches fromhim; his narrative gives a lively picture of the inhabitants of thenorthern parts of Asiatic and European Russia. The work has beentranslated into English; there is also a German translation byForster.

788. Sauer's Account of Billing's Geographical and AstronomicalExpedition to the Northern Parts of Russia, 1785-94. 4to.--An accountof this expedition was also published in Russian by CaptainSaretschewya, one of the officers engaged in it. Parts of thecontinent, and islands and seas little known, are described in thesetwo works, but they are deficient in natural history.

789. Holderness's Notes relating to the Manners and Customs of theCrim Tartars. 1823. 8vo.--Mrs. Holderness resided four years in theCrimea, and she seems to have employed her time well, having producedan instructive book on the manners, domestic life, &c., not onlyof the Crim Tartars, but likewise of the various colonists of theCrimea.

IX. AMERICA.

Those works which relate to the discovery of America, derive theirinterest rather from their historical nature than from the insightthey give into the physical and moral state of this portion of theglobe. In one important particular; America differs from all theother quarters of the world, very early travels in Asia or Africaunfold 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 havedisappeared.

Referring therefore our readers to the historians of the discoveryand conquest of America, and to the Bibliothèque des Voyages,for the titles and nature of those works which detail the voyages ofColumbus, Vespucius, &c., we shall confine ourselves chiefly tosuch works as enter more fully into a description of the country andits colonized inhabitants.

790. Journal des Observations Physiques, Mathematiques, etBotaniques, faites par le P. Feuillée, sur les Côtes del'Amerique Méridionale et dans les Indes Occidentales. Paris,1714. 2 vols. 4to.

791. Suite du Journal. Paris, 1715. 4to.--Excellent works on thesubjects indicated in the title.

792. Notizias Americanas sobre las America Meridionel y laSeptentrionel- Oriental. Par Don Ant. de Ulloa. Madrid, 1772.4to.--This work, which must not be confounded with the conjoint workof Ulloa and Juan, is rich in valuable matter, physical, political,and moral; it was translated into German by M. Diez, Professor ofNatural History at Gottingen, who has added learned and judiciousobservations.

793 Voyages intéressans dans differentes ColoniesFrançaises, Espagnoles, Anglaise. Paris, 1788. 8vo.--The mostoriginal and interesting portions of this work relate to Porto Rico,Curaçoa, Granada, the Bermudas, &c.; there are alsovaluable remarks on the climate and diseases of St. Domingo.

794. Catesby's Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and theBahama Islands. 1734-43. 2 vols. folio.

795. Appendix to ditto. 1748. folio.--The celebrated naturalist,George Edwards, published an edition of this splendid work, with theappendix, in Latin and French, in 2 vols. folio. 1764-71.

796. Peter Kalm's Travels in North America, translated by R.Forster. 1772. 2 vols. 8vo.--Chiefly geological and mineralogical; inother respects not interesting.

797. Adair's History of the American Indians. 1775. 4to.--Thespeculations of this writer are abundantly absurd; but there areinterspersed some curious notices of the Indians, collected by theauthor, while he resided and traded with them.

798. Travels through Carolina, Georgia, Florida, &c. By W.Bertram. 1792. 2 vols. 8vo.--A most interesting work to lovers ofnatural history, especially botany, a study to which Bertram wasenthusiastically attached. There is an account of Mr. Bertram in theAmerican Farmer's Letters.

799. An Account of the Countries adjoining to Hudson's Bay. By Ar.Dobbs. 1744. 12mo.

800. The State of Hudson's Bay. By Ed. Humphraville. 1790.8vo.

801. Account of Prince of Wales Island, in the Gulph of St.Lawrence. By J. Stewart. 1808. 8vo.--A good deal of information onthe soil, agriculture, productions, climate, &c.: the zoologyimperfect.

802. Hall's Travels in Canada and the United States, 1816-17.8vo.

802. Howison's Sketches of Upper Canada. 8vo. 1821.

Hall's is a pleasant and lively work, unfolding many of thepeculiarities of the manners, customs, &c., of Canada and theadjacent parts of the United States. Howison's is the work of anabler man: it is rich in valuable information to emigrants; and is,moreover, highly descriptive of scenery and manners. The partrelative to the United States is superficial.

804. Collection des Plusieures Relations du Canada, 1632-1672. 43vols. 12mo.

805. Charlevoix's Travels in North America, translated from theFrench. 1772. 2 Vols. 4to.--The physical and moral state of theinhabitants are the principal objects of this work.

806. Carver's Travels through the Interior Parts of North America,1766-68. 8vo.--There is much information in this work respecting thatpart of America, which has lately attracted so much attention fromits vicinity to the supposed north-west passage; it is in all otherrespects, except natural history, an interesting and instructivework.

807. Long's Voyage and Travels of an Indian Interpreter. 1774. 3vols. 4to. Volney characterizes this work as exhibiting a mostfaithful picture of the life and manners of the Indians and Canadiantraders.

808. Weld's Travels through North America, 1795-7. 2 vols.8vo.--Travels in the United States derive their interest and valuefrom a variety of sources: the inhabitants of these states undertheir government, and the peculiar circ*mstances in which they areplaced, must be a subject of deep attention and study to themoralist, the philosopher, the politician, and the politicaleconomist, while the country itself presents to the naturalist manyand various sources of information and acquisitions to his knowledge.The travels of Mr. Weld, and most of those which we shall have toenumerate, were undertaken for the purpose of ascertaining whatadvantages and disadvantages an emigrant would derive from exchangingEurope for America. Thus led to travel from the principal motive ofself-interest, it might be imagined that these travellers wouldexamine every thing carefully, fully, most minutely, and impartially:in all modes except the last, it has certainly been done by severaltravellers; but great caution must be used in reading all travels inthe United States, because the picture drawn of them is too oftenovercharged, either with good or evil. Mr, Weld's is a respectablework; and like all travels, even a few years back, in a country sorapidly changing and improving, from this cause as well as itsinformation on statistics, toil, climate, morals, manners, &c.may be consulted with advantage. It is to be regretted that he, aswell as most other travellers in America, was not better preparedwith a scientific knowledge of natural history. Canada, as well asthe United States, is comprized in Mr. Weld's travels.

809. Mellish's Travels through the United States of America,1816-17. 2 vols. 8vo.--This is perhaps as impartial and judicious anaccount of the United States as any that has lately appeared.

810. Lettres d'un Cultivateur Americain, 1770-86. Par M. St. Johnde Crevecoeur. Paris, 1787. 3 vols. 8vo.--We give the French editionof this work in preference to the English, because it is much fuller.This work of a Frenchman, long settled in the Anglo-Americancolonies, gives, in an animated and pleasing manner, much informationon the manners of America at this period, the habits and occupationsof the new settlers, and on the subject of natural history.

811. Voyages dans les États Unis, 1784. Par J.F.D. Smith.Paris, 1791. 2 vols. 8vo.--Virginia, Maryland, the two Carolinas, andLouisiana, parts of North America, not so often visited by travellersas the northern states, are here described with considerable talent,and in a pleasing style. We are not acquainted with the English work,of which this professes to be a translation.

812. Nouveau Voyage dans les États Unis, 1788. Par Brissot.Paris, 3 vols. 8vo.--Statistics, religion, manners, politicaleconomy, agriculture, commerce, manufactures, the arts and sciences,are here treated of in a sensible, but rather an uninterestingmanner.

813. La Rochefoucault's Travels to the United States of America,1799. 2 vols. 4to.--Agriculture, statistics, manufactures, commerce,national and domestic habits, form the chief topic of these volumes,which, allowing for some prejudices, present a fair picture ofAmerica at this period.

814. Tableau du Climat et du Sol des États Unis. Par C.F.Volney. 1803. 2 vols. 8vo.--Though physical geography and statisticsform the principal portion of this valuable work, yet it is by nomeans uninstructive on the subject of national and domesticcharacter; and it enters fully into the condition of savage life.

Particular histories and descriptions have been published ofseveral of the United States; we shall merely notice such as are theresult of personal observation, and as give interesting andinstructive information respecting their past or present state.

815. Belknap's History of New Hampshire, 1792. Boston, 3 vols.8vo.--The two first volumes are historical, but many things in themare instructive to those who wish to trace the formation ofcharacter: the third volume relates to climate, soil,produce,&c.

816. The History of Virginia, by a Native and Inhabitant of theplace. R.B. Beverley. 1722. 8vo.--The first part is purelyhistorical; in the second, the author gives an account of theproductions of the country; the third relates to the manners, &c.of the Indians; the fourth is political. There are, besides, manypertinent remarks on the physical geography of Virginia, and on itsclimate and diseases.

817. Notes on Virginia. By Thos. Jefferson. 1788. 8vo.--Politics,commerce, manufactures, and navigation, are here treated of in asatisfactory and instructive manner, but with rather too much the airof philosophy.

