Chap. IX. of the Eas 
certain rich Iflands in the Indian Seas, fuch as T 'aprohana i 
Palifmunda , and Panchaia ; but they were very confufed 
indeed. As to the firft, they have defcribed it fo imper- 
fectly, that it is almoft impoffible to guefs where it lies ; 
the fecond was no other than the Ifland of Pattala , long 
before difcovered by Alexander and the other was a mere 
Invention, or a Story palmed upon them by the Arabians > 
as Plutarch very judieioufly obferves a . 
It is true, that feveral antient Writers fpeak of the In- 
dian Merchants, that frequented the Ports of Arabia ; but 
they came only from the Coaft of Malacca , and the Coun- 
tries bordering upon Perfia \ and were as little acquainted 
with the Countries from whence the Arabians tranfported 
their moftValuable Merchandize, as the Greeks and Romans 
themfelves, who alfo frequented their Coafts, and carried 
on a confiderable Commerce with them ; but not in thefe 
rich Commodities ; for Pliny obferved, that they came only 
from Ocilis , and that the Price was fet by the King of that 
Country, which other Writers have confirmed b . 
This Account is fo much the more probable, as it 
correfponds exadtly, both with antient and modern Re- 
lations ; for, with refpect to the former, it Ihews how the 
Country might of old be as rich and opulent as the 
Greek Writers reprefent it ; and, on the other hand, how it 
comes to be in fo different a Condition at this Day; for 
that the Air is exceffive hot, the Climate near the Coaft 
very unwholfome, the beft Part of the Soil fandy and bar- 
ren, and the Country in general producing nothing but In- 
cenfe, and rich Gums, of all the valuable Commodities, 
that were formerly brought from thence, are Facts that 
cannot be now difputed c : And, upon a View of what an- 
tient Writers have delivered, we fhall eafily difcover, that 
many of the wifeft of them fufpedted the very thing that 
I maintain, that is, that the Wealth of this Country was 
the Refult of Commerce, and not of its natural Fer- 
tility ; for Strabo d long ago obferved, that they obtained 
vaft Quantities of Gold, and precious Stones, in Exchange 
tor their Aromatics ; and that thefe rich Goods were again 
exchanged for fuch Commodities and Manufactures of the 
W eft, as they fcood molt in need of, or with which they 
were molt affe&ed : And hence it was, that, in fpite of the 
Difficulties attending its Navigation, the Arabian Gulph 
was one of the molt frequented Seas in the then known 
World. In the fecond Place, I obferved, that this accounts 
perfectly well for the Miftakes that we meet with in antient 
Writers, as to the Places where Spices, and other valuable 
Commodities, are found. Their Reports as to Arabia, and 
Its Fruitfulnefs in Spices, were fo far founded in Truth, as 
that they knew no Country where they were to be found, 
but that ; and the Defire of poffeffing fo rich and valuable 
a Place, was what principally moved Augufius , and ,fome 
of the fucceeding Emperors, to think of conquering Ara- 
bia i, which had been before in Danger, from the Power 
of Alexander, on the fame Account e . 
It was probably the Fear of the Romans , that induced 
the Arabians to frame the new Tale, of Cinnamon’s grow- 
m the Country of the Ethiopians and T roglodytes , and that 
it was brought to them with infinite Difficulty •, I fay, they 
might very poftibly be induced to circulate this Story, in 
order to. engage the Romans in a War with thofe People ; 
which would have been an effectual Means of keeping their 
Forces on the other Side of the Gulph. It is very plain, 
from what Pliny fays, that this Notion of Spices growing 
In Ethiopia , was a very new thing, and that he thought he 
had made a great Difcovery, in publifning it to the World: 
And what ftill confirms this the more, is, the Fafif he gives 
us from his own Knowledge ; viz. that the firft Cinnamon- 
plant that ever was feen at Rome , was brought thither in 
the Reign of Titus , and was confecrated in the Temple 
erefted to the Memory of Flavius Vefpafianus f . 
