40 ESSAY ON 



There he procured some information about Persia ; 

 and seeino' rich articles of trade from India, his curio- 

 sity prompted him to visit also that country. He 

 began his travels 126 B. C. and returned to Cliina in 

 \\5. That there was a constant commercial inter- 

 course between China and India, anfl even Ctylon, 

 about the beginning of the Christian Era, is attested 

 by Pliny*. The same passage establishes also a re- 

 gular intercourse between the Roman merchants anrl 

 China, at that early period. This singular passage I 

 shall insert here, as corrected by Salmasius : for 

 Pliny's style is often obscure, from his fondness for 

 quaint words and expressions. A certain King of 

 Ceylon sent once four ambassadors to the Emperor 

 Claudius; and the chief of this embassy wascalled 

 E,ACHiAS, who being interrogated, whether he knew 

 the»Sere^, or Chinese, answered ^'' Ultra mantes Emodos 

 Seras quoque ah ipsis aspici, notes etiam commercio. 

 Patrem IlACHiiE commeasse eo : advents sibi Seras 

 oceursare!'' Then Pliny says, " Ccetera eadem qiice 

 nostri negotiatores : Jluminis ulteriore rip a merccs 

 positasju.vta venaUa tolli ah his, si placeat permutatio.^' 

 This I «hall take the liberty to paraphrase in the 

 following manner. Rachias answered, that the 

 Seres lived beyond the IIaimada,ox Snowy mountains, 

 with regard to Ceylon: that the Seres were often 

 seen, or visited, by his countrymen ; and were 

 well known to them, through a commercial inter- 

 course. That his father had been there, and when- 

 ever caravans from Ceylon (and India I should 

 suppose) went there, the Seres came part of the 

 way to meet them in a friendly manner ; which, 

 it seems, was not the case with the caravans from 

 the west, consisting of Roman Merchants. Then 

 Pliny adds ; as for the rest, and the manner of 

 disposing of the goods, the Seres behave to them 

 as they do to our merchants. Rachia is derived 



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* Pliny, lib. 60, c. 220. 