818. Michaux's Travels to the West of the Alleghany Mountains.1805. 8vo.--These travels are instructive regarding the manners,commerce, soil, climate, and especially botany.

819. Lewis and Clarke's Travels up the Missouri to the PacificOcean, 1804-6. 4to.

820. Pike's Exploratory Travels through the Western Territory ofNorth America. 4to.

821. James's Account of an Expedition to the Rocky Mountains,1819-20. 3 vols. 8vo.

822. Schoolcraft's Travels to the Sources of the Mississippi.1820. 8vo.

823. Nuttall's Travels into the Arkansa Territory. 1819.8vo.--These travels describe a vast portion of America to the west ofthe Alleghany Mountains, especially the valley of the Mississippi,and its tributary streams. They are rather prolix and heavilywritten. Mr. James's work is richest in natural history.

824. A Concise Natural History of East and West Florida. ByBernard Romans. New York, 1766. 12mo.--The climate, productions, anddiseases of Florida are here treated of by this author, who was amedical man, and had good opportunities of observation andexperience.

825. Description de la Louisiane. Par L.P. Hennepin, Paris, 1688.12mo.--This author first made Europe acquainted with Louisiana; buthis work is meagre on every topic, except the manners, &c. of thenatives.

826. Histoire de la Louisiane. Par M. Le Page du Prats. Paris,1758. 3 vols. 12mo.--During a residence of 15 years, this authorseems to have paid particular attention to geology, mineralogy, andother branches of natural history, and has given the results of hisobservations in these volumes.

827. Travels through that part of North America called Louisiana.Translated and illustrated with notes by R.B. Forster. 1771-2. 2vols. 8vo.--The author of this work was a M. Bossu; who alsopublished, a few years afterwards, Nouveaux Voyages dans l'AmeriqueSeptentrionale. Amsterdam. 8vo.--The first of these works is chieflyinteresting from the minute details into which it enters respectingthe Illinois territory. Mr. Forster's translation contains acatalogue of American plants.

828. Voyage en Californie. Par l'Abbé Chappe D'Auteroche.Paris, 1778. 4to.--The city of Mexico, as well as California, is heredescribed in an interesting manner. As concerns the latter, this workmay be regarded as a standard one.

829. The History of Mexico; to which are added, Dissertations onthe Land, Animals, &c. Translated from the Italian of Clavigero,by C. Cullen. 1787. 2 vols. 4to.--Besides natural history, there isin this work much learned research on the ancient history ofMexico.

THE WEST INDIES.

830. Histoire Generale des Antilles. Par le P. Dututie. 1667-1671.4 vols. 4to.--This work is very full in all the branches of naturalhistory, and is by no means uninstructive on intellectual and moralgeography.

831. Voyages aux Antilles, &c., 1767-1802. Par J.B. Le Blond.Paris, 1813. 8vo.--Statistics, climate, geology, mineralogy,diseases, and manners, are the principal topics of this work, and aretreated of with ability and interest.

832. Voyages aux Isles de Trinidad, &c. Par J.J.D. Laraysee.Paris, 1813. 2 vols. 8vo.--The first volume relates to Trinidad: thesecond to Tobago, Cumana, Guiana, and Margarita. The soil, climate,productions, and occasionally the natural history and geology ofthese parts are here treated of.

833. Baudin Voyage aux Isles Teneriffe la Trinite, Porto Rico,&c. 2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1810.--To these travels Sonnini has addedsome valuable notes.

834. Voyage d'un Suisse dans differentes Colonies de l'Amerique.1783. 8vo.--Martinique and St. Domingo are particularly described,and the mineralogy of the latter fully entered into.

835. Bryan Edwards' History of the British Colonies in the WestIndies, and the French Colony in St. Domingo. 1801. 3 vols.8vo.--This work justly bears an excellent character, and is very fulland 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 chiefly from the memoirs of themissionaries, treats of the political, military, and moral state ofthe island, and more briefly of its produce, animals, &c.--Thisbriefness is compensated in the following work:

837. Essai sur I'Histoire Naturelle de St. Domingue. Par le P.Nicolson. Paris, 1766. 8vo.

838. Ed. Long's History of Jamaica. 3 vols. 4to. 1774.--A work ofsterling merit, and if read in conjunction with the following tosupply the natural history of the island, will leave little to beknown respecting this important island.

839. Pat. Brown's Civil and Natural History of Jamaica. 1756.folio.

840. Ligon's History of Barbadoes. 1695. 8vo.

841. Labat Voyage aux Isles de l'Amerique. La Haye, 1724. 6 vols.12mo.--This is esteemed the best work of Labat, and it certainly isvery instructive in all that relates to Martinique, Guadaloupe, St.Vincent, St. Thomas, St. Lucia, St. Eustatius, &c.

842. Voyage à la Martinique. Par Chauvalson. Paris, 1763.4to.--Natural history, meteorology, agriculture, and manners.

843. Account of St. Michael, one of the Azores. By Dr.Webster.--This work, which is published in America, contains aninteresting description of St. Michael, particularly in what relatesto its natural history and geology.

SOUTH AMERICA.

844. Preliminar al Tomo primero de las MemoriasHistorico-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. VonMurr. Nurem. 1785. 8vo.

846. Depon's Travels in South America, 1801-4. 2 vols. 8vo.--TheCaraccas, Venezuela, Guyana, Cumana, are the principal objects ofthis work; the rural economy, the political and commercial situationof these parts at this period, and the manners of the SpanishAmericans are here treated of in a superior manner.

847. Nouvelle Description de la France Equinoctiale. Par PierreBarrere. Paris, 1743. 12mo.

848. Essai sur l'Histoire Naturelle de la France Equinoctiale. ParP. Barrere. Paris, 1749. 2 vols. 8vo.--The former of these works ischiefly confined to a description of the natives, their weapons,manners, mode of life, &c.: the latter work is full on thenatural history of Guyana.

849. Bancroft's Essay on the Natural History of Guyana. 1769.8vo.--Besides natural history, this work may be consulted withadvantage on the manners, &c. of the natives.

850. Stedman's Narrative of a Five-Years' Expedition against theRevolted Negroes of Surinam, 1772-7. 2 vols. 4to.--There is an air ofromance in several parts of this work, which, though it adds to itsinterest, raises suspicions of its accuracy and faithfulness, andthat it has been in the hands of a trading editor; still it is a workfrom which a lively picture may be obtained of Surinam and itsinhabitants.

851. Tableau de Cayenne. Paris, 1793. 8vo.--Climate, produce, modeof culture, manners and nautical observations form the principaltopics of this work.

852. Narrative of a Voyage to Brazil. By Th. Lindley. 1804.8vo.--This work contains much information regarding the political,commercial, and domestic state of the Brazilians, with some noticeson natural history. As Brazil used to be visited by our ships beforewe 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 Macartney's Embassy by Stauntonand Barrow.

853. Lucco*ck's Notes on Rio Janeiro, and the Southern Parts ofBrazil. 1820. 4to.--Mr. Lucco*ck resided eleven years in Brazil, andhe seems to have been a careful observer; his work gives much new andimportant information on agriculture, statistics, commerce, mines,manners, &c., but it is heavily written.

854. Koster's Travels in the Brazils. 1816. 4to.--This work,together with Lucco*ck's, Henderson's, and Mawe's, comprize a body ofinformation on Brazil, nearly complete on all points except naturalhistory, and that must be sought in Prince Maximilian's Travels.

855. History of Paraguay. By Charlevoix. 1760. 2 vols. 8vo.--Thiswork is full on the plants, animals, fruits, &c., of thiscountry; and is particularly interesting from the account it gives ofthe celebrated and singular Jesuit establishment in Paraguay.

856. Voyages dans l'Amerique Meridionale, 1781-1801. Par Don F. deAzara. 4 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1809.--The author, who was commissioner ofthe lines of the Spanish frontier in Paraguay, gives in this workmuch information on the climate, soil, &c. of countries littleknown; and the value of it is enhanced by the notes of Cuvier andSonnini on natural history.

857. Relation de la Voyage dans les Provinces de la Plata. 8vo.Paris, 1819.

858. Historia de Abifponibus. Autore Dobutzhoffen. Vienna, 1784.8vo.--This work has lately been translated into English: had it beencarefully and judiciously abridged it would have been acceptable, butit is tiresome from its extreme minuteness on uninterestingpoints.

859. Historia del Descubriniento y Conquesta del Peru. Par Augustde Zarate. Anvers, 1555. 8vo.--This work is not merely historical,but it also embraces many interesting particulars on physicalgeography, and the manners, religion, &c., of the Peruvians.

860. Histoire des Incas, traduit de l'Espagnole de Garcilasso dela Vega. Amsterdam, 1737. 2 vols. 4to.--The interest of this workarises from its accuracy and fullness on the laws, government,religion, &c., of the ancient Peruvians. To this Frenchtranslation is added a history of the conquest of Florida.

