|| 2; The Difcovery, Settlement, and Commerce Book I. 
H.e likewife tells us, that the Emperor Vefpafian was the now found, and which almoft all the Writers, who hav 
ihrft, who in the Capitol, and in the Temple of Peace, de- gone before me, have thought imprafficabk. I 
dicated^ Chaplets of. Cinnamon, indexed in fine Gold; and however, befeech the candid and ingenious Perufer, not r 
in the Temple erected to the Memory of that Emperor, fufpeff me of Vanity; fori freely profefs, that it is not from 
there was a green Cinnamon-tree preferved in a golden any Sagacity or Penetration of mine, but merely from In- 
T effel, which, every Year, thruft out Drops of a whitifh duftry, and the Comparifon of antient and modern Writers 
Liquor, which afterwards grew hard like a Gum : And that I am enabled to fet him right in this Matter, and t* 
this feems to have been Camphire. He tells us alfo, of lay open the Truth in fuch a manner, as to convince hxm° 
Ginger, Pepper, and Cloves, which were brought by the that both the Antients and the Moderns have delivered 
fame Indian Fleet : And thefe Spices, when the Indian nothing but what is founded in Faff ; and that their feem- 
Thade was firft known to the Romans^ were, of all its ing Contradictions arife only from their not having been fuf- 
Commodities, held molt valuable. ficiently confidered. 
They likewife brought, in thefe Fleets, Abundance of In the firft place, I muft obferve, that there is nothin® 
precious Stones, particularly Diamonds ; of which Pliny reported by Aniquity, which has given fo much Trouble to 
diftinguifhes fix Kinds, the beft of which was the Indian ; modern Critics, as the Appellation of Happy, conferred on 
and after that the Arabian Diamond ; which was efteemed the South Part of the Peninfula of Arabia , which in itfelf 
the richeft Jewel in thofe Days, as it is in ours. Pearls is a very defert and barren Country, and produces nothin® 
were next in Price ; and thefe, too, were brought from in Appearance capable of meriting that Title. The learm 
the Coaft of India , and from Arabia. We may guefs at ed Mr. Huet , Bifhop of Avrancbes , was the firft who hit 
fhe Value of them, by what is reported of Cleopatra ' s dif- upon the true Reafon ; and far be it from me, to conceal 
Living in Vinegar, and then (wallowing, a Pearl that was the Lights I have derived from the fhort Hint given by that 
efteemed worth near fifty thoufand Pounds of our Money : great Man, who, in his Treatife of the Commerce of the 
But it is a remarkable Observation, which Pliny takes from Antients, tells us, that Arabia theHappy was fo called from 
Feneftella , that Pearls bore a very high Price, before Egypt the Conveniency of its Ports , and the prodigious Riches ac- 
became a Roman Province ; but afterwards they grew com- quired by its Inhabitants, from their extenfive Commerce 
mon ; and, in his Time, the Ladies had their Shoes em- This Angle Thought, properly purfued, will enable us to 
broidered with them. Emeralds were next in Price : And refolve all the Difficulties that have arifen about the Com- 
of thefe there were twelve Sorts ; the very beft of which merce of the Indies. 
were thofe brought from the Northern Indies ; and the Strabo, fpeaking of the Sabeans, tells us, that, in their Coun- 
next, thofe of Ethiopia and Egypt. The Opal, which try. Gold, Silver, preciousStones, and every other valuable 
was a Stone of great Value, and of different Colours, was Commodity, appeared with Profufion, infomuch that they 
likewife brought in thefe Fleets: Of which Pliny tells us a were juftly efteemed themoft opulent Nation in the World 6 
remarkable Story, of one Nonnius , a Senator, who was We may add to this, that almoft all the other Na- 
proferibed by Antony , for the fake of a fine Ring, in tions of the World, which were diftinguiffied for their 
which one of thefe Stones was fet, valued at twenty thou- Trade and Wealth, derived it from thence. It was 
fond Sefterces. The Indian Rubies were likewife in high from hence, that the antient Egyptians drew their Sup- 
Efteem, efpecially fuch as were of a very bright Colour ; plies d ; from hence the Tyrians had their richeft Commodi- 
but they were then, it feems, as they are now, exceedingly ties 6 ; from hence Solomon received fuch valuable Pre- 
fcarce. Add to thefe the Topaz, and an infinite Number fents f ; from hence the Egyptians, under the Ptolemies ob- 
of other Stones, that were then accounted Jewels. We tained their moft valuable Merchandize 5 ; and from hence 