But I know it maybe objected, that abundance of Doubts 
have been moved about the Cinnamon of the Antients, as 
if it was quite another thing from the Spice known to us 
by that Name. . In Anfwer to this, I muft remark, that 
the Objection rifes from the Defcriptions left us by the An- 
tients, of a thing they had never feen, but took their Ac- 
t Indies. 43 J 
counts upon Truft from the Sabeans , who, with refpeCt tA 
them, had the Monopoly of that Commodity 5 fo that, in the 
firft Place, there is no great Credit due to their Defcriptions 5 
and the lefs, becaufe they agree as little with each other, 
as with our Accounts of that Spice, from thofe who are beft 
acquainted with it. In the next Place, we are to con- 
fider, that in the Ifland of Ceylon , from whence we have all 
our Cinnamon, they diftinguiffi no lefs than nine different 
Sorts, by the Adjunction of fo many different Epithets to 
the Word Goronda , which, in their Language, fignifies 
Cinnamon : The third Sort, for Inftance, is called Capperoii 
Goronda , which is as much as to fay, the Camphire Cinna- 
mon ; and there is a Kind of wild Cinnamon, that grows 
on the Continent of India , near Goa, called by the Natu- 
ralifts in India , Canella Malabarica Jylevfiris, or the Wild 
Malabar Cinnamon ; which fo exaCtly refemblfes the Cap - 
perou Goronda, that it is not to be diftinguifhed but by the 
Tafte : And, in all Probability, it was a Root of this Plant 
that Pliny faw confecrated in a golden Urn, in the Temple 
of Augufius or, at leaft, his Defcription agrees very well 
with this. In the third Place, if we confider, the .im per- 
fect and difcordant Defcriptions, which the Antients give 
of this Spice, and the many Kinds of it that are known 
to the Moderns, we cannot wonder at the Doubts that 
have arifen about it ; nor can we reafonably believe, that 
any Argument, drawn from thence, ought to weigh againft 
the pofitive Matters of Fact, that have been laid down, 
and are not liable to any Difpute g . 
The third Obfervation I fhall make with regard to the 
Commerce of the Romans in the Eaft, is in relation to the 
precious Stones they brought from thence ; about which 
as many Doubts and Difficulties have been raffed, as about 
the Spices ; and for the very fame Reafon, becaufe they 
were not well acquainted with the Subject, but fpoke of 
Things at fecond-hancl, and generally from the Reports of 
the Arabian Merchants, from whom they received them. 
Thus, for Inftance, their Defcription of the Opal does by 
no means agree with the Stones of that kind that are 
known amongft us ; and, as for the Topaz, it is impoffible 
to know what to think of it, fince they fometimesdefcri.be 
it of a green, as well as at other times, of a gold Colour, 
which is the only one known to us. As to their Emeralds, 
they diftinguiffi the Indian from the Egyptian , but we 
know not now of any Indian Emeralds ; by wfrich I mean* 
Emeralds that are actually found in India ; for the oriental 
Emerald is a Phrafe in Trade, and means no more than a 
very perfect Stone in point of Colour and Hardnefs, which 
the beft Judges have efteemed to be the Egyptian Emerald ; 
though fome fay, that the Inhabitants of the Philippines 
actually received them from Peru, before that Country was 
difcovered by the Spaniards ; and that thefe, coming into 
Europe , from India, were, on that account, diftinguifhed 
by the Name of oriental Emeralds h . 
Before I part with this Subject, I cannot but obferve, 
that the Heat, expreffed by Pliny, againft thefe Orna- 
ments, and his farcaftic Remark, that if the antient Con- 
querors of Rome could return from the Dead, they would 
regret their Triumphs, when they faw, that the foie Effect 
of them, was to deck the fine Ladies, their Defcendants, with 
an infinite Number of Jewels of high Price, is ill-founded. 
There is, no doubt, a Luxury in Stones, as well as in other 
Things : But, on the other hand, they are much miftaken, 
who affirm, there is no intrinfic Worth in them, and that 
they ought not to be regarded, or valued. The intrinfic 
Worth of Iron, and other Metals, confifts in their Ufe- 
fulnefs •, the intrinfic Worth of Silver and Gold, in their 
being proper Meafures of the Value of other Things ; 
and the former, with refpedt to Mankind, is not a Grain 
more important than the latter : Without ufeful Metals, 
we ftiould be much at a Lofs at home ; and, without thefe 
common Standards, as to the Worth of which, all Nations 
are agreed,we could not conveniently carry on any Commerce 
abroad. It is in this laft Light, therefore, that precious 
Stones are to be confidered ; they are extremely beautiful 
to the Eye, which gains them a general Efteem ; they are 
wonderfully firm and durable ; and this augments their 
« Cellar. Gwralh. Antic tom I t noi J ‘ ^ ? C P ‘ fih ath . a r chides de Rubra Man, p. 63 , 64 , 65 . Periplus Mari Rrythrai, p. u 
Rat Hi/1 lit xii n Tu 1 Geograph, lib. XVI. e Arrian, lib . vii. Plutarch, in Alexandra. f Plh 
N ri M H ' on 9 ‘ U hb ' XXU See t ie Account of die J ewels bought frc ® Eafi Indies, in Se&. xv. 
• 6 S ° 0 - 5S ' : Cred: 