861. A Voyage to the South Sea along the Coasts of Chili and Peru,1712-14. By Mr. Frezier. 1717. 4to.--The object for which Mr. Frezierwas sent related to the defence of Peru and Chili; but he also entersfully into an account of the mines and the mode of working them, andinto a description of manners, domestic life, &c.

862. Journal du Voyage fait à l'Equateur. Par M. de laCondamine. Paris, 1751. 4to.--Besides the detail of astronomicalobservations, this work is interesting from the personal narrative ofthe labours of the academician, and instructive on several points ofphysical and moral geography.

863. Humboldt, Voyage aux Régions Equinoctiales du NouveauContinent, 1799-1804. 6 vols. 8vo.

864. Humboldt, Relation Historique de son Voyage auxRégions Equinoctiales du Nouveau Continent. 2 vols. 4to.

865. Humboldt, Essai Politique sur le Royaume de la NouvelleEspagne, Paris, 5 vols. 8vo. 1811.--Perhaps no traveller everequalled Humboldt in the possession and exercise of such an union ofqualifications requisite to render travels instructive andinteresting; nor would it be easy to name any travels which have socompletely exhausted the subject of them, as those, the titles ofwhich we have given, if taken in connexion with the more purelyscientific appendages to them.

866. A Voyage to South America. By Don George Juan and Don Ant. deUlloa. 1758. 2 vols. 8vo.--Peru, Chili, Carthagena, Porto Bello, andPanama, are described in these volumes with great talent and sciencewith regard to their natural history, climate, and productions; andtogether with the civil, political, and domestic life of theinhabitants, and various other topics.

867. Helm's Travels from Buenos Ayres by Potosi to Lima, 1806.12mo.--Natural history, and chiefly geology and mineralogy, with avery particular account of the mines of Potosi.

868. Compendio della Istoria Geografica, Naturale e Civile deChili. Bologna, 1776. 8vo.

869. Chiliduga sive res Chilenses. Opera Bern. Havestad. Munster,1777-79. 8vo.--Natural history, the character of the inhabitants,their music and language are here treated of in a superiormanner.

870. Molina's Geographical, Natural, and Civil History of Chili,1809. 2 vols. 8vo.--An excellent work, which fulfils what the titlepromises.

POLYNESIA.

871. An Historical Collection of the several Voyages andDiscoveries in the South Pacific Ocean. By Alex. Dalrymple. 1770. 2vols. 4to.

872. Captain James Burney's Chronological History of the Voyagesand Discoveries in the South Seas. 5 vols. 4to. 1803-16.--Both theseworks are by men well qualified by science, learning, research, anddevotedness to their object, to perform well what they undertook onany subject connected with geography and discovery.

873. Keate's Account of the Pelew Islands. 1788. 4to.

874. A Missionary Voyage to the South Pacific Ocean. By CaptainWilson. 1799. 4to.--Otaheite is the principal subject of thiswork.

875. Mariner's Account of the Tonga Islands in the South Pacific.1817. 2 vols. 8vo.--This is a very full, accurate, and interestingpicture of the manners and character of a singular people, drawn fromlong and attentive observation on the spot.

AUSTRALASIA.

876. Histoire des Navigations aux Terres Australes. Par lePresident de Brosses. Paris, 1756. 2 vols. 4to--This work is morehighly prized on the continent than with us: it certainly is notequal 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 et desIndes. 1771-73. Par M. de Kerguelen. Paris, 1781. 8vo.

878. Voyage à la Nouvelle Guinée. Par Sonnerat.Paris, 1776. 4to.--Natural history, and especially zoology andornithology.

879. Voyage de Découvertes aux Terres Australes. 1800-4.Par Peron. 2 vols. 4to. Paris, 1811.

880. Captain Th. Forrest's Voyage to New Guinea and the Moluccas,1774-6. Dublin, 1779. 4to.--This work supplies what is wanting inSonneret's, as it is full on the physical and moral character of theinhabitants, 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 PoliticalDescription of New South Wales, and Van Dieman's Land. 1819. 8vo.

884. Oxley's Journey of Two Expeditions into the Interior of NewSouth Wales. 1820. 4to.--These British colonies are improving sorapidly that no description can long be full and accurate. Mr.Wentworth's work is, we believe, as good an account as we have; andMr. Oxley's is interesting from giving an authentic description ofthe interior of this singular country. A perusal and comparison ofthe best works that have been published regarding it from the date ofthat of Collins to the present time, would exhibit a rapidity ofimprovement, of which there are few examples.

885. Some Account of New Zealand. By John Savage. 1808. 8vo.--Ajudicious and instructive work on the manners, religion, andcharacter of the natives. Further information on these points, andlikewise on the productions of New Zealand, may be gathered fromCaptain Cruise's Ten Months' Residence there, just published.

GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX TO THE CATALOGUE, WITH REFERENCE TO THENUMBERS PREFIXED TO THE TITLE OF EACH WORK.

AAbyssinia, 134. 671-678.Adriatic, Shores of, 430.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 Countries, 200-222.Archipelago, 80. 89. 296.Armenia, 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. 330. 343, 344.Auvergne, 456-458.Ava, 738.Australasia, 876-885.BBarbary, 77. 108. 117. 590. 597.Balbec, 135.Basque 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.CCollections of Voyages and Travels, 14-43.Cape of Good Hope, 78. 641. 654-664.---- Verde, 149.Caspian Sea, 83.Carraib Islands, 146.Canaries, 149. 622. 651-653.Candia, 282.Campagna, the, 412, 413. 428.Cachemere, 732.Caubul, 780.Carolina, 794. 798.Canada, 802-807.California, 828.Carpathian Mountains, 309.Caraccas, 846.Cayenne, 851.Ceylon, 134. 734. 749-751.Celibes, 754.China, 92. 679-682. 684, 685. 761-770.Chili, 868-870.Circassia, 101.Constantinople, 80. 94, 95. 97. 108. 111. 287. 289. 297. 301.Corsica, 397. 419.Congo, 638.Cochin-China, 742.Corea, 771, 772.Crimea, 290-293. 789.Cumana, 846.Cyprus, 136. 695.DDamascus, 97. 135.Darfour, 131.Dalmatia, 195. 283. 304, 305. 427.Danube, 333, 334.Dauphiny, 452.Dahomy, 635.Denmark, 179. 190. 236. 243.Desert, Great, of Africa, 595, 596.EEast Indies, 81. 85. 90. 102. 110. 118. 123. 132. 134. 137. 151-154. 679.690. 706, 707. 716-748.Egypt, 100. 102-104. 106-108. 110, 111. 113. 117, 118. 121. 131. 135-138.605--620.Elba, 404, 405.England, 96. 175. 178. 180. 192. 199. 483-520.----, Western Counties, 488. 500.----, Northern, 489, 490. 497.----, Southern, 497.----, Eastern, 488. 497.Ethiopia, 137. 608. 615. 619, 620. 673.Etna, 391. 420.FFeroe Isles, 235.Fez, 591. 593. 598-600.Finland, 237.Florida, 794. 798. 824.France, 77. 79. 96. 104. 158, 159. 163-165. 167. 171, 172. 177. 180. 182.184. 193, 194. 197. 199. 431-469.Friesland, 354.GGeorgia, 80. 88. 712-715.---- in America, 798.Germany, 79. 83. 85. 104. 158-160. 162. 165, 166. 172. 175. 177. 179.183, 184. 187-190. 194. 196, 197. 199. 244. 313-354.Glaciers, the, 361-363.Greece, 89. 101. 103, 104. 107, 108. 113, 114. 116. 160. 169. 181. 196.279-282. 285-287. 294-299. 301-305.Guadaloupe, 841.Guayana, 846-849.Guernsey, 553, 554.Guinea, 145. 149, 150. 630-634.HHistories 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. 193.--See Netherlands.Holstein, 246. 320.Hungary, 107. 124. 160. 194. 284. 306, 307. 316. 322. 330.Hudson's Bay, 799.I and JJapan, 681. 684. 757-760.Java, 756.Jamaica, 148.Jerusalem, 95. 97. 135. 140.Jersey, 552.Jura, 461.Jutland, 246.Instructions for Travellers, 1-13.Iceland, 228-234.Indian Archipelago, 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. 194. 196. 316. 385-430.KKamstchatcha, 130. 786-788.Karamania, 697.LLapland, 104, 223-226. 237-239. 242. 247.Lakes of Cumberland, &c., 488.Levant, 81. 88. 115. 128. 139. 181. 597.Lithuania, 249.Lipari Isles, 416.Loo Choo, 772.Louisiania, 825-827.MMadeira, 127. 148. 622. 650.Madagascar, 130. 150. 665, 666. 668.Magellan Straits, 147.Maldives, 151.Malta, 170. 393. 395, 396. 415.Man, Isle of, 527. 550, 551.Malacca, 685.Martinique, 841, 842.Mauritius, 667. 669, 670.Mecklenbergh, 320.Mexico, 828, 829. 863-865.Morocco, 156. 591-594. 598. 603.Moluccas, 151.Moldavia, 323.Mogul Empire, 684.--See E. Indies.NNaples, 392-394. 414. 424. 428.Netherlands, 159, 160. 167. 180. 470-482.--See Holland.Nepaul, 777-779.New Hampshire, 815.--- Guinea, 878. 880.--- Holland, 881-884.--- Zealand, 885.Norway, 78. 227. 239. 241-245.Normandy, 438. 441, 442.Nubia, 133. 614. 618. 620.OOrkney Islands, 521. 523. 526.Otaheite, 57-61. 874.PPalestine, 99, 100. 104. 107, 108. 113, 114. 117, 118. 133. 138.Paraguay, 855, 856.Persia, 81. 87, 88. 90, 91. 95. 102. 106. 111. 114. 118. 137. 683.703-712. 715.Peru, 859-867.Pelew Islands, 873.Portugal, 77. 164. 171. 176. 192. 557-562. 568. 574. 577.Poland, 104. 124. 179. 185. 236. 263-267.Polynesia, 871-875.Prussia, 98. 158. 185. 348. 350.Provence, 443. 453.Prince of Wales Island, 747, 748.Pyrenees, 454, 455.RRagusa, 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. 107. 124. 179. 185. 236. 249-262.SSaxony, 327. 341. 345. 347.Sardinia, 418.Sahara, Desert of, Africa, 595, 596.St. Eustatius, 841.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. 392-394. 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.TTangier, 79.Tartary, 85. 90, 91, 92. 94. 101 107. 249. 773, 774.Thibet, 775, 776.Thessaly, 285.Thrace, 104.Tonquin, 685. 743-745.Tonga Isles, 875.Transylvania, 107. 306. 311, 312.Tripoli in Africa, 601, 602. 604.----in 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. 512. 423.U and VUnited States, 794,795-798. 802,803. 808-814. 818-823.Valais, the, 368. 374.Venezuela, 846.Vesuvius, 391.Virginia, 816, 817.Volcanoes, 391. 428. 451.WWallachia, 323.Wales, 488-495.Wendes, the, 327.West Indies, 148. 150. 152-154. 793. 830-842.ZZurich, 79.Zaire River, in Africa, 637.

