Though France possessed excellent ports in the Mediterranean, particularly Marseilles, which, as we have seen, in very early times was celebrated for its commerce, yet she, as well as less favoured ports of Europe, was principally indebted for her trade to the Lombards and other Italian merchants, during the middle ages. The political state of the country, indeed, was very unfavourable to commerce during this period; there are, consequently, few particulars of its commerce worth recording. About the beginning of the fourteenth century, Montpelier seems to have had a considerable trade; and they even sent ships with various articles of merchandize to London. Mention of Bourdeaux occurs about the same time, as having sent out, in one year, 1350 vessels, laden with 13,429 tuns of wine; this gives nearly 100 tuns in each vessel on an average. But Bourdeaux was in fact an English possession at this time. That commerce between France and England would have flourished and extended considerably, had it not been interrupted by the frequent and bitter wars between these countries, is evident from the consequences which followed the truce which was concluded between their monarchs in 1384. The French, and particularly the Normans, taking immediate advantage of this truce, imported into England an immense quantity of wine, fruits, spiceries, and fish; gold and silver alone were given in exchange. The Normans appear to have traded very extensively in spiceries; but it is uncertain, whether they brought them directly from the Mediterranean: they likewise traded to the east country or Baltic countries. About a century afterwards, that is in 1453, France could boast of her wealthy merchant, as well as Florence and England. His name was Jacques Coeur: he is said to have employed 300 factors, and to have traded with the Turks and Persians; his exports were chiefly woollen cloth, linen, and paper; and his imports consisted of silks, spiceries, gold, silver, &c.

In all our preceding accounts of the trade of Europe, the Italian and Flemish merchants make a conspicuous figure. Flanders was celebrated for its woollen manufactures, as well as for containing the central depots of the trade between the south and north of Europe. Holland, which afterwards rose to such commercial importance, does not appear in the annals of commerce till the beginning of the fifteenth century. At this period, many of the manufacturers of Brabant and Flanders settled in Holland; and about the same time the Hollanders engaged in maritime commerce; but there are no particulars respecting it, that fall within the limits of the present chapter.

It remains to notice Spain. The commerce of Barcelona in its earliest stage has been already noticed. The Catalans, in the thirteenth century, engaged very extensively in the commerce of the Mediterranean, to almost every port of which they traded. The earliest navigation act known was passed by the count of Barcelona about this time; and laws were also framed, containing rules for the owners and commanders of vessels, and the clerks employed to keep their accounts; for loading and discharging the cargo; for the mutual assistance to be given by vessels, &c. These laws, and others, to extend and improve commerce, were passed during the reign of James I., king of Arragon, who was also count of Barcelona. The manufactures and commerce of this part of Spain continued to flourish from this time till the union of the crowns of Castile and Arragon, which event depressed the latter kingdom. In 1380, a Catalan ship was wrecked on the coast of Somersetshire, on her voyage from Genoa to Sluys, the port of Bruges: her cargo consisted of green ginger, cured ginger, raisins, sulphur, writing paper, white sugar, prunes, cinnamon, &c. In 1401, a bank of exchange and deposit was established at Barcelona: the accommodation it afforded was extended to foreign as well as native merchants. The earliest bill of exchange of which we have any notice, is one dated 28th April, 1404, which was sold by a merchant of Lucca, residing in Bruges, to a merchant of Barcelona, also residing there, to be paid by a Florence merchant residing in Barcelona. By the book of duties on imports and exports, compiled in 1413, it appears, that the Barcelonians were very liberal and enlightened in their commercial policy; this document also gives us a high idea of the trade of the city of Barcelona. A still further proof and illustration of the intelligence of the Barcelona merchants, and of the advantages for which commerce is indebted to them, occurs soon afterwards: for about the year 1432 they framed regulations respecting maritime insurance, the principal of which were, that no vessel should be insured for more than three quarters of her real value,—that no merchandize belonging to foreigners should be insured in Barcelona, unless freighted in a vessel belonging to the king of Arrogan: the words, more or less, inserted frequently in policies, were prohibited: if a ship should not be heard of in six months, she was to be deemed lost.

Little commerce seems to have been carried on from any other port of Spain besides Barcelona at this period: the north of Spain, indeed, had a little commercial intercourse with England, as appears by the complaints of the Spanish merchants; complaints that several of their vessels bound to England from this part of Spain had been plundered by the people of Sandwich, Dartmouth, &c. Seven vessels are particularly mentioned: one of which, laden with wine, wool, and iron, was bound for Flanders; the others, laden with raisins, liquorice, spicery, incense, oranges, and cheese, were bound for England. The largest of these vessels was 120 tons: one vessel, with its cargo, was valued as high as 2500l.

The following short abstract of the exports and imports of the principal commercial places in Europe, about the middle of the fifteenth century, taken from a contemporary work, will very properly conclude and sum up all we have to say on this subject.

Spain exported figs, raisins, wine of inferior quality, dates, liquorice, Seville oil, grain, Castile soap, wax, iron, wool, goat skins, saffron, and quicksilver; the most of these were exported to Bruges. The chief imports of Spain were Flemish woollen cloth and linen. This account, however, of the commerce of Spain, does not appear to include Barcelona. The exports of Portugal were wine, wax, grain, figs, raisins, honey, Cordovan leather, dates, salt, &c.; these were sent principally to England. The imports are not mentioned.

Bretagne exported salt, wine, cloth, and canvas.

The exports of Scotland were wool, wool-fells, and hides to Flanders; from which they brought mercery, haberdashery, cart-wheels, and barrows. The exports of Ireland were hides, wool, salmon, and other fish; linen; the skins of martins, otters, hares, &c. The trade of England is not described: the author being an Englishman, and writing for his countrymen, we may suppose, thought it unnecessary.

The exports of Prussia were beer, bacon, copper, bow-staves, wax, putty, pitch, tar, boards, flax, thread of Cologne, and canvas; these were sent principally to Flanders, from which were brought woollen cloths. The Prussians also imported salt from Biscay.

The Genoese employed large vessels in their trade; their principal exports were cloth of gold and silver, spiceries, woad, wool, oil, wood-ashes, alum, and good: the chief staple of their trade was in Flanders, to which they carried wool from England.

The Venetians and Florentines exported nearly the same articles as the Genoese; and their imports were nearly similar.

Flanders exported madder, wood, garlick, salt-fish, woollen cloths, &c. The English are represented as being the chief purchasers in the marts of Brabant, Flanders, and Zealand; to these marts were brought the merchandize of Hainault, France, Burgundy, Cologne, and Cambray, in carts. The commodities of the East, and of the south of Europe, were brought by the Italians: England sent her wool, and afterwards her woollen cloth.

From this view of the trade of Europe in the middle of the fifteenth century, it appears, that it was principally conducted by the Italians, the Hanse merchants, and the Flemings; and that the great marts were in Flanders. Towards the end of this century, indeed, the other nations of Europe advancing in knowledge and enterprize, and having acquired some little commercial capital, each began, in some degree, to conduct its own trade. The people of Barcelona, at a very early period, form the only exception to this remark; they not only conducted their own trade, but partook largely in conducting the trade of other nations.

From the remotest period to which we can trace the operations of commerce, we have seen that they were chiefly directed to the luxuries of Asia; and as the desire of obtaining them in greater abundance, and more cheaply and easily, was the incitement which led to the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope by the Portuguese, it will be proper, before we narrate that event, briefly to give such particulars respecting Asiatic commerce as occur within the period which this chapter embraces, and to which, in our account of the Arabians, we have not already alluded. This will lead us to a notice of some very instructive and important travels in the East; and the information which they convey will point out the state of the geography of Asia, as well as its commerce, during the middle ages.

The dreadful revolutions which took place in Asia in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and which threatened to extend to Europe, induced the European powers, and particularly the Pope, to endeavour to avert the evil, by sending embassies to the Mogul potentates. So frequent were these missions, that, in the beginning of the fourteenth century, a work was composed which described the various routes to Grand Tartary. What was at first undertaken from policy and fear, was afterwards continued from religious zeal, curiosity, a love of knowledge, and other motives. So that, to the devastations of Genghis Khan we may justly deem ourselves indebted for the full and important information we possess respecting the remote parts of Asia during the middle ages.

The accounts of India and China by the two Mahomedan travellers have been already noticed: between the period of their journey, and the embassies and missions to which we have just alluded, the only account of the East which we possess is derived from the work of Benjamin, a Jew of Tudela in Spain. It is doubted whether he visited all the places he describes: his object was principally to describe those places where the Jews resided in great numbers.

