2«>d s. No UO., Feb. 6. '58.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



101 



lOtfDON, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6. 1858. 



fiotei, 



THK TIN TBADE OF ANTIQUITT. 



Tin appears to have been known to the Greeks 

 in the time of Homer. It was apparently brought 

 from Cornwall to the eastern extremity of the 

 Mediterranean by the Phcenician navigators, who 

 either made the voyage coastwise through the 

 Straights of Gibraltar to the west of Gaul, and 

 then crossed the Channel; or carried it from Mas- 

 silia or some other neighbouring port, which it had 

 reached by land-carriage across Gaul. 



The metal Kaaalnpos occurs several times in 

 the Iliad, as an ornament of arms and chariots ; 

 and it is placed in juxtaposition with gold. It 

 receives the epithets "white" and " shining," The 

 word does not occur in the Odyssey. Beckmann 

 '(^Hist. of Invent, vol. iv. p. 20.) and Heyne (Hom. 

 //., vol. vi. p. 120.) think that Kaaffhepos was ori- 

 ginally a mixture of silver and lead ; and that 

 from the resemblance of the colour the name was 

 afterwards applied to tin. It seems, however, most 

 probable that the metal signified by /cao-a-tTepos in 

 the Iliad is tin ; and it is so understood by Pliny 

 (N. H., xxxiv. 47.). There is no difficulty 

 in supposing that the early Greeks were ac- 

 quainted with articles of merchandise which were 

 brought from countries lying beyond the horizon 

 of their knowledge. Thus Homer mentions ivory ; 

 but the Greeks never saw the elephant till Alex- 

 ander's campaign into Asia. In like manner 

 amber was imported at an early time from coun- 

 tries^ of which they were ignorant. It was be- 

 lieved to come from a northern river called the 

 Eridanus. (Compare Bruckner, Hist.Reip. Massil., 

 p. 59.) 



The prophet Ezekiel (about 590 b.c.) mentions 

 tin among the articles of merchandise brought to 

 Tyre from Tarshish : — 



" Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multi- 

 tude of all kind of riches ; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, 

 thsy traded in thy fairs." — xxvii. 12. 



The prevalent opinion among biblical critics 

 is, that Tarshish is equivalent to the Greek Tar- 

 tessus, and that a place in Spain lying to the 

 west of the Straights of Gibraltar is denoted by 

 it. (See Winer, Bibl. Bealworterhuch in Thar- 

 schisch; Dr. Smith's Did. of Anc. Geogr. in 

 Tabtessus.) This hypothesis is consistent with the 

 mention of tin ; as this metal might have been 

 brought from Cornwall to the western coast of 

 Spain, and thus transported to Tyre ; or it might, 

 as we shall see presently, have been procured 

 within the limits of Spain. (See Heeren, Ideen, 

 I. 2. p. 70. ; Movers, die Phonizier, iii. 1. p. 

 62-5.) 



Herodotus had heard of the Cassiterides or Tin 

 Islands, from which tin was brought to Greece, 



but was unable to ascertain anything as to their 

 existence (iii. 115.) : nor was it till the time of 

 Caesar, when the Romans crossed into Britain, that 

 the nations of southern Europe obtained any au- 

 thentic information respecting the country which 

 produced this metal. Strabo describes the Tin 

 Islands as ten in number, situate in the open sea 

 to the north of the country of the Artabri (near 

 Cape Finisterre). In early times (he says) the 

 Phoenicians carried on the tin trade from Gadeira 

 (Cadiz), and retained the monopoly by concealing 

 their course. On one occasion the Romans, de- 

 sirous of discovering the port where the tin was 

 shipped, followed a Phoenician vessel ; but the 

 captain intentionally steered his ship into shallow 

 water, and both it and the Roman ship were lost : 

 he himself escaped on a fragment of the wreck, 

 and received from the state the value of his cargo. 

 The Romans, however, after many attempts dis- 

 covered the secret. Since P. Crassus visited the 

 islands, and ascertained that the tin was found 

 near the surface, and that the inhabitants were 

 peaceable, the voyage has been frequently made, 

 though it is longer than the passage from Gaul to 

 Britain (iii. 5. § 11.). 



The Publius Crassus alluded to in this passage 

 must be the youngest son of the triumvir, who 

 was Caesar's lieutenant in Gaul from 58 to 55 b.c. 

 (see Caesar, B. G. ii. 34. ; Drumann, Geschichte 

 Roms, vol. iv. p. 116.) By the Phoenicians the 

 Carthaginians appear to be meant. It is, how- 

 ever, difficult to understand how Strabo con- 

 ceived the tin trade to have been carried on after 

 the destruction of Carthage by the Romans. Be- 

 tween the latter event and the visit of Crassus, 

 there is an interval of about ninety years, during 

 which the Romans might, by their power, have 

 obtained the knowledge of the coveted secret. 

 He evidently believed that the Cassiterides were 

 distinct from Britain. 



Diodorus describes Britain as being, like Sicily, 

 triangular, but with sides of unequal lengths. 

 The promontory nearest the mainland was called 

 Cantium (Kent) ; that at the opposite extremity 

 was called Belerium ; that turned towards the sea 

 was named Orca (a confusion with the Orcades). 

 The inhabitants of the promontory of Belerium 

 were hospitable, and on account of their inter- 

 course with strangers civilised in their habits. It 

 is they who produce tin, which they melt into the 

 shape of astragali, and they carry it to an island 

 in front of Britain called Ictis. This island is 

 left dry at low tides, and they then transport the 

 tin in carts from the shore. Here the traders buy 

 it from the natives, and carry it to Gaul, over 

 which it travels on horseback, in about thirty 

 days, to the mouths of the Rhone (v. 21, 22.). 



Timaeus (fragm. 32.) mentioned an island of 

 Mictis, within six days' sail of Britain, from which 

 tin was brought. The Mictis of Timaeus and the 