INDEX TO THE HISTORICAL SKETCH.

AAbyssinia, ancient trade, 93.Adam of Bremen, 293.Africa, East of, trade to in time of Nero, 241.----, Discoveries in by Portuguese, 333.----, Travels and Discoveries in, in 18th and 19th centuries, 472.----, in the west and interior, 473.----, in the N. 478.----, in the S. 485.Agatharcides, geographical knowledge, 93.Alexander the Great encourages geography 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 Icelanders, 291. By Columbus, 348. Productions when discovered, 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. Geography 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 affairs and commerce, 197.Australasia, discoveries in, 467.BBaltic commerce in 11th century, 293.Barcelona, early commerce of, 313.Baffin's voyages and discoveries, 360.Benjamin of Tudela, his notices of Asiatic commerce, 316.Behaim's Chart, 351.Behring's discoveries, 360.Black Sea, ancient commerce in, 159.Britain invaded by Cæsar, 192.Britons, their ships, 193.---- ---- ---- commerce, 195.Bruce's Travels, 479.Burckhardt, 481.CCarthage, ancient, 34. Commerce, 37. Destroyed, 176. Naval wars, 121. 124.Cæsar, Julius, survey of the Empire, 223.Carpini, 317.Cape of Good Hope discovered, 357.---- ---- ----, travels in, 485.Cabot, 353.Caravan trade, 525.Ceylon, ancient notices of, 226.Cilicia, ancient commerce, 177.China, in middle ages, 279.----, route from, in 14th century, 322.Corvus, the, described, 120.Corinth, ancient commerce, 152.Cosmas, 269.Cook's, Captain, discoveries, 431. 454. 468.Commerce in 18th century, 502. 512.Crete, ancient commerce, 177.Crusades, effect of, on commerce, 300.DDenmark, commerce in 16th and 17th centuries, 422.Dutch commerce in 16th and 17th centuries, 383. 410.EEgyptian ancient commerce, 13. 82. 106. Ships, 17.English commerce in 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, 314. 390. 397, 398.401. 4O4. 407. 410. 412.---- shipping, 409.England, commerce and shipping in 1822. 520.English and Dutch commerce in 16th and 17th centuries compared, 410.Eratosthenes, 88.Etruscans, commerce, 112.Ethiopia explored by Romans, 825.Euxine, ancient commerce, 251.Europe, general view of its trade in 15th century, 314. At present, 512.FFairs, ancient, 150.France, commerce in middle ages, 304. In 16th and 17th centuries, 417. At present, 516.Florence, commerce in middle ages, 304.GGaul, commerce of, 186.Genoa, commerce in middle ages, 302.Gama's Voyages, 339.Germany, ancient commerce, 195. At present, 515.Greenland discovered, 291.Grecian ancient commerce, geography, and ships, 20. 30. 144.---- Colonies, 157.HHamilcar's Voyage, 41.Hannos, 41.Hanseatic League, 294.Henry, Prince of Portugal, 334.Herodotus, 45.Hipparchus, 101.Hudson's Voyages, 359.I and JIceland discovered, 290.Jews, commerce of, 18.India, as known to Alexander, 60. Direct ancient trade with, 105. Ancient routes to, 210. Trade in time of Nero, 243. And China, ancient trade between, 271. In middle ages, 279.Indian commodities, price of, affected by discovery of the Cape, 370. Trade at present, 522.Inland trade in middle ages, 311. In 16th and 17th centuries, 416.Itineraries, Roman, 253.Italian commerce in middle ages, 299.Justinian's Fleets, 273.KKotzebue's discoveries, 434.LLiburnians, 115.Laconia, ancient commerce, 154.La Maire, 356.La Perouse, 433.Lyons, ancient commerce, 189.MMacedonia, ancient commerce, 161.Marseilles, ditto, 187.Marinus, the Geographer, 254.Marco Polo, 318.Mariners' Compass, earliest notice of, 328.Maps and Charts of middle ages, 329. In 16th and 17th centuries, 367.Magellan, 352.Mauro's Map, 330.Mercator, 366.Monsoon discovered, 227.NNavigation, improvements in, in 18th century, 497.Nearchus, 61.New South Shetland discovered, 456.New Holland, 363. 468.Netherland commerce in 16th century, 374.North-west passage, 358. 438.North-east passage, 361.PPark's Travels, 475.Petrea, ancient trade of, 232.Periplus, geography of the, 235. Commerce of, 236.Persia, ancient trade, 243.Penteugarian Tables, 267.Peter the Great's attention to geography and commerce, 425. 429.Phoenician commerce and ships, 3. 5. 10.Pharos described, 84.Pliny, 248.Polynesia, 470.Posidonius, 104.Ptolemy, 255.Ptolemies of Egypt, their attention to commerce, 84.Polybius, 223.Portuguese discoveries, 333. 342.Pythias of Marseilles, 51.RRed Sea, 95. 225. 236.Rhodes, ancient commerce, 166. Maritime history, 39. 116. 167. Conquered by Romans, 172.Rome, ancient naval wars, 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.SSabea, commerce of, 97.Sanuto, his notices of commerce, 321.Scandinavian maritime affairs, 287.Scotland, commerce of, in middle ages, 310. In 16th and 17th centuries, 414.Scylax's Voyage, 43.Sicily, ancient trade, 134.Silk, history of, 212.Spain, ancient commerce, 129. At present, 517.Sugar, history of, 208.Sweden, commerce in 16th and 17th century, 482. At present, 513.Strabo, 326.Syene, Well of, 88.TTroy, Siege of, ships at, 39.Travellers, modern, advantages of, 500.VVancouver, 433.Venetian commerce in middle ages, 299. 3O3.United States, commerce, 524.WWorld, what still unknown of, 491.

INDEX TO THE SEVENTEEN VOLUMES OF A GENERAL HISTORY ANDCOLLECTION OF VOYAGES AND TRAVELS.

The Roman Numerals refer to the Volumes: the Arabic Numerals tothe Pages.