After describing Barcelona as a place of great trade, frequented by merchants from Greece, Italy, and Alexandria, and a great resort of the Jews, and giving a similar character of Montpelier and Genoa, he proceeds to the East. The inhabitants of Constantinople being too lazy to carry on commerce themselves, the whole trade of this city, which is represented as surpassing all others, except Bagdad, in wealth, was conducted by foreign merchants, who resorted to it from every part of the world by land and sea. New Tyre was a place of considerable traffic, with a good harbour: glass and sugar were its principal exports. The great depot for the produce and manufactures of India, Persia, Arabia, &c., was an island in the Persian Gulf. He mentions Samarcand as a place of considerable importance, and Thibet as the country where the musk animal was found. But all beyond the Persian Gulf he describes in such vague terms, that little information can be gleaned. It is worthy of remark, that nearly all the Jews, whom he represents as very numerous in Thebes, Constantinople, Samarcand, &c., were dyers of wool: in Thebes alone, there were 2000 workers in scarlet and purple. After the conquest of the northern part of China by Genghis Khan, the city of Campion in Tangut seems to have been fixed upon by him as the seat of a great inland trade. Linens, stuffs made of cotton, gold, silver, silks, and porcelain, were brought hither by the Chinese merchants, and bought by merchants from Muscovy, Persia, Armenia, &c.

In the years 1245, 1246, the pope sent ambassadors to the Tartar and Mogul khans: of these Carpini has given us the most detailed account of his embassy, and of the route which he followed. His journey occupied six months: he first went through Bohemia, Silesia, and Poland, to Kiov, at that time the capital of Russia. Thence he proceeded by the Dnieper to the Black Sea, till he arrived at the head quarters of the Khan Batou. To him we are indebted for the first information of the real names of the four great rivers which water the south of Russia, the Dnieper, the Don, the Volga, and the Jaik. He afterwards proceeded to the head quarters of another khan, on the eastern shores of the Caspian. After passing a country where the famous Prester John is said to have reigned, he reached the end of his journey, the head quarters of the khan of the Moguls. Besides the information derived from his own observations, he inserts in his narrative all he had collected; so that he may be regarded as the first traveller who brought to the knowledge of western Europe these parts of Asia; but though his travels are important to geography, they throw little light on the commerce of these countries.

Rubruquis was sent, about this time, by the king of France to the Mogul emperor: he passed through the Crimea, and along the shores of the Volga and the Caspian Sea; visited the Khans Sartach and Batou; and at length arrived at the great camp of the Moguls. Here he saw Chinese ambassadors; from whom, and certain documents which he found among the Moguls, he learnt many particulars respecting the north of China, the most curious of which is his accurate description of the Chinese language and characters. He returned by the same route by which he went. In his travels we meet with some information respecting the trade of Asia. The Mogul khans derived a considerable revenue from the salt of the Crimea. The alum of Caramonia was a great object of traffic. He is the first author, after Ammianus Marcellinus, who mentions rhubarb as an article of medicine and commerce. Among the Moguls he found a great number of Europeans, who had been taken prisoners: they were usually employed in working the mines, and in various manufactures. He is the first traveller who mentions koumis and arrack; and he gives a very particular and accurate description of the cattle of Thibet, and the wild and fleet asses of the plains of Asia. Geography is indebted to him for correcting the error of the ancients, which prevailed till his time, that the Caspian joined the Northern Ocean: he expressly represents it as a great inland sea,—the description given of it by Herodotus, but which was overlooked or disbelieved by all the other ancient geographers.

While the pope and the French monarch were thus endeavouring to conciliate the Moguls by embassies, the Emperor Frederic of Germany, having recovered Jerusalem, Tyre, and Sidon, formed an alliance with the princes of the East; and this alliance he took advantage of for the purposes of oriental commerce: for his merchants and factors travelled as far as India. In the last year of his reign, twelve camels, laden with gold and silver, the produce of his trade with the East, arrived in his dominions. The part of India to which he traded, and the route which was pursued, are not recorded.

Among the most celebrated travellers of the middle ages, was Marco Polo: he, his father, and uncle, after trading for some time in many of the commercial and opulent cities of Lesser Asia, reached the more eastern parts of that continent, as far as the court of the great khan, on the borders of China. For 26 years they were either engaged in mercantile transactions, or employed in negociations with the neighbouring states by the khan; they were thus enabled to see much, and to collect much important information, the result of which was drawn up by Marco Polo. He was the first European who reached China, India beyond the Ganges, and the greater number of the islands in the Indian Ocean. He describes Japan from the accounts of others: notices great and little Java, supposed to be Borneo and Sumatra; and is the first who mentions Bengal and Guzerat by their present names, as great and opulent kingdoms. On the east coast of Africa, his knowledge did not reach beyond Zanguebar, and the port of Madagascar opposite to it: he first made known this island to Europe. Such is a sketch of the countries described by Marco Polo; from which it will easily be perceived, how much he added to the geographical knowledge of Asia possessed at that period.

The information he gives respecting the commerce of the countries he either visited himself, or describes from the reports of others, is equally important. Beginning with the more western parts of Asia, he mentions Giazza, a city in the Levant, as possessed of a most excellent harbour, which was much frequented by Genoese and Venetian vessels, for spices and other merchandize. Rich silks were manufactured in Georgia, Bagdat, Tauris, and Persia, which were the source of great wealth to the manufacturers and merchants. All the pearls in Christendom are brought from Bagdat. The merchants from India bring spices, pearls, precious stones, &c. to Ormus: the vessels of this port are described as very stoutly built, with one mast, one deck, and one sail. Among the most remarkable cities of China, he particularly notices Cambalu, or Pekin, Nankin, and Quinsai. At the distance of 2,500 Italian miles from this last city, was the port of Cauzu, at which a considerable trade was carried on with India and the spice islands. The length of the voyage, in consequence of the monsoons, was a year. From the spice islands was brought, besides other articles, a quantity of pepper, infinitely greater than what was imported at Alexandria, though that place supplied all Europe. He represents the commerce and wealth of China as very great; and adds, that at Cambalu, where the merchants had their distinct warehouses, (in which they also lived,) according to the nation to which they belonged, a large proportion of them were Saracens. The money was made of the middle bark of the mulberry, stamped with the khan's mark. Letters were conveyed at the rate of 200 or 250 miles a day, by means of inns at short distances, where relays of horses were always kept. The tenth of all wool, silk, and hemp, and all other articles, the produce of the earth, was paid to the khan: sugar, spices, and arrack, paid only 3-1/2 per cent. The inland trade is immense, and is carried on principally by numerous vessels on the canals and rivers. Marco Polo describes porcelain, which was principally made at a place he calls Trigui; it was very low-priced, as eight porcelain dishes might be bought for a Venetian groat: he takes no notice of tea. He supposes the cowries of the Maldives to be a species of white porcelaine. Silver then, as now, must have been in great demand, and extremely scarce; it was much more valuable than gold, bearing the proportion to the latter, as 1 to 6 or 8. Fine skins also bore a very high price: another proof of the stability of almost every thing connected with China. He was particularly struck with what he calls black stones, which were brought from the mountains of Cathay, and burnt at Pekin, as wood, evidently meaning some kind of coal. The collieries of China are still worked, principally for the use of the porcelaine manufactures.

Marco Polo seems to have regarded Bengal and Pegu as parts of China: he mentions the gold of Pegu, and the rice, cotton, and sugar of Bengal, as well as its ginger, spikenard, &c. The principal branch of the Bengal trade consisted in cotton goods. In Guzerat also, there was abundance of cotton: in Canhau, frankincense; and in Cambaia, indigo, cotton, &c. He describes the cities on the east and west coasts of India; but he does not seem either to have penetrated himself inland, or to have learnt any particulars regarding the interior from other persons. Horses were a great article of importation in all parts of India: they were brought from Persia and Arabia by sea. In the countries to the north of India, particularly Thibet, corals were in great demand, and brought a higher price than any other article: this was the case in the time of Pliny, who informs us, that the men in India were as fond of coral for an ornament, as the women of Rome were of the Indian pearls. In Pliny's time, corals were brought from the Mediterranean coast of France to Alexandria, and were thence exported by the Arabians to India. Marco Polo does not inform us by what means, or from what country they were imported into the north of India. The greater Java, which he represents as the greatest island in the world, carried on an extensive trade, particularly by means of the Chinese merchants, who imported gold and spices from it. In the lesser Java, the tree producing sago grows: he describes the process of making it. In this island there are also nuts as large as a man's head, containing a liquor superior to wine,—evidently the cocoa nut. He likewise mentions the rhinoceros. The knowledge of camphire, the produce of Japan, Sumatra, and Borneo, was first brought to Europe by him. The fishery of pearls between Ceylon and the main land of India is described; and particular mention is made of the large ruby possessed by the king of that island. Madagascar is particularly mentioned, as supplying large exports of elephants' teeth.

