of the East Indies. 
Chap. II. 
the Northern Indies on the Frontiers of Scythia , and of 
Diamonds and Precious Stones found there, whereas in ail 
probability, the Gold which the Ancients met with in India 
came from the Peninfula of Malacca *, the Diamonds were 
found near Cape Comorin , and the Rubies and other colour’d 
Stones were brought from T aprobana or Ceylon. We will 
conclude thefe Remarks on the Riches of the Indies with a 
few Lines from the Poem of the famous Geographer Dio- 
ftyjius , whom fome Criticks place as high as the Reign of 
Jugujtus , and which Prifcian has thus rendered into Latin. 
They occur towards the End of the Poem, and contain a 
moft lively and elegant Picture of the Riches of the Indies , 
with as much Accuracy and Corre&nefs as any Profe 
Writer whatever, and may ferve as a Specimen both of the 
Matter and of this Manner of Writing. 
Refpice nunc reliquas Afia fuh finihus eras. 
Perjidis ad pontum Carmani , folis ab ortu ; 
Littora pars habitant , media pars limina terra. 
Gedrofi pojl hos tendunt orientis ad ignes , 
Oceanian juxta: radiis proprioribus inde 
Eft Scythia T' dins auftralis , flumen ad Indum , 
ftpui ponto rapidus rubro contrarius exit : 
Gurgite nam celeri reldus decurrit ad Auftrum , 
Caucajiis oriens primum de moniibus altis : 
Lividua cujus Patalene cingitur unda. 
Separat innumeras & vafto gurgite gentes. 
Ad partes rapidi qua vergunt lamina Solis, 
Oritas , Aribafque fimul , Unique Arachotas 
Utentes lanis , fsf Satraidas fimul omnes. 
Parpanei Montis Jub celfa rape , Arienos 
Nomine communi , qui terras ubere nullo 
Florentes habitant , fquallent nam fentibus afpris ; 
Curalii lapidem qui rubrum littore carpunt , 
Sapphirique decus nigri flavique colons 
Saxorum caclunt venis , hac merce beati. 
Indorum Terras hinc Tethyos aquora claudant , 
Efuas primo Titan adfeendens lumine cernit. 
Unde Color populos niger eft flagr antibus ortu , 
Atque gerunt Jimiles hyacintho front e Capillos. 
Effodiunt alii terras aurique metallum : 
Aft Alii texunt tenuiftima tegmina Uni : 
Vel dentes ftringunt elephantis ab ore revulfos .* 
Scrutantur ripes alii torrentibus imbri 
Berylli gemmas glauci , nitidumque adamanta , 
Atque aura viridi legitur qua fplendet Iafpis , 
Curaliique decus liquidi , gratique Topazi 
Purpureoque amethyftos ineft fuffufa colore. 
PHvitias magnas fic tellus ilia miniftrat. 
Affiduifque rigant hanc tot am fontibus amnes : 
Arboribufque viget variis , milioque frequent i, 
Et pretio rubra perfloret arundinis ilia . 
Hie alii fuperant pro cero corpore tantum , 
Injiliant equitum faciles ut more Elephantos : 
Aft alii vivunt fapienti pell ore nudi 
Luminibufque vident rebiis, mirabile , folem : 
Et radios occulis , £s? facramente retraliant , 
Signaque concipiunt arcana lucefuturi. 
Pfittacus hie viridis decoratus torque rubenti 
Nafcitur , humana fimulat qui verbera lingua. 
ii. The principal Hindrance that the Commerce of the 
! Ancients met with was owing to the following Caufes *, 
foil, the over-valuing their own Knowledge, and fuppo- 
fing all Nations at a Diftance from them Barbarians , and 
more or lefs fo in proportion to that Diftance ; the next 
was their adhering to their old Notions in Cofmography, 
notwithftanding the Arguments their own Experience fur- 
niftied to the contrary •, and thirdly, their difeontinuing 
their Voyages to diftant Countries during domeftick Con- 
fufions, by which thofe Routs were loft which were known 
in former times, and their Difcoveries fo confounded, that 
it is fcarce poffible to affirm any thing about them with 
i Certainty. 
The two former were voluntary Errors, the laft was 
mather their Misfortune than their Fault. We have an 
Account in Strabo of a very Angular Navigation to the 
Indies performed in the Reign of Ptolemy Euergetes , which, 
if carefully purfued, might have opened to them a much 
Numb. XXXV. 