AAbyssinia, vi. 176.---- Customs of, 306.Acapulco described, x. 264.Adams, W. Voyage to, and Residence in Japan, viii. 64.Aden, in Arabia, vi. 265. 298. vii. 68.Africa in general, vii. 220. West Coast .ii. 210. 270. xi. 73. Manners, dress, &c. ii. 223. 227. 242. 251. Animals, 231. Produce, 230. Ships, 250. East Coast, ii. 319. vi. 448. 470. viii. 406. 468.Alfred's Geography of the World, i. 21.Albuquerque's Voyage, ii. 456. Conquests, vi. 402. Death, 161.Almago, iv. 415. Defeated by F. Pizarro, 4.37. 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, Voyage of three, from England to Constantinople, i. 56.America discovered by Icelanders, i. 43. Discovered by Columbus, ii. 52. 59. iii. 43. 255.----, North West Coast, Cook's discoveries on, xvi. 260.Americus Vespasius, iii. 342. His first Voyage, 352. Second Voyage, 366. Third Voyage, 373. Fourth Voyage, 379.Amboina, Massacre at, ix. 537. Described, x. 319. xv. 143.Amsterdam, Isle of, and Inhabitants, xiv. 190. 204. xv. 385. Dances, 395. Wrestling and Boxing, 401. Kava, mode of preparing, 412. Natural History, 421. Grand solemnity, 427. See also Friendly Isles.Anson's Voyage round the World, xi. 200. Controversy respecting the account of, 527.Armenia, i. 281.Arabia in general, vi. 336.---- Felix, interior of, described, viii. 380.Arabian Settlements, on East Coast of Africa, vi. 73. Arabian Manners, vii. 50.Armada, the Spanish, vii. 365.Assassins, History of the, i. 291.Ascension Island, xii. 346. xv. 66.ASIA, North East Cape of, xvi. 356. Remarks on the Geography of the North East of, xvii. 122.Atlantic South, discoveries in, xv., 118.Atooi, Isle, xvi. 148. 173. Produce, 176. Inhabitants, 150. 177. Morai, 156. Feather cloaks, 159. Dress, 179. Houses, 181. Amusem*nts, 182. Manufactures, 184. Canoes, 188. Agriculture, 189. Government, 190. Weapons, 191. Religion, 192. Language, 193.Auracanians, Manners, &c. v. 233. x. 122. Religion, v. 256. Orators, Poets, &c. 260.----, War with the Spaniards, v. 276.Azores discovered, ii. 196. Described, xi. 195.---- Fayal, vii. 381. xv. 73.BBabylon, vii. 145.Bagdat, vii. 473. viii. 5.Bahamas, iii. 410.Baker's Voyage to Guinea, vii. 299.Banda Isles, vii. 117. 187. xi. 147. Trade of, ix. 449. Wrongs done the English at, 432.Bantam, xi. 183.Barbaro's Travels to Azof, i. 501.Bassora, vii. 146. 474. viii. 6.Bashee Islands, x. 284.Batavia.x. 330. 395. xi. 123. xii. 113. xiii. 425. Fruit, 435. Flowers, 441. Inhabitants, 447.Bear hunting, xvii. 154.Benjamin of Tudela's, Travels to China, i. 95.Bengal, vi. 242. See India and Mogul.Benzoin, viii. 181.Best's Voyage to the East Indies, ix. 96.Betel Nut, vii. 163. ix. 390.Betagh's Appendix to Shelvock's Voyage, xi. 20.Bezoar, viii. 182.Birmah Empire, vi. 255. See Pegu.Bolabola, xvi. 101.Borneo, x. 21. xi. 174.Bourgainville, abstract of his Voyage, xiii. 477.Brazil discovered, ii. 57. 398. Described, 105. xi. 79. 259. Gold, 259. Diamonds, 261. xii. 388. St. Sebastian, xi. 79. Rio Janeiro, xii. 382.391. Manners, 382. Produce, 386.Burrough's Voyage to the Azores, vii. 444.Butkeley's Narrative of Byron's shipwreck, xvii. 419.Byron's own Narrative, xvii. 315. Shipwrecked, 324. Occurrences during his Voyage in the boats, 343. Lands in Chiloe, 381. Arrival at St. Jago, 399. In England, 414.CCabral's Voyage, ii. 395.Cabot, iii. 346. vi. 3.Cabbage-tree, x. 246.Caffres, xi. 187.Calicut, vii. 90. See India.California, xi. 4.Camboya, vi. 227. Island, x. 390.Camoens, v. 421.Canary Islands discovered, ii. 19. iii. 352. Described, ii. 207. x.402Canada, Natives, vi.50. Language, 67.Candish's Voyage round the World, x. 66.Cannibalism, xiv. 237.Cape Verd Islands discovered, ii. 246. Described, 269. x. 194. 404.Cape of Good Hope discovered, ii. 286. Described, viii. 16. 88. 115. 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. Remarks on the navigation round, xi. 288. Real position of, xv. 3. note.Carpini's Travels into Tartary, i. 123.Carvagal, Francis de, character, v. 26. Death, 167.Cartier's Voyage to Newfoundland and Canada, vi. 15.Carlet's Voyage to Guinea, vii, 306.Caravans, vii. 52. viii. 7.Carteret's Voyage round the World, xii. 243.Cassowary, x. 325.Caspian Sea, ii. 151.Cattle, mode of slaughtering in South America, xi. 272.Celebes, x. 328. xi. 149. xii. 334.Ceylon, early notices of, i. 49. 382. 412. Described, vi. 167. vii. 104. 169. 501. xi. 141-165.Charts of the Sea between Asia and America, account of, xvi. 380.Chili, geographical view of, v. 219. x. 121. Produce, v. 250. Agriculture, 253. Food, Houses, &c. 254. Religion, 256. Origin, Manners, Language, 239. Natives of the Mountains, 256. Trade, xi. 47. State of in the 18th century, v. 380. Proper, v.221. St. Jago, v. 223. xvii. 399. Climate, 401. Inhabitants, 401. Houses, 403. Bull Feasts, 404. Amusem*nts, 405. Cujo Province, v. 229. Productions, 230. Mines, 231. xi. 52. Inhabitants, 231.Chiloe Archipelago discovered, v. 314. Described, 228. 392. x. 447.China, early notices of, i. 51. 68. Manners, Dress, Food, &c. 53. 60. 72. 364. xi. 127. Laws, i. 62. 66. 71. 81. Paper-money, 233. Kublai Khan, 318. 420. 429. Court, 326. 330. 368. 475. Ships, 374. Junks, x. 283. Notices of early trade to, ix. 549. Commodities, viii. 190. Ware, early notice of, i. 59.Cambalu (Pekin, i. 323. 419. 472.) Macao, xi. 471. Manners there, 522. Canton, xvii. 237. Sampanes there, 238. Price of provisions at, 264.Christmass Harbour, productions and animals, xv. 241.Christmas Island, xvi. 141.Chronometer, Table of its going, xvii. 165. 169.Cinnamon, early notice of, ii. 108.Civet, viii. 181.Clerke's, Capt., Death, xvii. 136. 158.Clipperton's Voyage round the World, x. 400.Cloves, xi. 144. x.22. 322.Cocoa Nut Tree, vii. 98. x. 304. xi. 112.Coffee, ix. 390.Columbus, ii. 52. His Life, iii. 8. 245. Death, 241. First Voyage, 43. 255. Second, 90. 307. Third, 147. 339. Fourth, 191. 339.Cold, effects of excessive, xii. 398.Comora Isles, ix. 224.Compass, variation of, xii. 239. 307. 352. xiii. 73. 473. xiv. 58. 438.488. xv. 215. 286. 489. xvi. 108. 196. 249. 330. 368. 401. xvii. 18. 264.282. 289. 292. 298.Contarini's Journey to Persia, ii. 117.Cook, Capt. John, Voyage round the World, x. 66.----, Capt. James, First Voyage, xii. 359. Second Voyage, xiv. 1. Third Voyage, xv. 114. Circ*mstances of his Death, xvi. 446. 469, note. Character, xv. 177. xvi. 455. Orders from France and United States respecting, xvii. 268.Cook's river, xvi. 299.Coral Islands, formation of, xiv. 141. note. xv. 344.Corea, ix. 77.Cortes, Hermando, iii. 454. 468. iv. 314.Coryat's Journey to India, ix. 419.Covilhaim's Journey to Æthiopia, ii. 300.Cotton-tree, x. 245.Cuba, iii. 271. 320. 404.Cumana, iii. 361.Cumberland's, Earl of, Voyage to the Azores, vii. 375.DDamascus described, vii. 47.Dampier's Voyage round the World, x. 236.Darien described, iii. 397.Dates, viii. 267.Davis's, Capt. John, Voyage to the East Indies, viii. 43.Dangerous Archipelago discovered and described, xii. 167.Derbent described, ii. 150.Diamond Mines in Brazil, xi. 261.---- ---- ---- in India, i. 387.Downton'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. 131.EEaster Island, and its Inhabitants, described, xi. 91. xiv. 270. 278.East India Company, English, established, viii. 102. First Voyage to the East Indies, 507.Egypt, Cairo, i. 109. vii. 45.----Alexandria, i. 111. Trade of, 112.Eimeo Isle described, xvi. 62. 70.Eldred's Voyages and Travels to Bagdat, Bassora, &c. viii. 1.Elephants, ii. 252. vii. 87. 189. 