Marco Polo's description of the vessels of India is very full and minute: as he sailed from China to the Indian islands in one of these vessels, we may suppose it is perfectly accurate. according to him, they were fitted up with many cabins, and each merchant had his own cabin. They had from two to four masts, all or any of which could be lowered; the hold was divided not merely for the purpose of keeping distinct each merchant's goods, but also to prevent the water from a leak in one division extending to the rest of the hold. The bottoms of the vessels were double planked at first, and each year a new sheathing was added; the ships lasted only six years. They were caulked, as modern ships are; the timbers and planks fixed with iron nails, and a composition of lime, oil, and hemp, spread over the surface. They were capable of holding 5000 or 6000 bags of pepper, and from 150 to 300 seamen and passengers. They were supplied with oars as well as sails: four men were allotted to each oar. Smaller vessels seem to have accompanied the larger ones, which besides had boats on their decks.

When the power of the Romans was extinguished in Egypt, and the Mahomedans had gained possession of that country, Aden, which had been destroyed by the former in the reign of Claudius, resumed its rank as the centre of the trade between India and the Red Sea. In this situation it was found by Marco Polo. The ships which came from the East, did not pass the straits, but landed their cargoes at Aden; here the trankies of the Arabs, which brought the produce of Europe, Syria, and Egypt, received them, and conveyed them to Assab, Cosir, or Jidda: ultimately they reached Alexandria. Marco Polo gives a magnificent picture of the wealth, power, and influence of Aden in the thirteenth century.

When the Christians were expelled from Syria, in the beginning of the fourteenth century, and, in order to procure the merchandize of the east, were obliged to submit to the exactions of the sultan of Egypt; Sanuto, a Venetian, addressed a work to the Pope, in which he proposed to suppress the Egyptian trade by force. In this work are many curious particulars of the Indian trade at this time; and it is highly interesting both on this account, and from the clear-sighted speculations of the author. It appears to have produced a strong sensation; and though his mode of suppressing the Egyptian trade was not followed, yet, in consequence of it, much more attention was paid to Oriental commerce. According to him, the productions of the East came to the Venetians in two different ways. Cloves, nutmegs, pearls, gems, and other articles of great value, and small bulk, were conveyed up the Persian Gulf and the Tigris to Bassora, and thence to Bagdat; from which they were carried to some port in the Mediterranean. The more bulky and less valuable articles were conveyed by Arabian merchants to the Red Sea, and thence across the desert and down the Nile to Alexandria. He adds, that ginger and cinnamon, being apt to spoil on shipboard, were from ten to twenty per cent. better in quality, when brought by land carriage, though this conveyance was more expensive.

From the works of Sanuto, it appears that sugar and silk were the two articles from their trade in which the Saracens derived the greatest portion of their wealth. Cyprus, Rhodes, Amorea, and Marta (probably Malta), produced sugar; silk was the produce of Apulia, Romania, Crete, and Cyprus. Egypt was celebrated, as in old times, for the fineness of its flax; European flax was far inferior. The Egyptian manufactures of linen, silk, and linen and silk mixed, and also the dates and cassia of that country were exported to Turkey, Africa, the Black Sea, and the western ports of Europe, either in Saracen or Christian vessels. In return for these articles, the Egyptians received from Europe, gold, silver, brass, tin, lead, quicksilver, coral, and amber: of these, several were again exported from Egypt to Ethiopia and India, particularly brass and tin. Sanuto further observes, that Egypt was dependent on Europe for timber, iron, pitch, and other materials for ship building.

As his plan was to cut off all trade with the Saracens, and for that purpose to build a number of armed galleys, he gives many curious particulars respecting the expence of fitting them out; he estimates that a galley capable of holding 250 men, will cost 1500 florins, and that the whole expence of one, including pay, provisions, &c. for nine months, would be 7000 florins. The seamen he proposes to draw from the following places, as affording the most expert: Italy, the north of Germany, Friesland, Holland, Slavia, Hamburgh, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.

In the year 1335, Pegoletti, an Italian, wrote a system of commercial geography; in this, the route taken by the merchants who brought produce and manufactures from China to Azof is particularly described. "In the first place," he says, "from Azof to Astracan it is twenty-five days journey with waggons drawn by oxen; but with waggons by horses, only ten or twelve. From Astracan to Sara, by the river, one day; from Sara to Saracanco, on the north-east coast of the Caspian Sea, eight days by water; thence to Lake Aral, twenty days' journey with camels. At Organci on this lake there was much traffic. To Oltrarra on the Sihon, thirty-five or forty days, also with camels; to Almaley with asses, thirty-five days; to Camexu, seventy days with asses; to a river, supposed to be the Hoangho, in China, fifty days with horses; from this river the traveller may go to Cassai, to dispose of his loading of silver there, and from this place he travels through the whole of Cathay with the Chinese money he receives for his silver; to Gambelecco, Cambalu, or Pekin, the capital of Cathay, is thirty days' journey." So that the whole time occupied about 300 days. Each merchant generally carried with him silver and goods to the value of 25,000 gold ducats; the expence of the whole journey was from 300 to 350 ducats. The other travellers of the fourteenth century, from whom we derive any information respecting Eastern geography and commerce, are Haitho, Oderic, and Sir John Mandeville; they add little, however, to the full and accurate details of Marco Polo, on which we can depend.

Haitho's work, comprehends the geography of the principal states of Asia; his information was derived from Mogul writings, the relation of Haitho I. king of Armenia, who had been at the head quarters of Mangu Khan, and from his own personal knowledge.

Oderic is the first missionary upon record in India; the date of his journey is 1334; among much that is marvellous, his relations contain some extraordinary truths. He went, in company with other monks, as far as China. There is little new or valuable till he reaches the coast of Malabar: of the pepper trade on this coast he gives a clear and rational account. He next describes Sumatra and the adjacent islands, and mentions the sago tree. Respecting China, he informs us, among other things which are fabulous, that persons of high rank keep their nails extremely long, and that the feet of the women are very small. He expresses great surprise and admiration at the wealth of the cities through which he passed on his return from Zartan to Pekin. Tartary and Thibet were visited by him, after leaving China; he mentions the high price of the rhubarb of the former country and the Dalai Lama of Thibet. In his voyages in India he sailed on board a vessel which carried 700 people,—a confirmation, as Dr. Vincent observes, of the account we have from the time of Agatharcides down to the sixteenth century,—which sailed from Guzerat and traversed the Indian Ocean.

Sir John Mandeville, an Englishman, in order to gratify his desire of seeing distant and foreign countries, served as a volunteer under the Sultan of Egypt and the Grand Khan of Cathai. He travelled through Turkey, Armenia, Egypt, Africa, Syria, Arabia, Persia, Chaldea, Ethiopia, Tartary, India, and China. There is, however, little information in his travels on our present subject. He represents the Venetians as not only trading regularly to Ormus, but sometimes even penetrating as for as Cambalu. Famagusta, in Cyprus, according to him, was one of the most commercial places in the world, the resort of merchants of all nations, Christians and Mahomedans.

Some curious and interesting particulars on the subject of Oriental commerce are scattered in the travels of Clavigo, who formed part of an embassy sent by Henry III. of Castile to Tamerlane, in 1403. Clavigo returned to Spain in 1406. He passed through Constantinople, which he represents as not one-third inhabited, up the Black Sea to Trebizond. Hence he traversed Armenia, the north of Persia, and Khorasan. Tauris, according to him, enjoyed a lucrative commerce: in its warehouses were an abundance of pearls, silk, cotton goods, and perfumed oils. Sultania also was a great mart for Indian commodities. Every year, between June and August, caravans arrived at this place. Cotton goods of all colours, and cotton yarn were brought from Khorasan; pearls and precious stones from Ormus; but the principal lading of the caravans consisted of spices of various kinds: at Sultania these were always found in great abundance, and of the best quality. From Tauris to Samarcand there were regular stations, at which horses were always ready to convey the orders of the khan or travellers. We are indebted to Clavigo for the first information of this new route of the commerce between India and Europe, by Sultania: it is supposed to have been adopted on the destruction of Bagdat by the Moguls; but we learn from other travellers that, towards the end of the fifteenth century, Sultania was remarkable for nothing besides the minarets of a mosque, which were made of metal, and displayed great taste and delicacy of workmanship.

Tamerlane lived in excessive magnificence and luxury at Samarcand; hither he had brought all his captives, who were expert in any kind of manufacture, especially in the silks of Damascus, and the sword cutlery of Turkey. To this city the Russians and Tartars brought leather, hides, furs, and cloth: silk goods, musk, pearls, precious stones, and rhubarb, were brought from China, or Cathay. Six months were occupied in bringing merchandize from Cambalu, the capital of Cathai, to Samarcand; two of these were spent in the deserts. Samarcand had also a trade with India, from which were received mace and other fine spices. Clavigo remarks, that such spices were never brought to Alexandria.

