JOURNAL 



OF THE 



ASIATIC SOCIETY 



JANUARY, 184/. 



Remarks on the Sequel to the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, and on 

 the country of the Seres, as described by Ammianus Marcellinus : 

 By James Taylor, Esq., Civil Surgeon, Dacca. 



At a period long anterior to the navigation of the Erythrean Sea by 

 the Egyptian Greeks, the Arabians carried on a trade with India, and 

 were the means, either directly, or through the Phoenicians, of supply- 

 ing the Western world with the valuable productions of the East. It 

 is generally supposed that they availed themselves of their knowledge 

 of the monsoons to make periodical voyages to this country across the 

 open sea, and that they had settlements along its western coast, and 

 even as far south as Ceylon. On these points, however, nothing certain 

 is known ; and with the exception of the fact of there being enumerated 

 in the Sacred Writings particular spices and perfumes which are the 

 indigenous productions of India, there remains little or no evidence of the 

 trade that existed between Arabia and the farther East at the remote 

 period here referred to. Of the extent to which Indian commerce was 

 carried on by the Sabeans, and Phoenicians ; of the commodities they 

 gave in exchange for the merchandize they imported ; or of the emporia 

 on the Indian coast, whither they repaired for the purpose of traffic, we 

 are entirely ignorant : and indeed, of the ancient trade of India gene- 

 rally, it may be said, that we have no authentic information prior to the 

 Christian era.* The earliest work extant, in which a detailed account 

 * Appendix, No. 1. 



No. I. New Series. b 



