374 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER 



climate were exactly fimilar, and, confequently, the plenti- 

 ful ufe of thefe warm productions was as neceffary there, 

 as in India, the country where they grew. 



It is true, Arabia was not abandoned wholly to the incle- 

 mency of its climate, as it produced myrrh and frankin- 

 cenfe, which, when tifed as perfumes or fumigations, were 

 powerful antifeptics of their kind, but adminiftered rather 

 as preventatives, than to remove the diforder when it once 

 prevailed. Thefe were kept up at a price, of which, at this 

 day, we have no conception, but which never diminifhed 

 from any circumflance, under which the country where 

 they grew, laboured. 



The iilk and cotton of India were white and colourlefs, 

 liable to foil, and without any variety; but Arabia produced 

 gum and dyes of various colours, which were highly agree- 

 able to the tafte of the Aiiatics. We find the facred fcrip- 

 tures fpeak of the party-coloured garment as the mark of 

 the greateft honour *. Solomon, in his proverbs, too, fays, 

 that he decked his bed with coverings of tapeftry of Egypt f. 

 But Egypt had neither filk nor cotton manufactory, no, 

 nor even wool. Solomon's coverings, though he had 

 them from Egypt, were therefore an article of barter with 

 India. 



Balm, or Balfam J, was a commodity produced in Arabia, 

 fold at a very high price, which it kept up till within thefe 



few 



* Gen. xxxvii. 3 and 2 Sam. xiii. 18. ' f Prov. vii. 16. 



t Vide Appendix, where this tree is defcribed. 