are next to reckon Metals, efpecially Gold, of which they as the foregoing Account ffiews, the Romans brought all 
had great Quantities, by means of this Trade; as alfo the Riches of the Eaft h . The great Difficulty, then, lies 
Ebony, and other rich Woods, with Incenle, Gums, in finding out, how thefe People came by this prodigious 
Ivory, and other Oriental Commodities a . Wealth. This Secret, when once revealed, will appear plain 
Againft the Ufe of all thefe Pliny inveighs bitterly, af- and eafy : The Situation of this Country, and their early 
firming that they were principally procured to oblige Wo- Knowledge of the Trade-winds, or Monfoons, threw the 
men ; and that the Riches of the Empire were fquandered whole Trade of the Indies into their Hands ; and as they were 
away, merely to make the Roman Ladies vain. As an the moft fubtle People in the World, they took care to 
Inftance of this, he tells us, that he had often looked with conceal their Navigation with the utmoft Caution* It is 
Amazement upon Lollia Paulina , the Dowager of Cali- clear from the Account we have already given out of Pliny r 
gula, whofe Head-drefs, Necklace, and Bracelets, alone, that Abundance of Fables were invented, to keep up the 
were adorned with Emeralds, Pearls, and other precious Price of Cinnamon, and other Spices ; and the laft Ac- 
Stones, to the Amount of forty Millions of Sefterces, count, which he gives as the true one, was, in faff, as 
which makes upwards of three hundred and twenty thou- much a Fable as any of the reft ; and ferves only to ihew 
fand Pounds of our Money. He adds, that her Father that the Arabians , who were always famous for the Fer- 
Marcus Lollius had acquired the immenfe Wealth, with tility of their Invention, knew how to proportion the Stories 
which all thefe fine Things were purchafed, by taking great they told, to the Lights which other Nations had received. 
Bribes from the Princes of the Eaft ; for which being The Cinnamon, and other Spices, fold in the Port of 
called to an Account, and finding that Caius Cafar, the Ocilis, were undoubtedly brought from the Eland of Cey- 
Grandfon of Augujius, would not fereen him, as he expeffed, Ion , to which the Arabians failed by the Help of one Mon- 
ks fwaliowed a Dofe of Poifon; and thereby prevented foon, and returned by the other. When therefore we are 
the Judgment of the Laws which he fo much feared b . told, that Hypalus firft difeovered the South-weft Wind 
Thefe Faffs, taken together, are fufficient Proofs of the would carry a Ship direffly to the Coaft of India, we muft 
Wealth, as well as Luxury, of the Romans ; and of that refer this to the Greeks , and other European Nations ; for 
prodigious Alteration made in their Affairs, by the Con- the Arabians underftood this kind of Navigation long be- 
queft of Egypt , and the Paffage thereby opened to the fore, as appears plainly by the vaft Abundance of rich 
Commerce of the Red Sea f and of the Indies ; which never Commodities with which their Markets were flocked ; for 
failed of enriching the Countries 'where it was fettled, to as none of thefe, except Incenfe, and other Perfumes, ever 
a Degree almoft beyond Credit. were the Growth of Arabia, it is manifeft, that they brought 
io. That I may render the Hiftory of the antient Trade them from the Elands of India, 
of India as clear, as intelligible and fatisfaffory to the Reader I fay, it is manifeft, that they brought them, and that : 
as it is polfible, and that I may leave him with few or no they were not brought to them ; becaufe, if they had, the : 
Difficulties about it, I will take this Opportunity, after fet- Secret muft foon have broken out, and the Navigation to • 
ting down at large, what Pliny, and other antient Writers, the Eaftern Elands have been made thoroughly known i 
have delivered as Matter of Faff, to add fome Obfervations to the Egyptians , the Greeks , and the Romans, which it : 
ghat may reconcile them to the State in which Things are never was. 1 hey had, indeed, fome confufed Notions of 1 
a P eriplus Maris Erytbrrei. Marciani Heracleotrs P eriplus. Plin. b Plin. Eat. Hift, lib. ix, c. 3 5 • c Geograph. lib.xvi. . 
J)iod. Sicul, lib. \\i. Agatharchides de Rubro Mari, p. 63- d Diod. Sicul. Strabo. P eriplus Maris Erjtbrtei. e Ezek. xxxvii. 
qjgf 2,2 . ^ l Kings x. 2 Cbron. ix. S Diod . Sicul. Dion QaJJius. Strabo, ? Plin, A at. Aid, Its. vi. c, 23 • 
certain : 