236. ix 394.Eooa Isle, xv. 441.Erigena's Voyage to Athens, i. 20.Euphrates, Navigation of, viii. 3.FFalkland Islands described, xii. 47.Fayal described, vii.381. See Azores.Fenner's Voyage to Guinea, vii. 310.Fernando de Noranha, Isle, described, xv. 69.Fitch's Journey overland to India, vii, 470. viii. 254.Flamingo, iii. 406.Flick's Voyage to the Azores, vii. 417.Flowers, great variety of, at Batavia, xiii. 435.Florida, iii. 410. v. 410. 419. 440. 488.Frederic, Caesar, Travels in India, vii. 142.Friendly Islands, xiv. 204. 369. General 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, 472. Burials, 475. Religion, 477. Government, 479. Language, 485. 491. See Amsterdam Isle.Fruit, great variety of, at Batavia, xiii. 435.Funnell's Voyage round the World, x. 291.Furs, collection of, at Oonalashka, xvi. 386. At Kamtschatka, xvii. 184.GGalvana's Summary of Discoveries to the Year 1555. ii. 23.Gama's Voyages, ii. 302. 432.----Stephano de, Voyage to Suez, vi. 287.----Vasco de, vi. 200.Gasca, Pedro de la, v. 101. 107. l61. 170.Gambia River, ii. 251.Gambroon described, xi. 158.Georgia, Isle of, described, xv. 25.Gold Trade in Africa, early notice of, ii. 218.Goa conquered by the Portuguese, vi. 131. Described, 477.Goitres in India, ix. 236.Gothic Language, i. 165. 507.Greenlanders described, i. 41.Guadaloupe described, iii. 98. 142. 308.Guam Island described, x. 230.Guana, The, described, x. 306.Guava fruit, x. 261.Guayaquil described, x. 365.Guinea, Voyages to, in the 16th Century, vii. 211.----, Natives of, described, vii. 245. See Africa, West Coast.Guinea pepper described, x. 461.HHaicho's Travels into Tartary. i. 262.Hawkin's residence in the Mogul Empire, viii. 220.Hawkesworth's, Dr., vindication of himself, as editor of the Voyages,xiii. 272 note.Hearne's Journey in the North-west parts of America, Abstract of, xv. 148.Hepaei Isles described, xv. 358. Music and Dancing, 583. Lefoogan, one of them described, 369.Hervey's Isle discovered and described, xv. 334.Helix Janthina and Violacea described, xii. 370.Hippopotamus described, ii. 253.Hispaniola described, iii. 133. 159. 277. 329. 387.Hippon's Voyage to India, viii. 436.----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 Discoveries in, xv. 144.Hurricanes in American Seas, xi. 83.I and JIceland discovered, i. 4.Ice Islands, xiv. 48. 243. note.----, on the formation of, xv. 43.Icy Cape, xvi. 344.Incas of Peru, iv. 362.India described, ix. 373. Produce, Animals, vi. 269. ix. 387. 392. 394. Pepper, i. 404. Diamond Mines, 387. Houses, ix. 391. Castles, viii. 280. 284. Climate, ix. 393. Manners, Customs, i. 85. 94. 384. 408. vi. 269. vii. 157. 482. Mahometans in, ix. 404. Hindoos, 409. Brahmins, i. 387. Idols, 407. Pagodas, ii. 362. Laws, 253. Court Ceremonies in the 16th Century, 364. 407. See Mogul. Bengal described, i. 251. vi. 242. vii. 109. 478. Calicut described, ii. 345. 522. vii. 90. Cambay, vii. 80. 475. viii. 302. Candahar, ix. 212. Cochin, ii. 419. vii. 164. xi. 162. Coromandel Coast, xi. 155. Deccan, vii. 84. Delhi, viii. 292. See Mogul. Goa, Diu, vii. 149. Guzerat, vi. 227. Lahore, viii. 295. ix. 208. Malabar Coast, ii. 347. 467. vi. 481. xi. 160. Surat, viii. 275. ix. 119. 230. 391. xi. 157. Sinde, ix. 131. Trade before discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, vi. 73. State of, at the beginning of the 16th century, vi. 81. English Factories in, in 1616, ix. 258.Indians of America, food, iii. 215. Dress, Canoes, &c. 266. 270. 277. 322. 369. At south extremity of South America, v. 40l. xii. 152. 155. 405. SeePatagonians.Indigo, viii. 289.Irish, account of, in 16th century, vii. 394.Isabella, first colony in the West Indies, iii. 313.Jaloffs, ii. 221. 227.Jamaica described, iii. 115.Japan described, i. 375. vi. 382. viii. 78. xi. 178. Commodities vendible in, ix. 71. 75.Japanese manners, ix. 10. Court, 25. Festival, 51.Java described, i. 378. 408. vi. 153. vii. 119. viii. 142. 183. x. 46.86. 331. xi. 118. 166. Court Ceremonies, viii. 166. Bantam, viii. 183. First English Factory in, viii. 141.Jesso, ix. 70. xvii. 227. note.Juan Fernandez described, x. 201. 219. 296. 353. 481. xi. 88. 311.KKamtschatka, description of, xvii. 66. 171. Climate, 175. Produce, 173. 178. Curious Plants in, 180. Animals, 184. 194. note. Furs, 184. Fish, 191. Salmon, 192. Volcanoes, 177. Inhabitants, 197. Dress, 216. Houses, 87. 213. Towns, 215. Sledge, 77. Trade, 307. Discovery and History of, 198.Kava drink, xv. 412.Keeling's Voyage to the East Indies, viii. 199.King 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. 217.LLancaster's Voyages to India, viii. 13. 107.Ladrones, the, described, x. 13. 206.Le Maire's Voyage round the World, x. 162. Straits discovered, 170. On the Navigation of, xii. 412.Le Hermite's Voyage, x. 192.Lediard, Mr., account of, xvi. 375. note.Lima, account of, in 1550, iv. 350. See Peru.Llama, the, described, x. 462.Locusts described, ii. 219.Lok's Voyage to Guinea, vii. 229.MMahommedans, Travels of two, to India and China in the 9th century, i. 47.Macassar, Straits of, described, xii. 318.Madagascar described, vii. 2. viii. 261.Madeira discovered, ii. 19. 177. Described, 206. xi. 234. xii. 362. Vines of, 363.Malacca described, vii. 113. xi. 152.Mandeville's Travels, i. 432.Maro Polo's Travels, i. 266.Mauritius described, viii. 218.Marlow's Voyage to the East Indies, ix. 91.Magellan's, F., Voyage round the World, x. 4.---- Straits discovered, x. 11.----, remarks on the Navigation of, xii. 74. Anchoring places 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.Melinda described, ii. 336.Mecca, Port of, vi. 262. City, vii. 58.Medina described, vii. 54.Mexico, iii. 421. 432.----City described, iv. 37. 167. taken by the Spaniards, 165.Mexican Painters, iii. 477. Manufactures, 478. Idols, 495.Michelburne's Voyage to India, viii. 86.Middleton's, Capt. Henry, Voyage to India, viii. 191. 361.---- Capt. David, Voyage to Bantam and the Moluccas, viii. 3O7. 343.Mindanao Islands described, xii. 309.Middleburg 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. 311. 320. His birth-day, ix. 343. Tomb, viii. 306. Power, customs, &c. viii. 245. 291. ix. 260. 413. 421.Mogul Empire, climate of, ix. 389. Animals, 387. Trees, 389. Rivers, 390. See India.Mocha described, viii. 328. xi. 172. Trade, viii. 483. 489. Governor of, his feast, viii. 479.Monomotapa, vi. 449. See Africa, East Coast.Monsoons, account of, viii. 9.Musk, i. 313. viii. 181.NNavy, English, in Queen Elizabeth's time, vii. 460.Nautical Instruments, account of, taken by Capt. Cooke in his Second Voyage, xiv. 20. note.Natural History, notices on, xv. 335. xvi. 266. 312. Shells, xii. 370. 372. Botany, xii. 395. xiv. 507. note. xvii. 180. Green Ants, xiii. 253. 341. Their Nests, 260. 342. Caterpillars, ibid. Crabs, xiii. 257. Two new species of Birds, xv. 17. Of Van Dieman's Land, xv. 259. Of Amsterdam Isle, xv. 421. Blatta, the, xvi. 77. Medusa, &c. xvi. 98. Arctic Walrus, xvi. 345. Arctic Gull, xvii. 104. White Bear, xvii. 114.New Holland, general description, x. 288. xiii. 338. Produce, 339. Animals, 302. 341. Inhabitants, 345. Personal appearance, 346. Houses, 349. Food, 351. Weapons, 355. Canoes, 357. Language, 359. Botany Bay, xiii. 230. 240. Port Jackson, xiii. 243. Endeavour River, xiii. 311. Straits, xiii. 335.Newfoundland discovered and described, iii. 346, vi, 3. Language of, iii. 32.Newport's Voyage to the East Indies, ix. 137.New Guinea described, x. 188.New Britain, xi. 107. xii. 296.New Zealand, xiii. 101. Face 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. 119. xv. 281. 293. Language, xv. 301. Villages, xiii. 150. Queen Charlotte's Sound, xiii. 199. xiv. 119. 226. Dusky Bay, xiv. 97.New Caledonia, xiv. 139. 451. 473. Contrast between its Inhabitants and those of the New Hebrides, xiv. 451. note.New Hebrides, xiv. 423.Norfolk Isle, xiv. 476.Norway, i. 493. Food, Manners, 494.Nootka Sound, xvi. 221. Produce, 223. Animals, 225. Inhabitants, 208. 