Chap. II. of the East Indie s. 
vaft Empire ; by the fecond, they got Footing in Africa , 
down to Cape C orient es , among the poor unarmed Cafres , 
who had it not in their Power to prevent them from feiz- 
ing on what Parts they faw good. Their Colonies of 
Magadoxo , Brava , and Quito a, were fomewhat in the 
Nature of ours in thefe latter Times, but not fo difficult 
to maintain, becaufe of the Proximity of the Red-Sea , 
whence the Arabs had all Sorts of Affiftance. By the 
two other, they feated themfelves in all other Parts, but 
more efpecially by Commerce. 
Thefe Voyages were not in thofe Days fo fafe and fo 
frequent, and therefore the Merchants were under a Me- 
ceffity of making a long Stay at the principal Marts, 
where they took Wives , their Religion allowing Plurality. 
Thefe new Families brought on others, and the Princes 
being fenfible it was greatly for their Advantage to draw 
the Trade of Perfia , Arabia , and at the fame Time of 
Egypt and Europe by the Red-Sea , into their own Ports, 
thefe Merchants met every where with the kindeft 
IJfage they could wiili. The idolatrous Princes, con- 
firmed in their old Superflitions, were not at all fcrupulous 
about Differences in Religion, but admitted all indiffe- 
rently ; fo they readily allowed their Subjects to em- 
brace Mohammedifm , which they preferred to the reft, 
becaufe of the Hopes thefe Arabs gave them of Protec- 
tion from the Sultans, whofe Power was known in the 
remoteft Parts of the Eaft. Even Princes themfelves 
made Profeffion of Mohammedifm in troublefome Times, 
that the Moors might join them ; for, in latter Days, 
they were fo multiplied, that they peopled whole Ci- 
ties, or, at leaft a Part of the moft confiderable. Thus 
this Religion which has nothing very inconvenient in it, 
did, by little and little, obtain in many Parts ; and at 
length received an Acceffion of Power, when fome of its 
Profeffors being rafted to the firft Polls in the Courts of 
Cdmbaya and Guzzarat, invited a greater Number of 
thofe Ajiaiic Turks called Raimis, and even feized on fome 
Polls, as Malic Aziz , who railed a confiderable Settle- 
ment at Diu, from whence, he a long Time infefted the 
Portuguefe. 
By Trade and Religion, the Arabs got Footing in fome 
Parts of Malabar \ and by the fame Means they came to 
be very confiderable upon Malacca. They firft went thi- 
ther as Merchants, and fome of them there fixing their 
Abode, gained many of the Idolaters over to Mohammed- 
ifm. From Malacca they failed round to the Moluccas 
and having prevailed on the Kings of Tidore and T 'ernate, 
together with feveral others to join with them in Reli- 
gion, they reaped great Benefits from thefe Princes, whom 
the Concerns of Trade, and the Protection thefe Moors 
gave them room to hope, confirmed in Mohammedifm. 
According to the Portuguefe Writers, they had not been 
long fettled in the Moluccas , before this Difcovery of the 
Indies. Thus, in a very Ihort Space of Time, and with- 
out the Affiftance of any confiderable maritime Force, the 
Arabs did more than the Greeks and Romans in the Collide 
of fo many Ages % and it is highly probable, they would 
have puflied Matters ftill farther on this Side, if they had 
not been hindered by the falling of the Portugueze into 
this Part of the World, which put an immediate Stop to 
their Progrefs. 
They found, however, Means to make the moft of 
their good Fortune, and to become the Carriers of Eu- 
rope with refpecl to the Commerce of the Eaft ; and this 
too in fuch a manner, that they fiiut out all others from 
navigating thofe Seas, and thereby drew an immenfe Pro- 
fit to themfelves. For the Indians brought by Land to 
Cabul and fome other Places, and by Sea to Bafora and 
Sir of, all- the Commodities of the Indies and China. 
Furs were brought into Syria by the Provinces of Aderbe- 
jan, by Cur di ft an, and other Parts more northerly •, great 
Quantities of the fame they alfo had from the Barbary 
Coaft, and by the Way or the Red-Sea , from whence a 
Tiade was carried on with them all over Egypt. From 
tne fame Places they had Gold-dull ; Gold alfo they had 
from the Mines of S of ala , brought to them by the Ne- 
gtoes, who traded with Egypt by the Way of the Defart , 
or from Port to Port quite to the Red- Sea j from Ceylon 
,and the Indies , they, by their Trade with the Chine fe and 
Indian Merchants, had Silk, rich Stuffs, and many other 
Manufactures, Drugs' and Spices. 
