Chap. II. of the East Indies. 503 
Men in each Country. 1 have failed from the Indies to 
tt p er fa in Indian Ships, when no European has been on 
Board but myfelf: The Pilots were all Indians , and they 
46 tifed the Foreftaff and Quadrant for their Obfervations. 
44 Thefe Inftruments they have from us, and made by 
ours, not in the leaft varying therefrom, except that the 
tt Characters are Arabic •, and by the way I obferved, that 
«« the Arabs are the moft fkilful Navigators of all the 
44 Afiatics and Africans ; but neither they nor the Indians 
44 make ufe of Charts, and indeed they do not much want 
44 them ; fome they have, but they are copied from ours, 
44 for they are quite ignorant of Perfpeffive.” 
13. After the copious Detail we have given of the Pro- 
grefs of the Commerce of the Ancients in the Eaft, we fhall 
conclude this Section with a very fuccinff Comparifon be- 
tween their Endeavours and Succeffes in this Refpeff, 
and the Labours in the fame way of the Moderns. In the 
hr ft place then we have made it highly probable, that even 
in the moft flourifiiing State of their Trade, their affual 
Difcoveries did not reach farther to the Eaft than the Penin- 
fula of Malacca •, for as to the Sinus Magnus , they could 
know nothing of it but by Hear-fav, unlefs they had known 
all the reft of the Indies. On the Continent again the 
Sin<e, which were the Siamefe , were the laft People they 
knew on that Side. In regard to the Northern Indies , they 
knew very little with any fort of Certainty beyond the 
Emodian Mountains ; and moft evident it is, even from 
their belt Writers, that they had not fo much as Reports 
of the Nations inhabiting beyond the Mountains of Imaus. 
But we have difcovered Eaft ward the Country of Cochin- 
China , and all the Countries dependant upon it, the King- 
dom of T onkin , the vaft Empire of China , all the Iflands 
of the Sound , the Moluccas , the Old and New Philippines , 
and the Country of New Guinea , fo that confidered in this 
Light, our Difcoveries exceed theirs by twenty Degrees of 
Longitude. Towards the North again, befides what has 
been difcovered by Land, the Dutch have moft certainly 
proceeded as high as forty-five Degrees failing to the North- 
eaft of Japon , fo that without exaggerating the Part of Afia 
made known to us by our Eaft- India Voyages, is equal to 
all the reft of Afia that was known to the ikncients. It is 
not therefore at all ftrange, that our India Trade fliould fo 
much exceed theirs, though carried on at fo much greater 
Diftance. 
In the next place, it may be obferved, that though the 
Trade to the Indies was never carried to Perfection by the 
Egyptians , Tyrians , or Romans , yet it was known to them, 
and made the Subjeff of their Books for a long Courfe of 
Ages, fince from the firft Kingdom of Eyre to the Reign 
of Conft'antine the Great includes above eight hundred Years, 
whereas all our Difcoveries of the Eajl-Indies were made 
within two Centuries after a Paffage was found thither by 
the Cape of Good Hope , fo that in this refpeff the Induftry 
of the Ancients is very far furpaffed by that of the Moderns. 
The third Obfervation I fnall make is with regard to the 
Difference between a Land Force and a Naval Power. We 
have feen how many fruitlefs Attempts were made by the 
AJfyrian and Perfian Monarchs to extend their Conquefts 
towards the Eaft ; and we have likewife feen of how fhoit 
a Continuance the Conquefts were of Alexander the Greats 
and his Succeffors, together with the Attempts made by the 
Romans , after they had reduced Egypt to a Province, and 
were Mafters of a great Part of Afia, which, all of them, are 
nothing in Comparifon of the Empire eftablifhed by the 
Portugueze , or rather the Comparifon falls as far fhort as 
the Power of the little Kingdom of Portugal when thrown 
into the Balance with that of the Empire of Rome ; and the 
Eftablifhments of the Englifh and Dutch in thofe Parts ; 
but more efpecially of the latter plainly demonftrate, that 
with refpeff to the Advantages derived from Conquefts, a 
Maritime Power is infinitely fuperior to the Strength even 
of the moft extended Empires. 
