36
IIIsroKV OF INDIA.
[Ii<^OK I
Maritime
routes.
B.C. — the monsoons in the Indian Ocean liad emboldened navigaU^rs, even before the
compass was discovered, to humch <.»ut int<j the deep and steer their course directl}'
across from shore to shore. In tliis way the outward voyage was accomplished
by the south-west, and the homeward by the north-east monswjn — the fonner,
consequently, in the summer, and the latter in tlie winter months. This was
a vast improvement on the earlier mode of navigation, but even }>efore it was
discovered the trade by sea obtained great importance. Mention ha« already
been made of the Phoenicians, who, by means of it, acquired an opulence which
made the merchants of Tyre princes, and a power which it took all the skill,
prowess, and perseverance of Alexander the Great to overthrow. As they could
not communicate directly with India, and were unwilling to depend for transport
on the Egyptian.s, who might at any time, by declining to perform their yjart of
it, have extinguished the trade, they, by force or negotiation, made themselves
masters of some convenient harbours on the Arabian coast, near the entrance
of the Red Sea, and, using them as entrepots, formed a communication with
TjTe by a land route, of which they had .secured the entire cfjntrol. The
distance was still so great as to be very inconvenient; and lience new facilities
for the trade were obtained when tlie Phoenicians took pos.se.ssion of Rhino-
colura, the nearest port in the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. It is true that
before the goods could reach Tyre a double re-shipment thus became nece.s-
Routeused sary ; but the diminished land carriage more than compensated for this dis- hy the pucenicians. advantage, and enabled tliem, by the abundance and cheapness with which
they could supply other nations, to establish almost a complete monopoly of
the Indian trade.
On the destruction of Tyre and the foundation of Alexandria, the trade with India entered a new channel, in which it continued afterwards to flow for nearly eighteen centuries. Alexander had the merit of selecting this channel, but died too soon to see its advantages realized. So thoroughly, however, had he imparted his ideas to Ptolemy Lagu.s, that that officer, on becoming master of Egypt, made Alexandria his capital, and provided its harbour with a light-house, in the erection of which so much magnificence and engineering skill were dis- played, that it ranked as one of the seven wonders of the world. His ^'ievvs were followed out by his son and successor, Ptolemy Philadelphus, who, after endeavouring, but without succes.s, to form a canal acro.ss the istlimus of Suez, which would have given a continuous water communication to Alexandria, founded the new city of Berenice on the west coast of the Red Sea. From this city a land carriage, not unattended with difficulties, which great exertions were made to surmount, brought the products of India to Coptos. Tlie remaining distance to Alexandria was ea.sily completed by a short canal and the Nile.
Through the channel thus opened, the wealth of India continued to flow into Egypt so long as it remained an independent kingdom. Outward vessels leaving Berenice with such articles of European and African export as were in
Route by Alexandria.