214. 217. 230. Houses, 239. Villages, 216. Furniture, 241. Food, 244. Employment, 245. Weapons, 247. Manufactures, 248. Languages, 255. Vocabulary of, 301.Nutmegs, vii. 117. x. 323. xi. 147.OOderic's Travels into China and the East, i. 392.Omai, notices of, xiv. 165. xv. 183. 327. His reception among his Countrymen, xvi. 7. Established on his Island, xvi. 73. 81.Oonalashka described, xvi. 321. 373. Vegetables, 395. Animals, 394. Furs at, 386. Inhabitants, 387. 398.Ormus described, vi. 105. vii. 78. 148. 475. Ships of, viii. 6.Ostrich, xi. 189.Otaheite discovered and described by Wallis, xii. 175. 204. Extent, xiv. 131. 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. Clothing, 10. Houses, 12. Food, 15. xiv. 176. xvi. 119. Bread-fruit, xiii. 16. Drink, 18. xiv. 179. Meals, xiii. 19. Musical instruments, xiii. 23. Dances, 25. Theatre, xiv. 153. xvi. 39. Female morals, xiii. 26. xiv. 180. xvi. 122. Arreoy, xiii. 27. Manufactures, xiii. 294. xvi. 118. Cloth, 29. Dyes, 32. Matting, &c. 34. Fish-hooks, 36. Tools, 37. Canoes, xii. 214. xiii. 38. xiv. 315. Naval review, xiv. 307. 326. xvi. 46. Extent of their navigation, xvi. 138. Swimming, xii. 467. Wrestling match, 454. Division of time, xiii. 44. Numeration, 45. Language, 46. xvi. 117. Diseases, xiii. 47. xvi. 115. Mourning and Funerals, xii. 478. 491. xiii. 54. xvi. 41. 51. Religion, xiii. 59. xvi. 125. Human Sacrifices, xv. 24. Priests, xiii. 61. Government, 66. xvi. 132. Inhabitants contrasted with those of the Friendly Isles, xvi. 114. Customs of, similar to those of distant Islands, xvi. 122. note. Circumnavigation, xii. 482.--See Society Islands.Owhyhee discovered and described, xvi. 321. 373. Ceremonies used to Captain Cook, 424. Inhabitants, 431. Games, 436. Taboo, 427.--See Sandwich Islands.PPagodas, ii. 362.Palm-tree in Chili described, v. 230.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. 3O6.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, vii. 77.Persian Gulf, account of, vi. 189.Pepper, viii. 183.Penguins described, x. 145. Penguin fruit, 269.Peyton's Voyage to the East Indies, ix. 45l.Philippine Islands described, x. 274. See 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 17th century, vii. 36. Settlements in the East in 1616, ix. 239.Potosi Mines discovered, v. 94.Prince William's Sound described, xvi. 279. Animals, xvi. 286. Inhabitants, 279. Language, 285.Pring's Voyage to India, ix. 451.Proa, flying, described, xi.464.Pulo Timooan described, xii. 1O9.Pulo Condore described, x. 281. xvii. 280.QQueen Charlotte's Island (o' Wales) discovered and described, xii. 168. Islands of Carteret, xii. 275.Quito, Island of, described, xi. 393.Quirinis's Voyage into Norway, i. 485.RRainold's and Dassel's Voyage to the Senegal and Gambia, vii. 342.Red Sea, vi. 149. 262. 285. 291. 299, 315. 334. 349. 352.Rhinoceros, account of, i. 379. viii. 25.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.Roggewin's Voyage round the World, xi. 65.Rowle's Voyage to the East-Indies, viii. 335.Rubruquis' Travels into Tartary, i. 161.Russia, early account of, i. 509. ii. 162.Rutter's Voyage to Guinea, vii. 293.SSalt Trade in Africa, account of, ii. 215.Solomon's Voyage to the East Indies, ix. 110.Sago described, x. 175.Samarkand described, i. 298.Saris' Voyage to the East Indies, viii. 465.Savage Island described, x. 359.Sandwich Island, of Carteret, xii. 298.Sandwich Land, xv. 34.Sandwich Islands of Cook discovered and described, xvi. 172. 195. xvii. 1. Number, xvii. 2. Owhyhee, 3.--See Owhyhee. Mowee, 11. Atooi, 13.--See Atooi. Climate, 14. Animals, 15. Inhabitants, 19. Stature, 20. Numbers, 22. Character, 23. Dress, 27. Villages, 32. Food, 33. Dances and other amusem*nts, 34. Arts, 38. Government, 41. Religion, 45. Taboo, 48. Marriages and Funerals, 49. 51.Savu Island and Inhabitants described, xiii. 387. 407.Schouten and Le Maires' Voyage round the World, x. 162.Senegal River described, ii. 220.Sea Fights in the 16th century, vii. 396.Selkirk, Alexander, account of, x. 349.Sea Lion described, xi. 318. xv. 6. 15.---- Bear, xv. 15.Sea, warmth at different depths, xiv. 33. note.Shelvock's Voyage round the World, x. 434. xi. 20.Sharpey's Voyage to India, viii. 314.Shah Rokh's, the Embassador, Travels to Cathay, i. 461.Siam described, vi. 169. vii. 177. viii. 188. 448. ix. 110. xi. 171.Silver Fish, early notice of, x. 295.Small Pox, Ravages of, among the Auracanians, v. 297.Soto's Expedition into Florida, v. 440.Solyman Pacha's Expedition to India, vi. 257.Sofala kingdom described, vi. 89.Socotra described, vi. 96. 227. viii. 264. 412. ix. 226.Solomon's Islands described, xi. 103.Society Islands, general description of, xiii. 92. Vocabulary, xv. 81.--See Otaheite.South Hemisphere, short account of Voyages to, xiv. 2.Spanish Commere between Manilla and Acapulco, in the middle of the 18thcentury, xi. 405.Spilbergen's Voyage round the World, x. 149.Steven's Voyage to Goa, vii. 462.Steele and Crowther'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. Catherine off Brazil, x. 437. xi. 254.St. Jago, Port Praga Bay, xiv, 29.Sugar, early notice of, i. 373.Sumatra, Account of, i. 381. iv. 180. vii. 113. 174. viii. 50. 55. 121. xi. 167.Surat described, viii. 275.TTanna Island described, xiv. 393. 415. Volcano and hot springs in, 403. 411.Tartary described, i. 115. Soil and climate, i. 127. Dress, manners, 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. 177. 184. 501. Religion, 209. Samarcand, i. 298.Tea, early notice of, i. 61. Manner of cultivating, ix. 554.Terry's Voyage to India, ix, 368.Terra del Fuego described, x. 196. xii. 404. 410. xiv. 497. 505.Ternate described, xi. 151.Teneriffe, Peak of, account of, xii. 368.----Island described, xv. 191. 194.Thibet, early notice of, i, 342. 425. vii. 34.Timor Isle described, viii. 187.Tinian Isle described, xii. 102. note.Timoan Isle described, xii. 109.Tobacco, early notices of, in. 213. 369. vi, 54.Towerson's Voyage to Guinea, vii. 273.Torpedo Fish, account of, xi. 423.Tongataboo Isle described, xv. 385. Natural history of, 421. Inhabitants, dancing, 395. Wrestling and boxing, 401. Grand solemnity at, 427. Kava, mode of preparing, 412.--See Amsterdam Isle and Friendly Isles.Tortoises' Land, x. 122.Toobouai Isle described, xvi. 3. Inhabitants, 5.Trade Winds, xiv. 139. note.Trinidad, iii. 340.Tripoli in Asia, viii. 2.Tschutski described, xvi. 338. 362. 387.Turkey, Account of, i. 96. Constantinople, 96.Turtles described, x. 223. 306. 376. xi. 396. xv. 67.U and VUlietea Island and Inhabitants described, xvi. 97.--See Society Island.Unicorn, early notice of, i. 57.Verthema's Travels in Egypt, Syria, Arabia, Persia, and India, vii. 41.Van Noort's Voyage round the World, x. 112.Vanilla described, x. 261.Van Dieman's Land, notices of, xv. 256. Natural history and animals of, 259. Inhabitants, 262.Vicuma, the, described, x. 462.Voyages of Discovery, advantages of, xv. 154. To nautical science, 160. To the history of the Human Species, and its migrations, 167. To the inhabitants discovered, 170.WWallis's, Capt., Voyage round the World, xii. 120.Wallis's Island described, xii. 221.Water Spouts described, x. 287. xix. 105. xiv. 106. note.Wateeoo Isle described, xv. 312.Weenooa-ette Isle described, xv. 332.Weert Sibbald's Voyage round the World, x. 130.Welsh's Voyage to Benin, vii. 331.Whales, notices respecting, xv. 4. note.Whiddon's Voyage to the Azores. vii. 358.Windham's Voyage to Guinea, vii. 216.Wood, Benj., Voyage to the East Indies, viii. 40.Wulfstan's Voyage to the Baltic, i. 15.ZZenos' Voyage, i. 438.