The Romans had in this refpeff in all Appearance the 
higheft Advantages ; they were Mafters of the Country to 
the very Mouth of the Arabian Gulph on one Side, and 
had a very large Trad; of Country on the other. The 
Terror of their Name was fo great, that they had hardly 
any Oppofition to fear by Land or Sea ; and if one Expe- 
dition had failed, they might very foon have repaired the 
Lofs fuftained in it, and have been in a Condition to have 
undertaken another. Yet we fee nothing of this happened 5 
and it was not above twice or thrice thought of, and then 
to no. great Purpofe. Auguftus had formed a Defign of 
reducing the Peninfula of Arabia , to which he was excited 
by many Reafons ; fuch as that the Inhabitants of the Coaft 
between the Arabian and Perfian Gulphs were in Poffeffioii 
of -the whole Trade of the Eaft j there were fome of the 
Nations on the Coaft oppofite to Egypt that were extremely 
addicted to Piracy, and greatly difttirbed the Navigation 
of the Romans , which probably happened from their having 
lighter Veffels, and fuch as failed better, fo that if at any- 
time they met with Ships of greater Force, they were able 
to leave them, and make their Efcapes •, the Situation of 
the Country alfo might probably be a ftrong Inducement to 
the attempting this Conqueft, becaufe it leaned to promife 
the intire Pofleffion of the Oriental Commerce without In- 
terruption. But we have feen how that Expedition, under- 
taken with fo great Precaution, and with fuch a Force as 
was never employed in the Eaft by any modern Potentate, 
was intirely defeated. The Emperors Flavius and fit us 
Vefpafian , had alfo fome Thoughts of pu filing their Con- 
quefts on this Side ; but Hiftory does not inform us, that 
they ever took any effeffual Steps towards putting thofe 
Defigns in Execution. I raj an made the laft Attempt 
upon Arabia from the Perfian Side, with a potent and vic- 
torious Army ; and this with no other View, than to have 
made himfelf Mafter of the Wealth which the Arabians 
had amaffed by their extenfive Commerce but he likewife 
failed, and from a too quick Senfe of his Difappointment, 
broke his Heart. 
Let us now confider what Profpeff the Portugueze had 
of reaching and making Conquefts in the Indies. Inftead 
of crofting from the Mouth of the Arabian Gulph to the 
Coaft of Malabar^ which is a Voyage only of a few Days 
they were to fail round the whole Continent M Africa, then 
a Coaft in a great meafure unknown j and at the fame tirns 
the adjacent Seas were remarkable for their being almoft con- 
ftantly fubjeff to Storms and Tempefts, infomuch, that 
when the utmoft Cape was firft difcovered, the Difcoverer 
called it the Tempeftuous Cape ; but the King of Portugal fore- 
feeing the Advantages that would refult from this Naviga- 
tion, changed that Name for The Cape of Good Hope , and 
with a few Ships, and a very fmall Force, attempted and 
fettled not only a Commerce with the Indies , but raifed a 
very confiderable Empire there in fpite of all the Oppofition 
that could be given him. This manifeftly fiiews not only 
the Superiority of the Moderns over the Ancients in Point 
of Navigation, but likewife that the moft diftant Voyages 
are beft fuited to the raffing a Maritime Power, that is to 
fay, a Power by Sea that is permanent, and not raifed and 
overthrown fuddenly, as the Maritime Powers among the 
Ancients frequently were. It alfo effectually demonftrates, 
that it is not a mighty but a well-con duffed Force that is 
proper for eftablifhing diftant Conquefts ; and that where 
a Nation is once poffeffed of a confiderable Fleet, there is 
no Country at fuch a Diftance as to be out of her Reach, 
neither are her Settlements in any Danger of being deftroyed, 
while they are worth keeping, and while the Government 
at home is fufficiently attentive to their Prefervation ; fo that 
the Circumftances which feem at firft Sight the moft dif~ 
couraging in regard to the attaining Foreign Power and 
Maritime Force, are, in reality, thofe which moft contribute 
to the Eftablifhment of it ; and to the preferring it when 
eftablifhed by fecuring a conftant Supply of all that is necef- 
fary for that Purpofe. 
It is by long Voyages, only made with Danger and 
Uncertainty, that People require the Means of making 
long Voyages with Eafe and Safety ; the Perils they 
efcape once they know how to avoid again ; they become 
acquainted by degrees, and by Experience, with the Na- 
ture of Things which never could have been reached by 
the Penetration even of the fharpeft Underftanding •, and 
by thus becoming acquainted with the Laws, or rather with 
the Courfe of Nature, they gain infenfibly a kind of Superi- 
ority over Nature ; fo that in fome Senfe the very Winds 
and Seas may be faid to obey them. When the Portu- 
guefe firft undertook their Indian Expedition, they neither 
had good Ships, nor knew how to build them. It was 
not. 
