i68 



A. D. T2>' 



too late for accomplifliing their voyages, ufed to pafs the winter here, 

 and exchange their calicoes, corn, and oil, for frankincenfe, the fale of 

 which the king moft rigoroufly monopolized in his own hands *. 



Apologus, an eftablilhed and celebrated emporium at the mouth of 

 the River Euphrates, and Omana on the coaft of Perfia, (or rather of 

 Carmania) were frequented by large veffels from Barygaza with cargoes 

 of brafs and woods of various kinds, and they received frankincenfe 

 from Cane. The exports from them to Barygaza and Arabia were 



Wine ; 



Palm, or perhaps palm wine, (jpohil) 



in great quantities j 

 Gold ; 

 Slaves. 





Pearls, found near the mouth of 

 the Perfian gulf, inferior in qua- 

 lity to the Indian, in great quan- 

 tities ; 



Purple drapery, manufactured in 

 Perlia ; 



And boats, called madaratce, joined together by fewing, were carried 



from Omana to Arabia. 



The tiril trading port in India, is called in the Periplus the Barbaric 



emporium f, fituated on the principal llream of the Sinthus, (Sindi, 



* This monopolizing fpirit is general among 

 the fovereigns of many of the Oriental countries to 

 tliis day. 



AH the Bntient authors, from Herodotus down- 

 ward, who have had occalion to treat of Arabia, 

 have given us a number of labulous ftories ot won- 

 derful hardlhips and dangers incurred in coUefting 

 frankincenfe, cinnamon, Sec. from the mortal bite 

 of flying fer.pents, which infelled the frankincenlc 

 groves, terrible bats which flew at the eyes of thofe 

 who gathered calia, and cinnamon only to be ob- 

 tained from the nells of birds, which brought it 

 from the country vvlieie Bachus was born. Ac- 

 cording to Theophratlus, \_H\jL plant. L. ix, c. 4] 

 there was a report, that all the niyrii and frankin- 

 cenfe produced in Sabxa was dcpofited in the tem- 

 ple of the Sun, each proprietor placing a note ot 

 the quantity and price upoti his own parcel. The 

 merchant!-, having chofcn their parcels, carried 

 them away, leaving the fpecilied fums of money in 

 their places. Tiien came the prieft, who took a 

 third part of the money for the god, and the re- 

 mainder was facredly prtferved for the proprietor. 

 Pel haps tills is a mytliological way of telling us 

 that there was a public hall, where the cultivators 

 configned their produce to proper agents to be 

 fold for thcni, and paid a heavy duty to the priclh. 

 The author ol the i'ciiplus has no flying ferpcnts, 

 no bat ■, no birds importing cinnamon ; but he 

 fays, that the frankincenfe trees infcdled the ai>- 

 With pellilcnlial vapours, and that the gathering 

 was a talk impofeJ upon condemned crimi)ii»ls> to 

 whom it was certain death, lie adds, tliat it need- 

 ed nobody to j'uaid it, the goda taking that charge 

 upon thcinfclvcs, fu that if any perion cariicd a 



Tingle grain of it onboard his veflel ivithout the 

 ling's pcrmijjtoii, it would be impoflible for her to 

 get out of the harbour unlefs by the particular inter- 

 vcntion of the deity. We find by Pliny [L. xii, c. 

 14] that thofe very vigilant gods were quite ne- 

 glectful of the frankincenfe after it was out of their 

 own country ; for in Alexandria the moll fcvere 

 rellriclions were not fuflicient to prevent the em- 

 bez'/lemcnt of it. Pliny fays, that the Arabian 

 ambalfadors who were at Rome gave fuch anfwtrs 

 to thofe who made inquiries concerning the nature 

 of frankincenfe, as left them more at a lofs than 

 ever refpefting it ; and he very jullly remarks, that 

 the wonderful ftories were circulated in order to 

 raife the prices. [Z. sii, cc. 14, ly.] They alfo 

 fcrved to prevent the Phcenicians and other fo- 

 reigners from attempting to difcover the places 

 where fome of thofe pretious articles, which were 

 not natives of Arabia, were produced. Jull fo the 

 Portuguefe in the fixteenth century fpread terrible 

 reports of the wonderful dangers and hardfliips of 

 navigating the Indian ocean. 



\ It is not improbable that this emporium, af- 

 feiflcdly called Barbaric by the Greeks, was that 

 to which the Arabians traded in the time of Aga- 

 tharchidcs, and the Giceks at the commencement 

 of their India trade, (fee above, pp. 104, 157) which 

 Pliny calls Patala, a name which appears from Dio- 

 nyfius Periegetes and .Airian to be indigenous. 

 Ptolemy, indeed^ has both Uarbari aiul Patala on 

 branches of the Indus : but his Minagara is on a 

 river far diftant from tlie Indus, in dirccl contra- 

 diftion to the Periplus, which is finely fupcrior 

 auihority. 



