PEARLS. 93 
mercial spirit which prompted the Mahomedans of 
Persia to visit the remotest regions of the East, ani- 
mated the Christians of that country. 
But while the Christians and Mahomedans con- 
tinued to extend their knowledge of the East, the 
inhabitants of Europe found themselves almost 
entirely excluded from any intercourse with their 
Oriental neighbours. Egypt had passed from under 
the Roman yoke; Alexandria shut her port against 
them; and the new lords of the Persian Gulf, 
satisfied with supplying the demand for Indian com- 
modities in their own extensive dominions, neglected 
to convey them, by any of the usual channels, to the 
trading towns of the Mediterranean. The opulent 
inhabitants of Constantinople and other great cities 
of Europe, bore this privation of luxuries to which 
they had been accustomed with extreme impatience ; 
and the surprising efforts which were then made to 
open fresh channels of communication with the East, 
strikingly evince the high estimation in which its 
commodities were held. The endeavours of the 
European merchants were ultimately crowned with 
success: Constantinople became a considerable mart 
of Indian and Chinese commodities, and thus the 
pearls of India were again circulated throughout 
Europe. 
It is foreign to our purpose to notice the various 
