The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-04-30

and each would gladly have seen its
rival ruined. III l++4, Genoese vessels, ferried
porus ut a durat. n head 10 do battle against the
champions OF Christendom. Nine years later
Kaffa fell to their all-devouring armies. The
ticnoeSe colony. with its warehouse palaces at
seas. and lis two factories in the Crimea. went
down in the wreck of the Byzantine Empire.
BY the middle Wdn Of the fiteS1th century, hnrGs there nsd
blocked both the BLACK Sea and the Syrian
routes OF the Indo- European trade.
Tho third or southern maritime route to
Egypt had. perhaps. aless anciento origin. but it
was destined to survive the othertwo routes in
medieval times. and to become again the high
way Of Eastern in our own day.
Herodotus narratcs the naval expedition Of
Sesostris tRameses II y. the Egyptian monarch
OF the fourteenth century Is. c.. along the
Asiatic coast OF the Red Sea. and his conquest
OF the interIacent countries between the Per-
sian Gulf and the Mediterranean. Sir William
Hunter does not deem 1t worth while to dwell
long upon the evidence for the Sesostris canal
from the Nile to the Gulf OF Suez. or for its
identity with similar works on which later
rulers OF Egypt. Necho. Darius. son Of Hys-
taspes. and Ptolemy Philadelphus. labored. A
point to be noted carefully in connection with
this subject is brought out by the author OF
this history. We refer to the circumstance
that northerly winds blow down the Egyptian
side OF the Red Sea during most Of the year;
these rendered navigation up its western shores
difficult for vessels OF the Old World. To evade
this obstacle. Ptolcmy Philadelphus founded
the town OF Myos Hormos PA b. c.. whence
Indian wares could be carried across the desert
to the Nile Valley. Still better to avoid the
northerly head winds on the passage up the
pcrtharIy p,aat ptpIanv crental tho an, poriupo
OF Berenice at the southern extremity OF Egypt
proper on the Red Sea. Thence a caravan
journey OF 80 Roman miles conveyed the
Eastern freights through wastes and noun
tains 10 Coptos on the Nile. Tho proposed As
sua n-Berenice railway would revive the old
trade path from Ptolemy's harbor to the Nile
Valley by a shorter cut. Railway communica-
ton. indeed. seems destined to reopen the an
cient paths of 1ndo- European The
Russian line to Bokhara represents. though
not exactly. an old route from China by way of
the Oxus, and the ong-projected Euphrates
Valley Railway would be a modern counter
part OF the Syrian caravan track.
The final development Of the Indo- Egyptian
route did not take place until three centuries
after Ptolemy Philadelphus. when the pilot
Hippalus worked out the possibility OF regular
passages bv means o; the monsoons. These
periodical winds blow from Africa to India for
about six months. and from India to Africa
during the other six. While. moreover. the
Egyptian coast passage is impeded by northerly
| winds during most Of the year in the upper
part Of the Red Sea. the navigation in its lower
| parts is aided by regular variations in the air
currents. southerly winds predominating from
Octoberto June and northerly winds from June
to October. The establishment OF Berenice
thus paved the way for a vast expansion OF
the Eastern trade as soon as the monsoons
were put to their mercantile uses In the first
century A. D.. This monsoon route became the
chief channel for the bulkier produce. as well
as the precious gems and wares Of India. en-
riched the ports along the line. and made Alex
andria the commercial metropolis of the Roman
Empire. Pliny lamented the vast shipments OF
gold and silver sent from Europe to pay for the
products OF Asia. In no year. he says.
does India drain our empire OF less than
ffty-fve millions OF sesterces two million two
hundred and ninety thousand dollars). giving
back her own wares in exchange. which are
sold at one hundred times their prime cost"
While Greek and Roman merchants en-
riched themselves by the Indo- Egyptian trade.
the actual sea passage from India to Egypt.
like the caravan route from the Persian Gulf
to the L.evant. remained in the hands of Semitic
races. Colonies Of Arabs and Jews settled in
an early century of our era. IL not before it. on
the Southern Bombay coast. where their
descendants form distinct communities at the
present day. The voyages OF Sindbad the
Sailor are a popular romance OF the India trade
under the Caliphs of Bagdad. and belong.
probably, TO the ninth century A. D.. A series OF
Arabian geoEraphers andtravellers bring down
the narrative TO the fourteenth century. Tn
der the Fatimite Caliphs Of Egypt, and the later
Mameluke SuItans. the Indo- Egyptian trade
continued to flourish. Ibn Batuta 1304-1377l.
| who raNalln1 for tWnnty-fOur yeara in Asia
Africa and the Mediterranean world. declared
Cairo to be the greatest city on earth. out OF
China" and mentioned Alexandria as one OF
the five chief ports which he had seen. Two
others of these were on the Bombay coast, and
all five we're fed by the Indian or Chinese
trade. The same Turkish avalanche. however
that had thrown itself across the Syrian and
Black Sea routes. was also to descend or
Egypt. The seizure of that country in 1851
was merely the ~fEisllilS stroke OF conquest
by which, in the preceding century. the com
mand of the other lndo-European highways
had passed 10 the Turkish hordes.
Thorold Rogers and others have assumed
that the capture Of Cairo by Selim |. put AN enc
to the traffic between India and Europe. by al
oi the old routes. caused the ruin OF Venice
aud Genoa. and compelled a commercial devel
opment Of the route around the Cape Of Goo
Hope. discovered by the Portuguese. 81
William Hunter is one OF the few students o
trade relations who does not eNagCerate thu
extent to which the old routes we're closed. |
is true that, III the Euphrates Valley. il
Syria and IN Egynt. the Ottoman Turk
t;ys{{yo c;I SGimId'c 1ynas1bi hes 81 a r %@dmpars a
spoilers soon grew into luxurious, poten
tates, and their. Turanlan nature, although
took on a veneer. The heed OF the old trad,
routes between India and Europe was not un
recognized by the Turks. nor were they indif
ferent +" III" taxes aud transit iutles tina