l62 



A. D. ri' 



Peratic frankincenfe ; 



Ivoi-y ; 



Myrh, a fcarce article here. 



Other odoriferous and aromatic ar- 

 ticles ; 



Mokroton, inferior to the Munditic 

 growth ; 



At the mofl eaflerly point of Africa there was an emporium with a 

 very open, and fonietimes dangerous, anchorage, of which we know no 

 other name than the Greek word Aromata, by which the adjacent point 

 or promontory (Cape Guardafui) was alio called ; and fouth from it was 

 another promontory, and alfo a trading port, both called Tabs. To 

 thefe the articles, carried to the other ports on this coaft, were alfo car- 

 ried. The produce of this part of the country confifted of cafia, gizir, 

 afyphe, magla, moto, all apparently of the cinnamon fpecies j alfo frank- 

 incenfe, and feveral kinds of aromatics. 



South from Tabae lay Opone, the trade of v.'hich included all the ar- 

 ticles of import and export in the preceding ports. And from it there 

 were alfo exported fome of the beft flaves, who were moftly carried to 

 Egypt, and turtle-fliell of the very beft quality in great abundance. 



The ports beyond the Red fea had an eJlahliJJjed trade with Ariakc and 

 Barygaza, both on the weft coaft of India, from which they received 



Corn ; Cotton goods of various kinds ; 



Rice ; Safties ; 



Butter ; Cane honey, called fugar * 

 Oil of fefame ; 



Some of the veflels from India failed for thofe ports on purpofe ; and 

 others only called at them, and, after taking onboard fuch articles as 

 they found ready, proceeded to their deftined ports. This trade appears 

 to have been entirely unconnefted with that of the Egyptian Greeks, 

 except as it may have fuppUed them with Indian goods in thofe ports j 



ported by Diofcorides, who'[Z. i, c . 13] cJiftin- 

 guilhes the cinnamon of Mofyllon as of the beft 

 quality. He adds, that the beft cafia is called 

 Daphiiitic at Akxandiia (from Daphnon a place 

 on this coaft noted by our author), and that /igir, 

 ufyphenon, citto, and dacar, are Inferior fpecits of 

 it. I would not, however, be pofalvc that Pliny 

 did not mean merely that the produce of the adja- 

 cent country was carried to Mofyllon to be (hippvd, 

 ■IS myih is faid, three lines higher in the fame chap- 

 ter, tr) be carried to a port called Ifis. 



* Our word fugar is from the Greek ^Kxp^aj, 

 which is exaftlythe Indian word facar, {^Linfcho- 

 Icn's Voyages, p. 104-3 The Pcripius gives a clear 

 proof, of what I have faid already, that fugar was 

 i;alled honey by the Greeks, till they got the ge- 

 nuine ndme of it from the Eaft : and that the ge- 

 nuine name was but very lately known, may be in- 

 ferred from the author thinking it necelfary to prc- 

 ierve the old name (cane honey) as an explanation. 



It ia rather furj.rifing, that fugar does not ap- 



pear in the Ptriplus among the direct imports from 

 any part of India to Egypt. We know that Ind- 

 ian fugar found its way to Rome at tliis time, ap- 

 parently through the hands of the mtichants oii 

 the eaft coaft of Africa, as Pliny [Z. xii, e. 8] dif- 

 tin^Tuilhes it from Arabian fugar by its fupcrior 

 quality. He fays, it was fcarce, being ufcd only 

 in medicine : and he defctibes it as a white gum, 

 brittle, and in pieces not larger than a filbert nut. 

 This defcrlptiou aniwers to the Indian, or perhaps 

 rather Chinefe, white fugar-candy, which Is com- 

 pared to diamonds for clearnefs and hardnefs. And 

 I fuppofe, the Indian ftone, defcribed by Megaf- 

 thcnca [ii/. Sirob. L, xv,p. 1028] as fwecter thaa 

 figs and honey, was the fame hard fugar-candy. 

 [See alfo DoHor Mofcky's Trcjiifeon Stigcii; p. jj, 

 I'econd ttl.] The Ipirltous or inebriating liquor, 

 made from the iiigar-btaring cane, mentioned by 

 Nearchus, [<;/). Slmb. L. xv, />. 1016]) was probably 

 alfo carried to Rome, though there is no mention 

 of it in I'ljny or the Peiipluj, 



