protected; and in this case wiil, I hope, be found a valuable fragment, because, whatever have been my conscientious fears of running servants, who work for pay, into danger of losing their lives by peril of the sea, yet I can safely say, that never did the face of man, or fear of danger to myself, deter me from verifying with my eyes, what my own hands have put upon paper.
In the days of the Ptolemies, and, as I shall shew, long before, the west coast of the Red Sea, where the deepest water, and most dangerous rocks are, was the track which the Indian and African ships chose, when loaded with the richest merchandise that ever vessels since carried. The Ptolemies built a number of large cities on this coast; nor do we hear that ships were obliged to abandon that track, from the disasters that befel them in the navigation. On the contrary, they avoided the coast of Arabia; and one reason, among others, is plain why they should; — they were loaded with the most valuable commodities, gold, ivory, gums, and precious stones; room for stowage on board therefore was very valuable.
Part of this trade, when at its greatest perfection, was carried on in vessels with oars. We know from the prophet Ezekiel *[1], 700 years before Christ, or 300 after Solomon had finished his trade with Africa and India, that they did not always make use of sails in the track of the monsoons; and consequently a great number of men must have been neces-
- ↑ * Ezek. chap, xxvii. 6th and 29th verses.