Schildeberger, a native of Munich, was taken prisoner by the Turks in 1394: he afterwards accompanied Tamerlane in his campaigns till the year 1406. During this period, and his subsequent connexion with other Tartar chiefs, he visited various parts of central Asia. But as he had not an opportunity of writing down at the time what he saw and learnt, his narrative is neither full, nor altogether to be depended upon for its accuracy. He was, besides, illiterate, And therefore it is often extremely difficult to ascertain, from his orthography, what places he actually means to name or describe. With all these drawbacks and imperfections, however, there are a few points on which he gives credible and curious information. He particularizes the silk of Strana, and of Schirevan; and adds, that from the last the raw silk is sent to Damascus, and there manufactured into the stuffs or damasks, for which it was already so celebrated. Fine silk was produced at Bursa, and exported to Venice and Lucca, for the manufacture of velvet. It ought to be mentioned, that he takes no notice of Saray and Astrakan, the latter of which was taken and destroyed by Tamerlane, in 1395. The wild asses in the mountainous deserts, and the dogs which were harnessed to sledges, are particularly mentioned by this traveller.

The interior parts of the north of Asia were visited, in 1420, by the ambassadors of the Emperor Tamerlane's son; and their journey is described in the Book of the Wonders of the World, written by the Persian historian, Emir Khond, from which it was translated into Dutch by Witsen, in his Norden Oste Tartarye. Their route was through Samarcand to Cathay. On entering this country, we are informed of a circumstance strikingly characteristic of Chinese policy and suspicion. Cathayan secretaries took down, in writing, the names of the ambassadors, and the number of their suite. This was repeated at another place, the ambassadors being earnestly requested to state the exact number of their servants; and the merchants, who were with him, having been put down by him under the description of servants, were, on that account, obliged to perform the particular duties under which they were described. Among the presents made by the emperor to the ambassadors, tin is mentioned. Paper-money seems, at this period, to have given place to silver, which, however, from several circumstances mentioned, must have been very scarce.

From the travels of Josaphat Barbaro, an ambassador from Venice, first to Tana (Azof), and then to Persia, some information may be drawn respecting the commerce of these parts of Asia, about the middle of the fifteenth century. He particularly describes the Wolga as being navigable to within three days' journey of Moscow, the inhabitants of which sail down it every year to Astrakan for salt. Astrakan was formerly a place of consequence and trade, but had been laid waste by Tamerlane. Russia is a fertile country, but extremely cold. Oxen and other beasts are carried to market in the winter, slaughtered, with their entrails taken out, and frozen so hard, that it is impossible to cut them up: they are very numerous and cheap. The only fruits are apples, nuts, and walnuts. Bossa, a kind of beer, is made in Russia. This liquor is still drank in Russia: it is made from millet, and is very inebriating. The drunkenness of the Russians is expressly and pointedly dwelt upon. Barbaro adds, that the grand duke, in order to check this vice, ordered that no more beer should be brewed, nor mead made, nor hops used. The Russians formerly paid tribute to Tartary; but they had lately conquered a country called Casan; to the left of the Wolga, in its descent. In this country a considerable trade is carried on, especially in furs, which are sent by way of Moscow to Poland, Prussia, and Flanders. The furs, however, are not the produce of Kasan, but of countries to the north-east, at a great distance.

Barbaro is very minute and circumstantial in his description of the manners, dress, food, &c. of the Georgians. He visited the principal towns of Persia. Schiraz contained 200,000 inhabitants. Yezd was distinguished and enriched by its silk manufactures.



CHAPTER V.

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY AND COMMERCE, FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE FIFTEENTH TO THE BEGINNING OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

The improvement of mankind in knowledge and civilization evidently depends on the union of three circumstances,—enlarged and increased desires, obstacles in the way of obtaining the objects of these desires, and practicable means of overcoming or removing these obstacles. The history of mankind in all ages and countries justifies and illustrates the truth of this remark; for though it is, especially in the early periods of it, very imperfect and obscure, and even in the later periods almost entirely confined to war and politics, still there are in it sufficient traces of the operation of all those three causes towards their improvement in knowledge and civilization.

That they operated in extending the progress of discovery and commerce is evident. We have already remarked that from the earliest periods, the commodities of the east attracted the desires of the western nations: the Arabians, Carthaginians, Greeks, and Romans of the ancient world; the Italian and Hanseatic states of the middle ages, all endeavoured to enrich themselves by trading in commodities so eagerly and universally desired. As industry and skill increased, and as the means as well as the desire of purchase and enjoyment spread, by the rise of a middle class in Europe, the demand for these commodities extended. The productions and manufactures of the north, as well as of the south of Europe, having been increased and improved, enabled the inhabitants of these countries to participate in those articles from India, which, among the ancients, had been confined exclusively to the rich and powerful.

On the other hand, even at the very time that this enlarged demand for Indian commodities was taking place in Europe, and was accompanied by enlarged means as well as extended skill and expedience in discovery and commerce,—at this very time obstacles arose which threatened the almost entire exclusion of Europeans from the luxuries of Asia. It may well be doubted, whether, if the enemies of the Christian faith had not gained entire possession of all the routes to India, and moreover, if these routes had been rendered more easy of access and passage, they could have long supplied the increased demands of improving Europe. But that Europe should, on the one hand, improve and feel enlarged desires as well as means of purchasing the luxuries of the east, while on the other hand, the practicability of acquiring these luxuries should diminish, formed a coincidence of circumstances, which was sure to produce important results.

As access to India by land, or even by the Arabian Gulf by sea, was rendered extremely difficult and hazardous by the enmity of the Mahometans, or productive of little commercial benefit by their exactions, the attention and hopes of European navigators were directed to a passage to India along the western coast of Africa. As, however, the length and difficulties of such a voyage were extremely formidable, it would probably have been either not attempted at all, or have required much longer time to accomplish than it actually did, if, in addition and aid of increased desires and an enlarged commercial spirit, the means of navigating distant, extensive, and unknown seas, had not likewise been, about this period, greatly improved.

We allude, principally, to the discovery of the mariners' compass. The first clear notice of it appears in a Provencal poet of the end of the twelfth century. In the thirteenth century it was used by the Norwegians in their voyages to and from Iceland, who made it the device of an order of knighthood of the highest rank; and from a passage in Barber's Bruce, it must have been known in Scotland, if not used there in 1375, the period when he wrote. It is said to have been used in the Mediterranean voyages at the end of the thirteenth or beginning of the fourteenth century.

With respect to the nations of the east, it is doubted whether they derived their knowledge of it from the Europeans, or the Europeans from them. When we reflect on the long and perilous voyages of the Arabians, early in the Christian era, we might be led to think that they could not be performed without the assistance of the compass; but no mention of it, or allusion to it, occurs in the account of any of their voyages; and we are expressly informed by Nicolo di Conti, who sailed on board a native vessel in the Indian seas, about the year 1420, that the Arabians had no compass, but sailed by the stars of the southern pole; and that they knew how to measure their elevation, as well as to keep their reckoning, by day and night, with their distance from place to place. With respect to the Chinese, the point in dispute is not so easily determined: it is generally imagined, that they derived their knowledge of the compass from Europeans: but Lord Macartney, certainly a competent judge, has assigned his reasons for believing that the Chinese compass is original, and not borrowed, in a dissertation annexed to Dr. Vincent's Periplus of the Erythrean Sea. At what period it was first known among them, cannot be ascertained; they pretend that it was known before the age of Confucius. That it was not brought from China to Europe by Marco Polo, as some writers assert, is evident from the circumstance that this traveller never mentions or alludes to it. The first scientific account of the properties of the magnet, as applicable to the mariner's compass, appears in a letter written by Peter Adsiger, in the year 1269. This letter is preserved among the manuscripts of the university of Leyden; extracts from it are given by Cavallo, in the second edition of his Treatise on Magnetism. From these extracts it is evident that he was acquainted with the attraction, repulsion, and polarity of the magnet, the art of communicating those properties to iron, the variation of the magnetic needle; and there are even some indications that he was acquainted with the construction of the azimuth compass.

Next in importance and utility to the mariners' compass, in preparing the way for the great discoveries by which the fifteenth century is distinguished, maps and charts may be placed. For though, in general, they were constructed on very imperfect and erroneous notions of the form of the world, and the relative size and situation of different countries, yet occasionally there appeared maps which corrected some long established error, or supplied some new information; and even the errors of the maps, in some cases, not improbably held out inducements or hopes, which would not otherwise have been entertained and realized, as we have already remarked, after D'Anville, that the greatest of Ptolemy's errors proved eventually the efficient cause which led to the greatest discovery of the moderns.

Malte Brun divides the maps of the middle ages into two classes: those in which the notions of Ptolemy and other ancient geographers are implicitly copied, and those in which new countries are inserted, which had been either discovered, or were supposed to exist.