§oi 
fhorter and eafier Paflage to the Indies than they had been 
hitherto acquainted with. The Guards that were appointed 
to patrole on the Shore of the Arabian Gulph found an 
Indian half dead upon that Shore, and brought him to the 
King *, all they could tell of him was, that he alone had 
efcaped a Shipwreck j but as they underftood not his Lan- 
guage, they were not able to fay whence he came. The 
King caufed him to be well taken care of, and to be inftrikft- 
ed in the Greek Language, in which, when he had attained 
a fufficient Knowledge to difeourfe, he acquainted him, that 
in a Voyage from the Indies , being driven out of the uftial 
Courfe, he loft all his Companions by Hunger ; and the 
Ship being ftranded, he efcaped alone on Shore, where the 
Guards found him. 
This Man offered to pilot a Ship to his own Country, 
which he did, and carried one Eudoxus with him. The 
Voyage was very happily performed, and they found in the 
Country to which this Indian carried them Aromaticks, and 
feveral forts of Precious Stones, fome of which the Indians 
found in their Rivers, and others they dug out of the Earth 
in the fame manner that Cryftal is found. Eudoxus con- 
ceiving that he had acquired Experience enough by this 
Voyage, fet up for a great Navigator, and undertook 
feveral Voyages to very little Purpofe, becaufe he followed 
his own Notions inftead of endeavouring to acquire proper 
Lights from the Indians , notwithftanding it clearly appears 
from the Accident that befel this Man, that the Indians 
were much bolder and better Seamen than the Greeks. 
But thefe laft were fo perfuaded of their own Skill, and had 
fuch a Contempt for the Nations they held Barbarians , that 
nothing could induce them to change their Sentiments, or 
prevail on them to think of obtaining Lights from thofe they 
fo much deipifed. Bifhop Huet , fpeaking of this Paflage, 
feems to be of Opinion, that from the Time of Ptolemy 
Philadelphia the Egyptians had neglected their Indian Com- 
merce, and recovered it by this Accident. I muft confefs 
this does not appear at all probable to me, and I am rather 
inclinable to believe, that this Indian carried the Ship he 
navigated to a Part of the Indies with which till then they 
had never been acquainted *, and this by the perfect Know- 
ledge he had of the Monfoons , or conftant Trade- Winds j 
for I cannot believe that the Indians , in thefe early Ages, 
had any other Secret which enabled them to make long. 
Voyages in lefs time than other People. This is an Inftance 
of the firft Error. 
As to the fecond, one might collect many ; but that I 
may not dwell too long upon this Subject, I will take notice 
only of one. They had a Notion that the Eaftern and 
unknown Part of the Indies was bounded by the Ocean, 
and that this Ocean communicated with the Hyrcanian , or 
Cafpian Sea ; and upon this they grounded their Hopes of 
difeovering the moft diftant Part of the Indies by the Na- 
vigation of the latter. Strabo declares plainly, however, 
that he believes this Navigation never had been performed * 
but at the fame time admits, that it was pra&icable. This 
he did on the Credit of Patrocles , who was fent to make 
Difcoveries on this Side by the Seleucida j and this he 
labours very earneftly to prove by that kind of reafoning, 
which will always affeft the Vulgar among the Learned, 
and which no great Man ever wants to eftablifh what he 
thinks probable. 
Pliny alfo mentions the Voyages of Patrocles , and feems 
to infinuate that he actually difeover’d fome ftich Paflage ; 
but what he fays is very dark and perplexed, fo that after 
all, one can affirm nothing pofitively from his Writings. 
The Opinion however grew common, and paffed for cur- 
rant, even upon fuch obfeure Teftimonies ; and this drew 
after it, as a neceffary Confequence, a Notion that only 
an inconfiderable Part of the World remained undifeo- 
vered ; and this, together with the whimfical Apprehen- 
fion that one Zone was intolerably hot, and two as into- 
lerably cold, damped the Spirit of enquiring, and confined 
Men to the Spots where they happened to be born, or, at 
moft, to thofe which their Anceftor^ had difeovered by 
Accident or good Fortune, rather than Induftry, Indeed, 
this circumfcribing Scheme is fo ftrong in theAncients, and 
even in thofe Works, which, at firft Sight, appear calcu- 
lated for a different Purpofe ; as for Inftance, the Story of 
the Hand Atlantis , related by Plato, and the famous 
t> M Expedition 