GENERAL PLAN OF KERR'S COLLECTION OF VOYAGES AND TRAVELS.

PART I.

Voyages and Travels of Discovery in the middle ages; from the eraof Alfred King of England, in the ninth century, to that of Don Henryof Portugal, at the commencement of the fifteenth century.

PART II.

General Voyages and Travels, chiefly of Discovery; from the era ofDon Henry in 1412, to that of George III. in 1760.

PART III.

General Voyages and Travels of Discovery during the era of GeorgeIII., which were conducted upon scientific principles, and by whichthe Geography of the globe has been nearly perfected.

PART IV.

Historical Deduction of the Progress of Navigation, Discovery, andCommerce, by sea and land, from the earliest times to the presentperiod.

TABULAR VIEW OF THE CONTENTS OF THE SEVENTEEN VOLUMES.

VOLUME I.

Discovery of Iceland by the Norwegians.

Voyages of Ohthere to the White Sea and the Baltic.

Remarks on the situation of Sciringe-heal and Haethum, 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.

Pilgrimage of Alured to Jerusalem.

---- of Ingulphus.

Original discovery of Greenland by the Icelanders in the ninthcentury.

Early discovery of America by ditto, in 1001.

Travels of two Mahometans into India and China, in the ninthcentury.

---- of Rabbi Benjamin from Spain to China, in the twelfthcentury.

---- of an Englishman in Tartary, in 1243.

Sketch of the Revolutions in Tartary.

Travels of Carpina to the Moguls, &c. in 1246.

---- of Rubruquis into Tartary about 1253.

---- of Haitho, in 1254.

---- of Marco Polo into China, &c. from 1260 to 1295.

---- of Oderic, in 1318.

---- of Sir John Mandeville, in 1322.

Itinerary of Pegoletti between Asofand China, in 1355.

Voyages, of Nicolo and Antonio Zeno, in 1380.

Travels of Schiltberger into Tartary, in 1394.

---- of the Ambassadors of Shah Rokh, in China, in 1419.

Voyage and Shipwreck of Quirini, in 1431.

Travels of Josaphat Barbaro from Venice to Tanna (now Asof), in1436.

VOLUME II.

Various early pilgrimages from England to the Holy Land, between1097 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 commencementto 1555, by Antonio Galvano.

Journey of Contarini into Persia, in 1473-6.

Voyages of discovery by the Portuguese along the western coast ofAfrica, during the life of Don Henry.

Original journals of the Voyages of Cada Mosto, and Pedro deCintra, 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 ofGood Hope in 1486.

History of the discovery and conquest of India by the Portuguese,between 1497 and 1505, by Herman Lopes de Castanecla.

Letters from Lisbon in the beginning of the 16th century,respecting the discovery of the route by sea to India, &c.

VOLUME III.

History of the discovery of America, and of some of the earlyconquests in the New World.

Discovery of America, by Columbus, written by his son DonFerdinand Columbus.

---- written by Antonio de Herrera.

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 Cortesagainst Mexico.

History of the discovery and conquest of Mexico, written in 1568,by Captain Bernal Diaz del Castillo, one of the conquerors.

VOLUME IV.

History of the discovery and conquest of Peru, written by AugustusZarate.

VOLUME V.

Continuation of the history of Peru, extracted from theCommentaries of Garcilosso de la Vega.

History of the discovery and conquest of Chili, taken from varioussources.

Discovery of Florida, and ineffectual attempts to conquer thatcountry by the Spaniards,--from the General History of America, byHerrera.

VOLUME VI.

Early English Voyages of discovery to America.

Voyages of Jacques Cartier, from St. Maloes to Newfoundland andCanada, in 1534-5.

Continuation of the discoveries and conquests of the Portuguese inthe East; with some account of the early Voyages of other Europeannations to India.

Discoveries, &c. &c. from 1505 to 1539.

A particular relation of the expedition of Solyman Pacha, fromSuez to India, against the Portuguese; written by a Venetian officerin the Turkish service on that occasion.

Account of the Voyage of Don Stefano de Gama, from Goa to Suez, in1540; written by Don Juan de Castro.

Continuation of the account of the Portuguese transactions inIndia, from 1541 to the middle of the 17th century; from De Faria'sAsia.

VOLUME VII.

Voyages and Travels in Egypt, Syria, Arabia, Persia, and India, byLudovico Verthema, 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 Windham andAntonio Anes Pinteado.

---- in 1554, by Captain John Lok.

---- in 1555, by William Towerson, merchant, of London.

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, by GeorgeFenner.

Account of the embassy of Mr. Edmund Hogan to Morocco, in 1577; byhimself.

Account of the embassy of Mr. Henry Roberts from Queen Elizabethto Morocco, in 1585; by himself.

Voyage to Benin, beyond Guinea, in 1588, by James Welsh.

Supplement to the foregoing.

Second Voyage of ditto in 1590.

Voyage of Richard Rainolds and Thomas Dassel to the Senegal andGambia, in 1591.

Some miscellaneous early Voyages of the English.

Voyage to Goa, in 1579, in the Portuguese fleet, by ThomasStevens.

Journey over-land to India, by Ralph Fitch.

Supplement to ditto.

VOLUME VIII.

Voyage of Mr. John Eldred to Tripoli, and thence by land and riverto 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.

Supplement 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 William Adams to Japan, in 1598.

---- of Sir Edward Michelburne to India, in 1604.

First Voyage of the English East India Company in 1601, underCaptain James Lancaster.

Account of Java and of the English at Bantam, from 1603 to1605.

Second Voyage of the Company, in 1604, under Captain HenryMiddleton.

Third Voyage of the Company, in 1607, under Captain WilliamKeeling.

Narrative by William Hawkins during his residence in the dominionsof the Great Mogul.

Observations of William Finch, who accompanied Hawkins.

Voyage of Captain David Middleton, in 1607, to Bantam and theMoluccas.

Fourth Voyage of the Company, in 1608, under Captain AlexanderSharpey.

Voyage of Captain Richard Rowles.

Fifth Voyage of the Company, in 1609, under Captain DavidMiddleton.

Sixth Voyage of the Company, in 1610, under Sir HenryMiddleton.

Journal of the same, by Nicholas Downton.

Seventh Voyage of the Company, in 1611, under Captain AnthonyHippou.

Notices of the same, by Peter Floris.

Eighth Voyage of the Company, in 1611, under Captain JohnSaris.

VOLUME IX.

Ninth Voyage of the Company, in 1612, under Captain EdwardMarlow.

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 ChristopherNewport.

Voyage of Captain Downton to India, in 1614.

Supplement to ditto.

Journey of Richard Steel and John Crowther, from Agimere toIspahan, 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 Emperorof Hindoostan.

Voyage to India, in 1616, by Mr. Edward Terry.

Journey of Thomas Coryat from Jerusalem to the Court of the GreatMogul.

Wrongs done the English at Banda by the Dutch, in 1617-18.

Fifth Voyage of the Joint-Stock by the Company, in 1617, underCaptain Pring.

Voyage of the Ann-Royal from Surat to Mokha, in 1618.

Voyage to Surat and Jasques, in 1620.

War of Ormus, and capture of that place by the English andPersians, 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 Sir Thomas Cnmlish, in 1586-8.
of Van Noort, in 1598-1601.
of George Spilbergen, in 1614-17.
of Schouten and Le Maire, by Cape Horn, in 1615-17.
of the Nassau fleet under Jacques Le Hermit, in 1623-6.
of Captain John Cooke, accompanied by Captains Cowley and Dampier,in 1683-91. in 1703-6, by William Funnell.
in 1708-11, by Captain Woods Rogers and Stephen Courtney.
in 1719-22, by Captain John Clipperton.
in 1719-22, by Captain George Shelvocke.

VOLUME XI.

Voyage round the world, in 1721-3, by Commodore Roggewein.

---- in 1740-4, by Lord Anson.

VOLUME XII.

Commodore Byron's Voyage, in 1764-6.

Captain Wallis's Voyage, in 1766-8.

Captain Carteret's Voyage, in 1766-9.

Captain Cook's first Voyage, in 1768-70.

VOLUME XIII.

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.

VOLUME XV.

Captain Cook's second Voyage concluded.

Captain Cook's third Voyage, in 1776-80.

VOLUME XVI.

Captain Cook's third Voyage continued.

VOLUME XVII.

Captain Cook's third Voyage concluded.

Commodore Byron's narrative of his shipwreck, &c.; written byhimself.

Bulkeley's narrative of the same.

THE END.