In most of the maps of the first description, Europe, Asia, and Africa are laid down as forming one immense island, and Africa is not carried so far as the equator. One of the most celebrated of these maps was drawn up by Marin Sanuto, and inserted in his memorial presented to the pope and the principal sovereigns of Europe, for the purpose of persuading and shewing them, that if they would oblige their merchants to trade only through the dominions of the Caliphs of Bagdat, they would be better supplied and at a cheaper rate, and would have no longer to fear the Soldans of Egypt. This memorial with its maps was inserted in the Gesta Dei per Francos, as we are assured by the editor, from one of the original copies presented by Sanuto to some one of the princes. Hence, as Dr. Vincent remarks, it probably contains the oldest map of the world at this day extant, except the Peutingerian tables. Sanuto, as we have already noticed, in giving an abstract of the commercial information contained in his memorial, lived in 1324.

In the monastery of St. Michael di Murano, there is a planisphere, said to be drawn up in 1459, by Fra Mauro, which contains a report of a ship from India having passed the extreme point south, 2000 miles towards the west and southwest in 1420.

Ramusio describes a map, supposed to be this, which he states to have been drawn up for the elucidation of Marco Polo's travels.

On this map, so far as it relates to the circumnavigation of Africa, Dr. Vincent has given a dissertation, having procured a fac-simile copy from Venice, which is deposited in the British Museum; the substance of this dissertation we shall here compress. He divides his dissertation into three parts. First, whether this was the map noticed by Ramusio, and by him supposed to be drawn up to elucidate the travels of Marco Polo. On this point he concludes that it was the map referred to by Ramusio, but that his information respecting it is not correct. The second point to be determined is, whether the map procured from Venice was really executed by Mauro, and whether it existed previous to the Portuguese discoveries on the west coast of Africa. Manro lived in the reign of Alphonso the Fifth, that is between 1438 and 1480; the whole of this map, therefore, is prior to Diaz and Gama, two celebrated Portuguese navigators. Consequently, if it can be proved that the map obtained by Dr. Vincent is genuine, it must have existed previous to the Portuguese discoveries. The proof of the genuineness of the map is derived from the date on the planisphere, 1459; the internal evidence on the work itself; and the fact that Alphonso, or Prince Henry of Portugal, who died in 1463, received a copy of this map from Venice, and deposited it in the monastery of Alcobaca, where it is still kept. The sum paid for this copy, and the account of expenditure, are detailed in a MS. account in the monastery of St. Michael.

The third, and by far the most important part of Dr. Vincent's dissertation, examines what the map contains respecting the termination cf Africa to the south. On the first inspection of the map it is evident, that the author has not implicitly followed Ptolemy, as he professes to do. The centre of the habitable world is fixed at Bagdat. Asia and Europe he defines rationally, and Africa so far as regards its Mediterranean coast. He assigns two sources to the Nile, both in Abyssinia. On the east coast of Africa, he carries an arm of the sea between an island which he represents as of immense size, and the continent, obliquely as far nearly as the latitude and longitude of the Cape of Good Hope. This island he calls Diab, and the termination on the south, which he makes the extreme point of Africa, Cape Diab.

The great object of Mauro, in drawing up this map, was to encourage the Portuguese in the prosecution of their voyages to the south of Africa. This is known to be the fact from other sources, and the construction of the map, as well as some of the notices and remarks, which are inserted in its margin, form additional evidence that this was the case. Two passages, as Dr. Vincent observes, will set this in the clearest light. The first is inserted at Cape Diab; "here," says the author, about the year 1420, "an Indian vessel, on her passage across the Indian ocean was caught by a storm, and carried 2000 miles beyond this Cape to the west and south-west; she was seventy days in returning to the Cape." This the author regards as a full proof that Africa was circumnavigable on the south.

In the second passage, inserted on the margin, after observing that the Portuguese had been round the continent of Africa, more than 2000 miles to the south-west beyond the Straits of Gibraltar; that they found the navigation easy and safe, and had made charts of their discoveries; he adds, that he had talked with a person worthy of credit, who assured him he had been carried by bad weather, in an Indian ship, out of the Indian Ocean, for forty days, beyond Cape Sofala and the Green Islands, towards the west and south-west, and that in the opinion of the astronomer on board, (such as all Indian ships carry,) they had been hurried away 2000 miles. He concludes by expressing his firm belief that the sea surrounding the southern and south-eastern part of the world is navigable; and that the Indian Sea is ocean, and not a lake. We may observe, by the bye, that in another passage inserted in the margin, he expressly declares that the Indian ships had no compass, but were directed by an astronomer on board, who was continually making his observations.

It is evident that the two accounts are at variance, as the first asserts that the passage was round Cape Diab, at the termination of Africa, and the second that it was round Cape Sofala, fifteen degrees to the north of the extremity of this quarter of the world: but without attempting to reconcile this contradiction, it is abundantly evident that Mauro, by noticing the Portuguese navigators, as having reached 2000 miles to the south of Gibraltar, and adding that 2000 miles more of the coast of Africa had been explored by an Indian ship, meant to encourage the further enterprises of the Portuguese, by the natural inference that a very small space of unsailed sea must lie between the two lines, which were the limits of the navigation of the Portuguese and Indian vessel. The unexplored space was indeed much greater than Mauro estimated and represented it in his map to be; but, as Dr. Vincent remarks, his error in this respect manifestly contributed to the prosecution of the Portuguese designs, as the error of the ancient geographers, in approximating China to Europe, produced the discovery of America by Columbus.

We have dwelt thus long on the map of Mauro, as being by far the most important of the maps of the second description, or those in which were inserted real or supposed discoveries. The rest of this description require little notice.

A map of the date of 1346, in Castilian, represents Cape Bojada in Africa as known, and having been doubled at that period. A manuscript, preserved at Genoa, mentions that a ship had sailed from Majorca to a river called Vedamel, or Rui Jaura (probably Rio-do-Ouro,) but her fate was not known. The Genoese historians relate that two of their countrymen in 1291, attempted to reach India by the west; the fate of this enterprize is also unknown. The Canary Islands, the first discovery of which is supposed to have taken place before the Christian era, and which were never afterwards completely lost sight of, being described by the Arabian geographers, appear in a Castilian map of 1346. Teneriffe is called in this map Inferno, in conformity with the popular notion of the ancients, that these islands were the seat of the blessed. In a map of 1384, there is an island called Isola-di-legname, or the Isle of Wood, which, from this appellation, and its situation, is supposed by some geographers to be the island of Madeira. It would seem that some notions respecting the Azores were obscurely entertained towards the end of the fourteenth century, as islands nearly in their position are laid down in the maps of 1380.

In the library of St. Marc, at Venice, there is a map drawn by Bianco, in 1436. In it the ancient world is represented as forming one great continent, divided into two unequal parts by the Mediterranean, and by the Indian Ocean, which is carried from east to west, and comprises a great number of islands. Africa stretches from west to east parallel to Europe and Asia, but it terminates to the north of the equator. The peninsula of India and the Gulf of Bengal scarcely appear. The eastern part of Asia consists of two great peninsulas, divided by an immense gulf. Then appear Cathai, Samarcand, and some other places, the names of which are unintelligible. All the kingdoms of Europe are laid down except Poland and Hungary. To the west of the Canaries, a large tract of country is laid down under the appellation of Antitia; some geographers have maintained that by this America was indicated, but there does not appear any ground for this belief.

Having offered these preliminary and preparatory observations, we shall now proceed to the discoveries of the Portuguese. From the slight sketch which has already been given of the progress of geography and commerce, between the time of Ptolemy and the fifteenth century, it appears that the Portuguese had distinguished themselves less, perhaps, than any other European nation, in these pursuits; but, long before the beginning of the fifteenth century, circumstances had occurred, connected with their history, which were preparing the way for their maritime enterprizes. So early as the year 1250, the Portuguese had succeeded in driving the Moors out of their country; and, in order to prevent them from again disturbing them, they in their turn invaded Fez and Morocco, and having conquered Ceuta in 1415, fortified it, and several harbours near it, on the shores of the Atlantic. So zealous were the Portuguese in their enterprizes against the Moors, that the ladies of Lisbon partook in the general enthusiasm, and refused to bestow their hand on any man who had not signalized his courage on the coast of Africa, The spirit of the nation was largely participated by Prince Henry, the fifth son of John I., king of Portugal, who took up his residence near Cape St. Vincent, in the year 1406. The sole passion and object of his mind was to further the advancement of his country in navigation and discovery: his regard for religion led him to endeavour to destroy or diminish the power of the Mahometans; and his patriotism to acquire for Portugal that Indian commerce, which had enriched the maritime states of Italy. He sought every means and opportunity by which he could increase or render more accurate his information respecting the western coast, and the interior of Africa: and it is probable that the relations of certain Jews and Arabs, respecting the gold mines of Guinea, weighed strongly with him in the enterprizes which he planned, encouraged, and accomplished.

