Occupations > Historical disquisition concerning the knowledge which the ancients had of India; and the progress of trade with that country

l! L III. CONCERNING ANCIF.KT INDIA. 123
ij) ind South of Europe, and which hitherto had
•. seen common to all the Italians, was now en-
l grossed, in a great measure, by them alone,
if ! While the increasing demand for the produc-
<nt rions of Asia induced all the people of Europe
! to court intercourse with the Venetians so ea¬
gerly, as to allure them, by various immunities,
i to frequent their sea ports, we may observe a
^peculiarity in their mode of carrying on trade
<f with the East, which distinguishes it from what
>1 has taken place in other countries in any period
1 of history. In the ancient world, the Tyrians,
» the Greeks who were masters of Egypt, and the
f Romans, sailfed to India, in quest of those com-
; modities with which they supplied the people of
i the West. In modern times the same has been
I the practice of the Portuguese, the Dutch, the
: ( English, and, after their example, of other Eu¬
ropean nations. In both periods loud complaints
have been made, that in carrying on this trade
every state must be drained of the precious me¬
tals, which, in the course of it flow incessantly
| from the West to the East, never to return.
From whatever loss might have been occasioned
by this gradual but unavoidable diminution of
i their gold and silver (whether a real or only an
| imaginary loss, it is not incumbent upon me io
5 this place to inquire or to determine), the Ve-
| tians were in a great measure exempted,
i They had no direct intercourse with India.
1 They found in Egypt, or in Syria, warehouses
I filled with all thp commodities of the East, im¬
ported by the Mahomedans ; and from the best
I accounts we have, with respect to the nature of
' their trade, they purchased them more frequently
M 2