176 On the Ancient Tin Trade. [March, 



but that the Greeks and Romans frequented it commonly ever 

 after the destruction of Carthage, if not sooner." 



Now, Mr. Editor, this account of the tin trade induced me to 

 make some inquiries of the vicar of my parish, who gave me 

 permission to look at the books in his library ; so after my day's 

 work in the mine (of which, Mr. Editor, I am a captain), I had a 

 peep into Dr. Borlase's Natural History, and a few other works, 

 out in none of them can i find that the Egyptians or Phoeni- 

 cians were such great navigators at the period above mentioned, 

 i. e. about 1700 years before Christ. 



In the 31st chapter of Numbers, verse 22, we are told that the 

 Israelites in their wars against the Midianites are directed to 

 keep for their own use the gold, the silver, the brass, the iron, 

 the tin, and the lead. If this country were then known, we 

 should feel much obliged to Mr. Hodgson, if he would tell us his 

 authority. Had this country been the only one in which tin was 

 ever found, it would certainly have been a strong ground for pre- 

 suming that the Phoenicians had traded here at the time of the 

 Trojan war. Tin was generally known in Spain,* and amber + 

 has been found in other places besides the Baltic. Therefore I 

 do not think that there is " unquestionable evidence" that it 

 was known to the Phoenicians in the time of Homer, about eight 

 centuries before Christ. Carthage, we know, was founded by a 

 colony from the Phoenicians nearly 900 years before Christ; and 

 other colonies were planted by them at Tangier, Malaga, Gades, 

 &c. Now, Sir, as I know very few of the old books, 1 should be 

 glad to be informed where I shall find any account of people 

 before that period venturing into the Atlantic. Where we are 

 left in darkness we may be allowed to reason from analogy. 

 When the Portuguese became acquainted with the use of the 

 compass about three centuries ago, what sort of voyages, and 

 what discoveries, did they make, on the coast of Africa, and how 

 easily were they deterred from prosecuting them by a storm. 

 Cape Non was for some time the extreme point to which they 

 ventured. Will it then be believed that the Phoenicians or 

 Egyptians were in the habit of trading to this country without 

 the aid of the needle 16-^- centuries before Christ. It may be in 

 the recollection of those who have read Robertson's America, 

 that a Portuguese in sailing for the Cape of Good Hope was 

 driven by the currents and winds out of his course, and unex- 

 pectedly discovered a part of South America. In the same way 

 do I believe that this country was first found ; for in those 

 days what navigator, however adventurous, would have quitted 

 the coast of Spain to explore unknown seas 1 If the trade in 

 tin by sea had been known for so many centuries, how does it 

 happen that Herodotus^ should have been perfectly ignorant of 

 the matter, and in his mention of tin points to the Eridanus, 



• Pliny, lib. 34, c. 16. f Pliny, lib. 37, c. 3. i Thalia, Sect 115. 