It is not true, however, that he was the inventor of the astrolobe and the compass, or the first that put these instruments into the hands of navigators, though he undoubtedly was an excellent mathematician, and procured the best charts and instruments of the age: the use and application of these, he taught in the best manner to those he selected to command his ships.

With respect to the compass, we have already stated all that is certainly known respecting its earliest application to the purposes of navigation. The sea astrolobe, which is an instrument for taking the altitude of the sun, stars, &c., is described by Chaucer, in 1391, in a treatise on it, addressed to his little son, Louis; and Purchas informs us, that it was formerly applied only to astronomical purposes, but was accommodated to the use of seamen by Martin Behaim, at the command of John II., king of Portugal, about the year 1487.

About the year 1418, when Prince Henry first began his plan of discovery, Cape Nun, in latitude 28 deg. 40', was the limit of European knowledge on the coast of Africa. With this part of the coast, the Portuguese had become acquainted in consequence of their wars with the Moors of Barbary. In 1418, two of Henry's commanders reached Cape Boyada in latitute 26 deg. 30'; but the Cape was not actually doubled till 1434. The Canary islands were visited during the same voyage that the Cape was discovered: Madeira was likewise visited or discovered; it was first called St. Laurence, after the saint of the day on which it was seen, and afterwards Madeira, on account of its woods. In 1420, the Portuguese set fire to these woods, and afterwards planted the sugar cane, which they brought from Sicily, and the vines which they brought from Cyprus. Saw mills were likewise erected on it.

About the year 1432, Gonzalos was sent with two small vessels to the coast of Africa on new discoveries. In 1434, Cape Boyada was doubled: in 1442, the Portuguese had advanced as far as Rio-do-Ouro, under the tropic of Cancer. On the return of the ships from this voyage, the inhabitants of Lisbon first saw, with astonishment, negroes of a jet black complexion, and woolly hair, quite different from the slaves which had been hitherto brought from Africa; for, before this time, they had seized, and sold as slaves, the tawny Moors, which they met with on the coast of Africa. In the year 1442, however, some of these had been redeemed by their friends, in exchange for negroes and gold dust. This last article stimulated the avarice of the Portuguese to greater exertions, than Prince Henry had been able to excite, and an African company was immediately formed to obtain it, slaves, &c.; but their commerce was exclusively confined to the coast of Africa, to the south of Sierra Leone. Dr. Vincent justly remarks, that Henry had stood alone for almost forty years, and had he fallen before these few ounces of gold reached his country, the spirit of discovery might have perished with him, and his designs might have been condemned as the dreams of a visionary. The importation of this gold, and the establishment of the African company in Portugal, to continue the remark of the same author, is the primary date, to which we may refer that turn for adventure which sprung up in Europe, which pervaded all the ardent spirits in every country for the two succeeding centuries, and which never ceased till it had united the four quarters of the globe in commercial intercourse.

In 1445, the Portuguese reached Senegal, where they first saw Pagan negroes: in 1448 and 1449, their discoveries extended to Cape Verd. The islands of that name were discovered in 1456. The exact extent of their discoveries from this time till 1463, when Prince Henry died, is not certainly known. According to some, Cape Verd, or Rio Grande, was the limit; according to others, one navigator reached as far as the coast of Guinea, and Cape Mesanado: some extend the limit even as far south as the equator. Assuming, however, Rio Grande as the limit of the discoveries made in Prince Henry's time, Rio Grande is in latitude 11 north, and the straits of Gibraltar in latitude 36 north; the Portuguese had therefore advanced 25 degrees to the south; that is 1500 geographical, or 1750 British miles, which, with the circuit of the coast, may be estimated at 2000 miles.

For nearly 20 years after the death of Prince Henry, little progress was made by the Portuguese in advancing to the south. At the time of the death of Alonzo, in 1481, they had passed the equator, and reached Cape St. Catherine; in latitude S. 2 deg. 30'. The island of St. Thomas under the line, which was discovered in 1471, was immediately planted with sugar cane; and a fort, which was built the same year on the gold coast, enabled them to extend their knowledge of this part of Africa to a little distance inland. Portugal now began to reap the fruits of her discoveries: bees' wax, ostrich feathers, negro slaves, and particularly gold, were imported, on all of which the profits were so great, that John II., who succeeded Alonzo, immediately on his accession, sent out 12 ships to Guinea; and in 1483, two other vessels were sent, which in the following year reached Congo, and penetrated to 22 deg. south. The river Zaire in this part of Africa was discovered, and many of the inhabitants of the country through which it flows embarked voluntarily for Portugal. Benin was discovered about the same time; here they found a species of spice, which was imported in great quantities into Europe, and sold as pepper: it was, however, nothing else but grains of paradise. The inhabitants of Benin must have had considerable traffic far into the interior of Africa, for from them the Portuguese first received accounts of Abyssinia. By the discovery and conquest of Benin and Congo, the Portuguese traffic in slaves was much extended, but at the same time it took another character for a short time; for the love of gold being stronger than the hope of gain they might derive from the sale of negroes, (for which, indeed, till the discovery of the West Indies there was little demand,) the Portuguese used to exchange the natives they captured for gold with the Moors, till John II. put an end to this traffic, under the pretence that by means of it, the opportunity of converting the negroes was lost, as they were thus delivered into the hands of Infidels. About eighty years after Prince Henry began his discoveries, John I. sent out Diaz with three ships: this was in 1486, and in the following year Covilham was sent by the same monarch in search of India, by the route of Egypt and the Red Sea.

The king displayed great judgment in the selection of both these persons. Diaz was of a family, several members of which had already signalized themselves by the discoveries on the coast of Africa. His mode of conducting the enterprize on which he was sent, proved at once his confidence in himself, his courage, and his skill; after reaching 24 deg. south latitude, 120 leagues beyond any former navigator, he stood right out to sea, and never came within sight of the coast again, till he had reached 40 degrees to the eastward of the Cape, which, however, he was much too far out at sea to discover. He persevered in stretching still farther east, after he made land, till at length he reached the river Del Infante, six degrees to the eastward of the most southern point of Africa, and almost a degree beyond the Cape of Good Hope. He then resolved to return, for what reason is not known; and on his return, he saw the Cape of Good Hope, to which, on account of the storms he encountered on his passage round it, he gave the appellation of Cabo Tormentoso. John II., however, augured so well from the doubling of the extremity of Africa having been accomplished, that he changed its name into that of the Cape of Good Hope.

As soon as John II. ascended the throne, he sent two friars and a layman to Jerusalem, with instructions to gain whatever information they could respecting India and Prester John from the pilgrims who resorted to that city, and, if necessary, to proceed further to the east. As, however, none of this party understood Arabic, they were of little use, and in fact did not go beyond Jerusalem. In 1487, the king sent Covilham and Paayva on the same mission: the former had served in Africa as a soldier, and was intimately acquainted with Arabic. In order to facilitate this enterprise, Covilham was entrusted with a map, drawn up by two Jews, which most probably was a copy of the map of Mauro, of which we have already spoken. On this map, a passage round the south of Africa was laid down as having been actually accomplished, and Covilham was directed to reach Abyssinia, if possible; and ascertain there or elsewhere, whether such a passage did really exist. Covilham went from Naples to Alexandria, and thence to Cairo. At this city he formed an acquaintance with some merchants of Fez and Barbary, and in their company went to Aden. Here he embarked and visited Goa, Calicut, and other commercial cities of India, where he saw pepper and ginger, and heard of cloves and cinnamon. From India he returned to the east coast of Africa, down which he went as low as Sofala, "the last residence of the Arabs, and the limit of their knowledge in that age, as it had been in the age of the Periplus." He visited the gold mines in the vicinity of this place: and here he also learnt all the Arabs knew respecting the southern part of Africa, viz. that the sea was navigable to the south-west (and this indeed their countrymen believed, when the author of the Periplus visited them); but they knew not where the sea terminated. At Sofala also Covilham gained some information respecting the island of the Moon, or Madagascar. He returned to Cairo, by Zeila, Aden, and Tor. At Cairo, he sent an account of the intelligence to the king, and in the letter which contained it, he added, "that the ships which sailed down the coast of Guinea, might be sure of reaching the termination of the continent, by persisting in a course to the south, and that when they should arrive in the eastern ocean, their best direction must be to enquire for Sofala and the island of the Moon."

