remote regions of the East had been generally carried on in comparatively small vessels, that crept cautiously along the windings of the coast. As soon however as Hippalus had shown the uniformity of these periodical winds, vessels of a larger and of an improved description were constructed; and so great was the impulse thus given to the trade between Europe and India, that it soon became a subject of apprehension at Rome, lest the empire should be drained of its specie to maintain the commerce with India. According to Pliny,[1] silver, to the value of nearly a million and a half sterling was annually required to pay for the spices, gems, pearls, and silks then imported through Egypt.
Value of the trade with India. From the earliest historic period, the productions of India have, indeed, been in almost incessant demand by the nations of the West, and from even the mysterious reign of Semiramis, the queen of Assyria, to our own time, the possession of India has been in turn the envy of them all. To Great Britain, India has perhaps been of less special value since the differential duties were abolished and its ports thrown open to the shipping and commerce of the world; but still that empire is a prize she would not readily relinquish. To her merchants it has been a source of immense wealth, and among her people its produce, either as articles of necessity or luxury, is now as eagerly sought after as it was in the palmy days of Tyre, of Rome, or of the Italian republics. Vast quantities of silver are still gathered from all parts of the Western world, for export to the East, in exchange for the products of India; and complaints have been
- ↑ Plin. vi. 101.
