New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-05-15

ATTEMPTS, ANCIENT AND MODERN, TO FIND
SHORTER ROUTES TO INDIA, CHINA, AND
JAPAN-EARLY COMPLETION OF THE sUE|
CANAL.
The link which binds the civilization of the
most ancient time to the most modern-whch unes the
age OF Solomon King Of the Jews Of Hiram Ruler OF the
Phnncians and Of Carthage in her days OF commerclm
glory. tins living and breathing century-is the tauo
with the Indies For three thousand years the nations
have been seeking the most convenient route 10 'no
Orient East and West have they soughs = This s@aE
of grace behods the Eastern quest ended in the opening
Of the suez Canal and the dream OF Western explorers
fulfilled i'm the completion Of the Pacific Railroad
IN the visions early navgators who looked TO the
East as Fl Dorado, the wild tales OF their chdhc
seameD and in their vague traditions OF eastern lanus
he reached by sailing westward, which hoaed IN 10 NV
main from islands lying far to the outposs OF aus
coyery, ia hidden the romance OF history Thence came
the myths Of the Argonauts Of the Fortunate lsands
and the Garden OF tho Hesperides OF the Kingdom VI
Prester Johu and the marye lous Isle OF ST. biauo"
Thence came the hope OF the Earthly Paradise, ana INC
dream OF the Fountain OF Immortal Youth. Alohs 'no
route to India and Cathayay all these wonders 10 Temp
the daring navigator. Though the course OF empHo
moved steadily Westward, still on the Orient his eyes
were fixed The Indies enriched by centuries Of trau
ton and wrapped in mysterious splendors were the Io
stone which drew the ships Of tho explorer eastward anu
westward I'LL the grdle Of discovery encirced the gooe
The ancient cities Jerusalem Of Tyre and OF Suon
M q
suppose the uch city OF Ophr to have stood az QUO u 80
mouths OF the Indus. the ships OF Hiram Ming vi
Tyre then the leader commerce, set san lor i"iH"
and Ophlr Solomon King OF Israeli privately scu' us
own ships in their track TO discover the way thie' '
after the two rulers had made peace ana Hiram hau l
nshed Solomon with 1r.wood and cedar-wood from 'no
mountains of Lebanon for the sacred temple ne also so
his own potg TO guide the Hebrew ships TO Ophr that
they might bring thence "gOd, and almondtrces' ana
ivory, and peacocks."
In what direction these ships sailed. and indeed IN
what part Of the world Tarshish and Ophr were reaIy
situate, IS not certain Some historians conjecture
that Ophr was merely synonym for rich countries Tar
of as afterward in the days Columbus, the land OF
Cathay" aud 1.-THE Indies" vague, indefinite terms
in geography.
Six centuries after Solomon, when the old glory OF
PhDnlcia was growing dim, Alexander Of Macedon made
his trumpha march TO the East lie led his armies IRON
the eespont TO the Indus and plundered scores OF rich
cities After he had reeled back with victorious orgies 20
the borders Of Asia Minor ms Admiral Nearchus, led bis
hips from the mouth Of the Indus the Persian CUR
10 the waters Of the Euphrates and gave the world the
first survey Of any OF India recorded In history
Alexander saw the Importance OF close commerce
with the rich East which he had laid waste After MS
conquest Of Egypt, he founded the CITY OF AeAah"l,
NJ one OF the mouths OF The Nile and hs DEATH one OF
tho lsest OF his generals the first OF the line OF the
Ptolepics became the frucr there. Ptolcny found IN
the sands Of Suez traces Of deserted canal begun Dy
the Pharaohs, 20 secure water communication TO Inda
by opening passage from the Mediterranean to the Red
sea According 10 Herodotus 10000 men had persisted
mon this vast work before It abandoned Ptoemy
pbiladelphus son Of Ptoemy L. and enthusiast In the
advancement OF his empire IN learning aud commerce
ould fn have continued this canal OF the old Egyptian
onarchs But his engineers shook their heads aud as
serted with one voice The Red Sea IL higher by three
cubits than the land OF Egypt II canal be cut through
the Isthmus Of sucz the Will food the country and
drown Oh your people. ~ once btIoIe IL b"aHoNed Wy
the hosts OF Pharaoh"
From the trno Of tho Poones three centuries before
Christ to that OF yasco dn Cana, almost two thousand
years later Alexandria remained ono Of the most Ia
nous eutrcpots iOr Eastern commerce Indian pfodne'h
,ere brought m the uns and ba- % China and Hin
dostan 70 Adcu on tho Arabian coast There to W''t
rp crcLauts rcloadug them into their own sps con-
viewed them UP the Rcd Sea 90 sucz Thence they p's'
through a canal 20 the city Of Alexandria which as
opsed the costly gifts Of the East % the CIVILIZED world
This Aeyapdr.an canal like that OF the Pharaoh7. is
now ehokcd up with sand and rubbish ruin - com
ul.te as the cruubcd palaces Of the great city itsrt
But Alexandria and suez were not the only routes 10
india known 10 tho middle ages The costly trade spread
itself By way Of famous Samarcand mp tho river oAH-'
across 10 the Caspian Sea, thence 20 tho LuAhe ana 20
into the Mediterranean, and over Europe. Inc cA'i
overland route was through the city OF CandahaF' nf
which Indian products passed into Persia At Clndaiar'
the caravans from Ispahan and Agra inerscced those
from the Caspian Sea- and the merchants OF the East ana
the merchants Of tho West met and exchanged their
wares There the bowed camels wcrc unoaded OF tho
spices perfumes, precious stones, aud rich SILKS OF Hin
dosap the muslus Of ,Caicut and the sha~s OF Cash
mere There the from Egypt was poured out beside
the dates from Arabia aud tho odors OF the wines and
roses Of Damascus mingled with those OF the balm aud
o and honey from Palestine. There into busy caravan
scras the 1.-THE mbed Arabian drove his herds OF goats
and sheep for the markets the Mediterranean There
I'm Persian moOnlghts the western kings OF commerce
smoked their pipes aud drank their coffee listening 10 the
Eastern story teller who ccounod the deeds Of the good
uaroun al Raschid the singer, who celebrated the
vaor Of Rustam aud chanted dreamy passionate odes
on tho loves OF the rose and the nightingale.
For eighteen centuries after the building Of Alexandria
those old routes were worn by the footprints OF
merce Before new Of discovery began the day Of
the destruction Carthage had risen and set the glory
OF the Greeks had departed the Roman empire had Ike
an unsubstantal pageant faded and the Christian re-
Iiglon was IN It's fifteenth century.
The desire reach the Indies by ships had become the
passion Of all great naygators. The long Of the
Crusades had invested the East with additional enchant
ment The widest tales OF travellers received with
eager creduity. Tho romantic accounts OF China and
Japan brought back by Marco Polo less marvellous
than the stories Of Sir John Vaudeville who had preceded
him by quarter Of a century. Both confirmed the be-
lief that in the most remote East the great Proster John
Christian monarch regned over immense country and
received the tribute OF "a kngs In his domains abOundcd
all precious stones streams with mix and honey and
over whole province the river which encrcled Paradise
spread It's arms in manifold windlngs AT the foot of
mountain dubbed up living spring which changed It's
now by hour and he who tasted OF It's waters how
ever old and infrm should thenceforh be OF 20
years In short the wonders and riches OF this kingdom
could not be reeouned and every sovereign OF Europe
yearnod above ali things to seek out and form alliance
with this Eastern monarch, and TO bring Asia and
Europe into Christian brotherhood
The Hanseatic League. which included all the mari
time powers of Europe had for 300 years controlled