"It is this letter," observes Dr. Vincent, "above all other information, which, with equal justice and equal honour, assigns the theoretical discovery to Covilham, as the practical to Diaz and Gama; for Diaz returned without hearing any thing of India, though he had passed the Cape, and Gama did not sail till after the intelligence of Covilham had ratified the discovery of Diaz." One part of the instructions given to Covilham required him to visit Abyssinia: in order to accomplish this object, he returned to Aden, and there took the first opportunity of entering Abyssinia. The sovereign of his country received and treated him with kindness, giving him a wife and land. He entered Abyssinia in 1488, and in 1521, that is, 33 years afterwards, the almoner to the embassy of John de Lima found him. Covilham, notwithstanding he was as much beloved by the inhabitants as by their sovereign, was anxious to return to Portugal, and John de Lima, at his request, solicited the king to grant him permission to that effect, but he did not succeed. "I dwell," observes Dr. Vincent, "with a melancholy pleasure on the history of this man,—whom Alvarez, the almoner, describes still as a brave soldier and a devout Christian;—when I reflect upon what must have been his sentiments on hearing the success of his countrymen, in consequence of the discovery to which he so essentially contributed. They were sovereigns of the ocean from the Cape of Good Hope to the straits of Malacca: he was still a prisoner in a country of barbarians."

It might have been supposed, that after it had been ascertained by Diaz that the southern promontory of Africa could be doubled, and by Covilham, that this was the only difficulty to a passage by sea to India, the court of Portugal would have lost no time in prosecuting their discoveries, and completing the grand object they had had in view for nearly a century: this, however, was not the case. Ten years, and another reign, and great debates in the council of Portugal were requisite before it was resolved that the attempt to prosecute the discovery of Diaz to its completion was expedient, or could be of any advantage to the nation at large. At last, when Emanuel, who was their sovereign, had determined on prosecuting the discovery of India, his choice of a person to conduct the enterprise fell on Gama. As he had armorial bearings, we may justly suppose that he was of a good family; and in all respects he appears to have been well qualified for the grand enterprise to which he was called, and to have resolved, from a sense of religion and loyalty, to have devoted himself to death, if he should not succeed. Diaz was appointed to a command under him, but he had not the satisfaction of witnessing the results of his own discovery; for he returned when the fleet had reached St. Jago, was employed in a secondary command under Cabral, in the expedition in which Brazil was discovered, and in his passage from that country to the Cape, four ships, one of which he commanded, perished with all on board.

As soon as the fleet which Gama was to take with him was ready for sea, the king, attended by all his court, and a great body of the people, formed a solemn procession to the shore, where they were to embark, and Gama assumed the command, under the auspices of the most imposing religious ceremonies. Nearly all who witnessed his embarkation regarded him and those who accompanied him "rather as devoted to destruction, than as sent to the acquisition of renown."

The fleet which was destined to accomplish one of the objects (the discovery of America is the other)—which, as Dr. Robertson remarks, "finally established those commercial ideas and arrangements which constitute the chief distinction between the manners and policy of ancient and modern times,"—consisted only of three small ships, and a victualler, manned with no more than 160 souls: the principal officers were Vasco de Gama, and Paul his brother: Diaz and Diego Diaz, his brother, who acted as purser: and Pedro Alanquer, who had been pilot to Diaz. Diaz was to accompany them only to a certain latitude.

They sailed from Lisbon on the 18th of July, 1497: in the bay of St. Helena, which they reached on the 4th of November, they found natives, who were not understood by any of the negro interpreters they had on board. From the description of the peculiarity in their mode of utterance, which the journal of the voyage calls sighing, and from the circumstance that the same people were found in the bay of St. Blas, 60 leagues beyond the Cape, there can be no doubt that they were Hottentots. In consequence of the ignorance or the obstinacy of the pilot, and of tempestuous weather, the voyage to the Cape was long and dangerous: this promontory, however, was doubled on the 20th of November. After this the wind and weather proving favourable, the voyage was more prosperous and rapid. On the 11th of January, 1498, they reached that part of the coast where the natives were no longer Hottentots, but Caffres, who at that period displayed the same marks of superior civilization by which they are distinguished from the Hottentots at present.

From the bay of St. Helena till they passed Cape Corrientes, there had been no trace of navigation,—no symptom that the natives used the sea at all. But after they passed this cape, they were visited by the natives in boats, the sails of which seem to have been made of the fibres of the cocoa-palm. A much more encouraging circumstance, however, occurred: some of the natives that came off in these boats were clothed in cotton, silk, and sattin,—evident proofs that intercourse, either direct or indirect, was practicable, and had in fact been held between this country and India. The language of these people was not understood; but from their signs it was inferred that they had seen ships as large as the Portuguese, and that they had come from the north.

This part of Africa lies between latitudes 19 deg. and 18 deg. south; and as Gama had the corrected chart of Covilham on board, in which Sofala was marked as the limit of his progress, and Sofala was two degrees to the south of where he then was, he must have known that he had now passed the barrier, and that the discovery was ascertained, his circumnavigation being now connected with the route of Covilham. This point of Gama's progress is also interesting and important in another respect, for we are here approaching a junction with the discoveries of the Arabians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans.

At this place Gama remained till the 24th of February, repairing his ships and recruiting his men. On the 1st of March, he arrived off Mozambique; here evidences of a circumnavigation with India were strong and numerous. The sovereign of Mozambique ruled over all the country from Sofala to Melinda. The vessels, which were fitted out entirely for coasting voyages, were large, undecked, the seams fastened with cords made of the cocoa fibres, and the timbers in the same manner. Gama, in going on board some of the largest of those, found that they were equipped with charts and compasses, and what are called aest harlab, probably the sea astrolabe, already discovered. At the town of Mozambique, the Moorish merchants from the Red Sea and India, met and exchanged the gold of Sofala for their commodities, and in its warehouses, which, though meanly built, were numerous, pepper, ginger, cottons, silver, pearls, rubies, velvet, and other Indian articles were exposed to sale. At Mombaca, the next place to which Gama sailed, all the commodities of India were found, and likewise the citron, lemon, and orange; the houses were built of stone, and the inhabitants, chiefly Mahomedans, seemed to have acquired wealth by commerce, as they lived in great splendour and luxury.

On the 17th of March, 1498, Gama reached Melinda, and was consequently completely within the boundary of the Greek and Roman discovery and commerce in this part of the world. This city is represented as well built, and displaying in almost every respect, proofs of the extensive trade the inhabitants carried on with India, and of the wealth they derived from it. Here Gama saw, for the first time, Banians, or Indian merchants: from them he received much important information respecting the commercial cities of the west coast of India: and at Melinda he took on board pilots, who conducted his fleet across the Indian Ocean to Calicut on the coast of Malabar, where he landed on the 22d of May, 1498, ten months and two days after his departure from Lisbon. He returned to Lisbon in 1499, and again received the command of a squadron in 1502; he died at Cochin in 1525, after having lived to witness his country sovereign of the Indian seas from Malacca to the Cape of Good Hope. "The consequence of his discovery was the subversion of the Turkish power, which at that time kept all Europe in alarm. The East no longer paid tribute for her precious commodities, which passed through the Turkish provinces; the revenues of that empire were diminished; the Othmans ceased to be a terror to the western world, and Europe has risen to a power, which the three other continents may in vain endeavour to oppose."

The successful enterprize of Gama, and the return of his ships laden not only with the commodities peculiar to the coast of Malabar, but with many of the richer and rarer productions of the eastern parts of India, stimulated the Portuguese to enter on this new career with avidity and ardour, both military and commercial. It fortunately happened that Emanuel, who was king of Portugal at this period, was a man of great intelligence and grasp of mind, capable of forming plans with prudence and judgment, and of executing them with method and perseverance; and it was equally fortunate that such a monarch was enabled to select men to command in India, who from their enterprize, military skill, sagacity, integrity, and patriotism, were peculiarly qualified to carry into full and successful execution all his views and plans.

The consequences were such as must always result from the steady operation of such causes: twenty-four years after the voyage of Gama, and before the termination of Emanuel's reign, the Portuguese had reached, and made themselves masters of Malacca. This place was the great staple of the commerce carried on between the east of Asia, including China, and the islands and the western parts of India. To it the merchants of China, Japan, the Moluccas, &c. came from the east, and those of Malabar, Ceylon, Coromandel and Bengal, from the west; and its situation, nearly at an equal distance from the eastern and western parts of India, rendered it peculiarly favorable for this trade, while by possessing the command of the straits through which all ships must pass from the one extremity of Asia to the other, it had the monopoly of the most extensive and lucrative commerce completely within its power.

From Malacca the Portuguese sailed for the conquest of the Moluccas; and by achieving this, secured the monopoly of spices. Their attempt to open a communication and trade with China, which was made about the same time, was not then successful: but by perseverance they succeeded in their object, and before the middle of the sixteenth century, exchanged, at the island of Sancian, the spices of the Moluccas, and the precious stones and ivory of Ceylon, for the silks, porcelain, drugs, and tea of China. Soon afterwards the emperor of China allowed them to occupy the island of Macao. In 1542 they succeeded in forming a commercial intercourse with Japan, trading with it for gold, silver and copper; this trade, however, was never extensive, and it ceased altogether in 1638, when they were driven from the Japanese territories.

