CHAPTER II. 
ehending the Discovery, Settlement, and Com 
merce of the -EAST-INDIES. 
SECTION I. 
An Account of the Nature and Importance of this Defign, with a Regular Plan of 
this Part of the Work. 
X. The Copioufnefs as well as Guriofity ; of the Subject, has occafioned a Multitude of Books upon it. 2 . Yet 
there is no complete Syftem hitherto publifhed. 3. The Difficulties that occur , with refpecl to the Credit due 
to the Antients. 4. The like , or greater , Difficulties met with in the Writings of the Moderns, y. The 
Materials from which this Work is to be collected. 6 . Preliminary Considerations. 7. The Manner in 
which the antient Hiftory of the Indies will be treated , to the Dime of the Romans. 8. It is propofed to 
give a Summary of what thebefl Greek and Latin Authors have left us on this Head. 9. A diftinCl Account 
will nest follow , of the Alterations to which this Commerce has been JiibjeB. 10. The Rife , Progrefs , and 
Declenfion , of the Portuguefe Empire in the Indies will be confidered. 11. The Expeditions , Settlement , 
and prefent State , of the Englifh Factories to be fet in a clear Light. 12. As alfo the Power and Oeco- 
nomy of the Dutch Eaft-India Company , and the Difputes we have formerly had with the Dutch in thefe 
Parts. 13. The Origin , Alterations , and prefent State , of the French Eaft-India Company explained . 
14. And an Account given of the Oftend, Swediih, and Danifti Companies. iy. The Whole to be con- 
cluded with Obfervations on the Conference of the Eaft-India Trade to Europe in general. 
1. M 
^^^HERE are few Subjects more inftruCtive, 
^ of more entertaining, than that of the Hifto- 
ry of the Indies , or which have exercifed the 
Pens of more able Men. To fay the 
Truth, there is fomething in it capable of 
entertaining every Genius. Such as are fond of Antiquities, 
had an Opportunity afforded of exercifing' their Abilities 
the moft curious Refearches ; for though it is evident. 
in 
from the Situation of this Part of the World, that 
India muft: have been peopled very early •, yet it fo falls 
out, that there is fcarce a Country on the Globe, the an- 
- tient Hiftory of which lies buried in fo great Obfcurity. 
' The Lovers of Natural Hiftory found, in all Ages, the 
largeft Field open to their Inquiries in thefe Regions, where 
every Animal, every Tree, every Flower, every Root, was 
a Curiofity. Such, again, as delighted in Speculative Stu- 
: dies, in the quiet Pleafures of Philofophy, and in the Exa- 
: ruination of the Efforts of the human Underftanding, found 
Tufficient Employment in tracing out the Opinions, Man- 
] ners, and Courle of Life, of the Brockmans , or Indian 
: Philofophers, the oldeft SeCt in the World, and, in every 
refpeCt, . the moft lingular, and the moft; extraordinary •, 
while thole, who were charmed with a Variety of ftrike- 
Ing Events, Invaftons, Battles, Revolutions, and the like, 
met with all they could defire, in exploring the Indian 
\ Hiftory j which abounds with a greater Diverftty of fuch 
Events than any other. Laftly, the Lovers of Navigation 
land Commerce were attached to this SubjeCt, from the 
Conftderation of its peculiar Advantages ; for never any 
Traffick made fo confiderable a Figure as that of the In- 
dies \ never was any Country fo highly renowned for the 
Riches of its native Commodities, for fo many and fo valu- 
able Manufactures, or for fuch a Spirit of Induftry and Trade 
amongft its People ; and this in all Ages, from the earlieft 
to the prefent Times. 
We need not wonder, therefore, that fuch a Multitude of 
Books have been written on thofe Topics that we have men- 
tioned, or that fo many able Pens fhould have been em- 
ployed _upon each of them. The Difficulty does not lie 
in finding Guides for our journey, but in diftinguifhing 
arnongft fo many, which has the propereft Talents for con-, 
Numb. XXVI. 
duffing us, and how far we ought to follow him. This 
is an Evil, indeed, common to all curious and ufeful Sub- 
jects ; on which there are naturally many more Books pro-* 
duced, than on fuch as are lefs pleafmg, lefs inftruffive, 
and lefs agreeable, either to the Writer, or the Reader. 
2 . But there is one Thing very Angular with regard to 
this SubjeCt : We have not fo much as a Angle Treatife, that 
embraces it in its full Extent, that takes in the intire Hifto- 
ry of the Antiquities, Revolutions, Cuftoms, Manners, and 
Trade of the antient Indians ; their Correfpondence with 
European Nations ; the Loffes and Revivance of that Cor- 
refpondence in feveral Periods ; the Civil, Natural, and 
Commercial Hiftory of the Indies , before and ftnee the 
Difcovery of the Paftage thither by the Cape of Good Hope \ 
and the Rife, Progrefs, and prefent Situation, of the Settle- 
ments cf European Nations in the Indies. This, I fay, in 
its full Extent, and with due Regard had to the Importance 
of the Work in general, and the Connexion of its Teveral 
Parts, is what, in the Midft of fo many Books, fo many 
Collections, fuch a Multitude cf general Hiflories and 
Abridgments, is no- where to be found. 
Yet I fhould think myfelf very happy, if I could as 
eaftly Ripply the DefeCt, as I can point out the Caufes of 
it, which feem to me to be principally thefe : In the firft 
place, almoft every Writer, who has meddled with thefe 
kind of Subjects, has a particular Genius', which determines 
him to this or that Part of them. One has a Relilh only 
for antient Hiftory, and amufes himfeif with examining 
and comparing the Fables and Fragments he collects out of 
old Authors. Another is ftruck with Curiofities, and he, 
perhaps, fpends many Years in compiling whatever is to 
be met with in relation to Natural Hiftory. A Third has 
a Tafte only for Travels and Voyages, which leads him to 
colleCt thefe *, without ever considering,' that, in all fuch 
Works, there muft be many dark and unintelligible Paf- 
fages, if the Reader is not fnrnifhed with other Lights 
than fuch Sort of Books will afford, to enable him to uri- 
derftand them. 
Another Caufe is, the not fully comprehending the Sub- 
ject, but believing that a General Hiftory of the Indies 
may be written from the Memoirs of this or that particular 
5 ft ' Nation, 