With this Stock of Goods they drove a very confider- 
able Commerce by the way of Gofer ah, or Cairo , with the 
Venetians, the Genoefe, the Catalans , and the Greeks . , 
which was eafily done by reviving the old Mart of Alex- 
andria ; which Port, though it was far from recovering its 
former Magnificence, became once more famous in the 
World, by becoming what it formerly was, the Centre of 
Commerce between the Eaftern Parts of the World and the 
Weft. This fhews the great Confequence of a right Situa- 
tion, and is a new Proof of the Wifdom and Penetration 
of Alexander the Great, who forefaw, that whatever became 
of his Empire, the new City which he eredled, and which 
he honoured with his Name, would continue to make a 
confiderable Figure, as long as Trade was capable of giving. 
Credit to any Place. It is true, that the Revolutions which 
happened in the Government of Egypt , after it fell under 
the Dominion of the Mohammedans , and of which we have 
already given a fuccindt Account, frequently affedled this 
City to a very great Degree ; but ftill the Excellence of 
her Port, and the many Conveniencies that refulted from 
the Commerce carried on thereby to the Mailers of Egypt 5 
whoever they were, preferred her from total Deftrudtion, 
though in the Hands of the moft barbarous Nations ^ for 
the Defire of Wealth is fo natural to Mankind, that it fof- 
tens the moft rugged Natures, and difpofes them for the 
fake of Intereft to a kind of counterfeit Humanity. 
But it was the Portugueze, who by the Difcovery of the 
Paflage to the Indies by the Cape of Good Hope, that gave 
the laft Blow to this Commerce, and finally extinguished 
the Glory of Alexandria ; which, as we have fhewn, de- 
pended upon their Sovereigns preferving the Monopoly of 
the Indian Trade. 
It was for this Reafon that the Venetians affifted privately 
the Mohammedans in their Endeavours to prevent the Por- 
tugueze from fettling in the Indies ; from whence we may 
difcern, that Intereft operates more ftrongly than Religion, 
Neighbourhood, or indeed any other Principle whatever. 
The Portugueze were Chriftians, Europeans , and good 
Allies to the State of Venice ■, the Mohamedans were none 
of thefe, but their Intereft and Trade was the fame ; and 
whatever affefted the Commerce of the one, muft necef- 
farily be detrimental to that of the other. In ihort, the 
Difpute was, whether the Pofleflfors of Egypt, and the Ve- 
netians, fhould divide between them the Profits of the In- 
dian Commerce, or whether it fhould remain intirely to the 
Portugueze and there is no Reafon to wonder, that when 
this was the Queftion, a State depending fo much upon 
Commerce as that of Venice did, fhould fet all Confidera- 
tions afide in order to attend more clofely to her Intereft. 
It is not, however, to be underftood from hence, that 
the Indian Commerce, by the way of Egypt , is even at this 
Day entirely deftroyed, or that the Venetians have ho far- 
ther Concern therein ; neither of which is, ftrffilly fpeak- 
ing, true ; but that this Commerce is nothing now to what 
it was, either with refpedt to the Egyptians, or the Vene- 
tians, is daily declining, and muft decline more and more, 
the Paflage by the Red-Sea, the Country of Egypt , and the 
Commerce of the Port of Alexandria , having now loft thofe 
diftinguiihing Advantages which for fo many Ages they 
poflefled, and which enabled them to recover as they did, 
after fuch intolerable Devaftations as they were expofed to. 
We may eafily fatisfy ourfelves as to the Truth of this, 
by comparing the Revenues of Egypt, when in the Hands 
of the Arabians, with what they now produce, to the 
Turk : The former amounted to three hundred Millions of 
Crowns, and the People were not at all opprefled ; the 
latter are fixed at three Millions, and the People are beg- 
gared by the raffing that Sum. We may add to this, that: 
formerly there were in Egypt , as Diodorus Siculus informs 
us, three thoufand Cities, whereas now there are not above 
three hundred confiderable Towns, and none of thefe can 
boaft any thing of their ancient Splendor. It is now time 
for us to return to the Greek Empire, and to fhew in as few 
Words as poffible how it funk into Ruin. 
12. Confiantine the Son of Heraclius fucceeded his Fa- 
tner ; but in the fourth Month of his Reign he was poi- 
foned by his Mother-in-law Martina , a Woman of great 
Parts, 