As the commodities of India could not be purchased except with large quantities of gold, the Portuguese, in order to obtain it, as well as for other commercial advantages, prosecuted their discoveries on the east of Africa, at the same time that they were extending their power and commerce in India. On the east of Africa, between Sofala and the Red Sea, Arabian colonies had been settled for many centuries: these the Portuguese navigators visited, and gradually reduced to tribute; and the remains of the empire they established at this period, may still be traced in the few and feeble settlements they possess between Sofala and Melinda. In 1506 they visited and explored the island of Madagascar; in 1513, by the expulsion of the Arabs from Aden, the Red Sea was opened to their ships; and they quickly examined its shores and harbours, and made themselves acquainted with its tedious and dangerous navigation. In 1520 they visited the ports of Abyssinia, but their ambition and the security of their commerce were not yet completely attained; the Persian Gulf, as well as the Red Sea, was explored; stations were formed on the coasts of both: and thus they were enabled to obstruct the ancient commercial intercourse between Egypt and India, and to command the entrance of those rivers, by which Indian goods were conveyed not only through the interior of Asia, but also to Constantinople. By the conquest of Ormus, the Portuguese monopolised that extensive trade to the East, which had been in the hands of the Persians for several centuries. "In the hands of the Portuguese this island soon became the great mart from which the Persian empire, and all the provinces of Asia to the west of it, were supplied with the productions of India: and a city which they built on that barren island, destitute of water, was rendered one of the chief seats of opulence, splendour, and luxury in the eastern world."

The Venetians, who foresaw the ruin of their oriental commerce in the success of the Portuguese, in vain endeavoured to stop the progress of their rivals in the middle of the sixteenth century: the latter, masters of the east coast of Africa, of the coasts of Arabia and Persia, of the two peninsulas of India, of the Molucca islands, and of the trade to China and Japan, supplied every part of Europe with the productions of the east, by the Cape of Good Hope; nor was their power and commerce subverted, till Portugal became a province of Spain.

We have purposely omitted, in this rapid sketch of the establishment and progress of the Portuguese commerce in the East, any notice of the smaller discoveries which they made at the same time. These, however, it will be proper to advert to before we proceed to another subject.

In the year 1512, a Portuguese navigator was shipwrecked on the Maldives: he found them already in the occasional possession of the Arabians, who came thither for the cocoa fibres, of which they formed their cordage, and the cowries, which circulated as money from Bengal to Siam. The Portuguese derived from them immense quantities of these cowries, with which they traded to Guinea, Congo, and Benin. On their conquest, they obliged the sovereigns of this island to pay them tribute in cinnamon, pearls, precious stones, and elephants. The discovery and conquest of the Malaccas has already been noticed, and its importance in rendering them masters of the trade of both parts of India, which had been previously carried on principally by the merchants of Arabia, Persia from the West, and of China from the East. In Siam, gum lac, porcelain, and aromatics enriched the Portuguese, who were the first Europeans who arrived in this and the adjacent parts of this peninsula.

In the year 1511 the Portuguese navigators began to explore the eastern archipelago of India, and to make a more complete and accurate examination of some islands, which they had previously barely discovered. Sumatra was examined with great care, and from it they exported tin, pepper, sandal, camphire, &c. In 1513, they arrived at Borneo: of it, however, they saw and learned little, except that it also produced camphire. In the same year they had made themselves well acquainted with Java: here they obtained rice, pepper, and other valuable articles. It is worthy of remark, that Barros, the Portuguese historian of their discoveries and conquests in the East, who died towards the close of the sixteenth century, already foresaw that the immense number of islands, some of them very large, which were scattered in the south-east of Asia, would justly entitle this part, at some future period, to the appellation of the fifth division of the world. Couto, his continuator, comprehends all these islands under five different groups. To the first belong the Moluccas. The second archipelago comprises Gilolo, Moratai, Celebes, or Macassar, &c. The third group contains the great isle of Mindinao, Soloo, and most of the southern Philippines. The fourth archipelago was formed of the Banda isle, Amboyna, &c.; the largest of these were discovered by the Portuguese in the year 1511: from Amboyna they drew their supplies of cloves.

The Portuguese knew little of the fifth archipelago, because the inhabitants were ignorant of commerce, and totally savage and uncultivated. From the description given of them by the early Portuguese writers, as totally unacquainted with any metal, making use of the teeth of fish in its stead, and as being as black as the Caffres of Africa, while among them there were some of an unhealthy white colour, whose eyes were so weak that they could not bear the light of the sun;—from these particulars there can be no doubt that the Portuguese had discovered New Guinea, and the adjacent isles, to whose inhabitants this description exactly applies. These islands were the limit of the Portuguese discoveries to the East: they suspected, however, that there were other islands beyond them, and that these ranged along a great southern continent, which stretched as far as the straits of Magellan. It is the opinion of some geographers, and particularly of Malte Brun, that the Portuguese had visited the coasts of New Holland before the year 1540; but that they regarded it as part of the great southern continent, the existence of which Ptolemy had first imagined.

We have already alluded to the obstacles which opposed and retarded the commercial intercourse of the Portuguese with China. Notwithstanding these, they prosecuted their discoveries in the Chinese seas. In the year 1518, they arrived at the isles of Liqueou, where they found gold in abundance: the inhabitants traded as far as the Moluccas. Their intercourse with Japan has already been noticed.

From these results of the grand project formed by Prince Henry, and carried on by men animated by his spirit, (results so important to geography and commerce, and which mainly contributed to raise Europe to its present high rank in knowledge, civilization, wealth, and power,) we must now turn to the discovery of America, the second grand cause in the production of the same effects.

For the discovery of the new world we are indebted to Columbus. This celebrated person was extremely well qualified for enterprizes that required a combination of foresight, comprehension, decision, perseverance, and skill. From his earliest youth he had been accustomed to regard the sea as his peculiar and hereditary element; for the family, from which he was descended, had been navigators for many ages. And though, from all that is known respecting them, this line of life had not been attended with much success or emolument, yet Columbus's zeal was not thereby damped; and his parents, still anxious that their son should pursue the same line which his ancestors had done, strained every nerve to give him a suitable education. He was accordingly taught geometry, astronomy, geography, and drawing. As soon as his time of life and his education qualified him for the business he had chosen, he went to sea; he was then fourteen years old. His first voyages were from Genoa, of which city he was a native, to different ports in the Mediterranean, with which this republic traded. His ambition, however, was not long to be confined to seas so well known. Scarcely had he attained the age of twenty, when he sailed into the Atlantic; and steering to the north, ran along the coast of Iceland, and, according, to his own journal, penetrated within the arctic circle. In another voyage he sailed as far south as the Portuguese fort of St. George del Mina, under the equator, on the coast of Africa. On his return from this voyage, he seems to have engaged in a piratical warfare with the Venetians and Turks, who, at this period, disputed with the Genoese the sovereignty and commerce of the Mediterranean; and in this warfare he was greatly distinguished for enterprize, as well as for cool and undaunted courage.

At this period he was attracted to Lisbon by the fame which Prince Henry had acquired, on account of the encouragement he afforded to maritime discovery. In this city he married the daughter of a person who had been employed in the earlier navigations of the prince; and from his father-in-law he is said to have obtained possession of a number of journals, sea charts, and other valuable papers. As he had ascertained that the object of the Portuguese was to reach India by the southern part of Africa, he concluded, that, unless he could devise or suggest some other route, little attention would be paid to him. He, therefore, turned his thoughts to the practicability of reaching India by sailing to the west. At this time the rotundity of the earth was generally admitted. The ancients, whose opinions on the extent and direction of the countries which formed the terrestrial globe, still retained their hold on the minds even of scientific men, had believed that the ocean encompassed the whole earth; the natural and unavoidable conclusion was, that by sailing to the west, India would be reached. An error of Ptolemy's, to which we have already adverted, contributed to the belief that this voyage could not be very long; for, according to that geographer, (and his authority was implicitly acceded to,) the space to be sailed over was sixty degrees less than it actually proved to be,—a space equal to three-fourths, of the Pacific Ocean. From considering Marco Polo's account of his travels in the east of Asia, Columbus also derived great encouragement; for, according to him, Cathay and Zepango stretched out to a great extent in an easterly direction; of course they must approach so much the more towards the west of Europe. It is probable, also, that Columbus flattered himself, that if he did not reach India by a western course, he would, perhaps, discover the Atlantis, which was placed by Plato and Aristotle in the ocean, to the west of Europe.