LITERATURE OP THE ARABS. 91 



brary at Cairo could boast of two massive globes, one 

 of which was of brass, the other of pure silver, con- 

 structed by an Arabian cosmographer, which weigh- 

 ed 3000 drachms, and is said to have cost as many 

 thousand crowns of gold. In this department Abul- 

 feda holds a conspicuous rank. The Sheriff Edrisi 

 of Cordova, who made the celebrated silver globe 

 for Roger II., king of Sicily, is justly distinguished 

 for his " Geographical Amusements," which he 

 wrote and dedicated to that monarch. Of this, 

 however, only an abridgment has appeared in print, 

 published by the Maronites under the absurd title 

 of " Geographia Nubiensis." The Saracens of Spain 

 were at great pains to cultivate this science by ac- 

 tual surveys ; and Casiri has described not less than 

 eighteen Voyages or Itineraries of learned men, 

 who travelled for the express purpose of acquiring 

 and diffusing a knowledge of geography. Ibn Ras- 

 chid, one of them, journeyed through Africa, Egypt, 

 and Syria, hearing and conversing with the most 

 eminent scholars in those countries ; of whom, as 

 well as of their most remarkable libraries and aca- 

 demies, he has given some account in his travels. 



Statistics and political economy, though of slow 

 growth among the Arabs, did not escape their at- 

 tention. The ambition of conquest was succeeded 

 by a spirit of inquiry into the wealth and resour- 

 ces of the countries that had yielded to their arms. 

 So early as the reign of Omar II., Assam ibn Ma- 

 lec, his viceroy in Spain, transplanted into that 

 country much of the wisdom of the East as respects 

 the improvements of productive industry. In the 

 statistical survey which he composed for the caliph's 

 information, he described not only the different 



