ROBERT POCOCK. 243 



to this day in the principal parts of Asia and 

 Africa. 



" And as to our buildings : to glimpse at ancient 

 times, the Romans came after the Phoenicians and built 

 edifices, but with what materials ? We have none of 

 their fine Corinthian or ornamented columns remain- 

 ing, as are seen in Rome and Italy. No, the buildings 

 are mostly of rough stones of our own country, with a 

 few Roman flat tiles worked in with them, made or 

 collected on the spot, or brought from some neigh- 

 bouring lord of the soil, to whom a fee or grant fo r such 

 permission must have been previously obtained. Hence 

 a partial commerce in building materials commenced, 

 while Eastern produce was in the hands of infidels and 

 Jews, who made annual excursions, resting in certain 

 places for disposal of their commodities (among which 

 we find spices as one of the most ancient) at a certain 

 period of day, from whence originated the festivals, 

 fairs, and marts, of which a further account will be given. 



" When we behold an old castle, or building, and 

 observe that the materials with which it is constructed 

 are not the produce of its soil, a natural question 

 arises, from whence were the bulky substances ob- 

 tained ? by what means ? by whom ? and how 

 paid for ? Here the study of lithology and geology 

 will arise, and the author congratulates himself that 

 the pleasure and knowledge he gained from the study 

 of fossils, by Dacosta, procuring also a specimen of 

 each sort described, with some choice minerals and a 

 copious museum which he collected (all lost ! this will 

 be explained in the life of the author, about to be 

 written), tended to fix on his memory the different 

 indigenous substances of different countries ! 



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