NOTICES OF NAVIGATION, DISCOVERY, COMMERCE, AND SHIPBUILDING, FROM THE EARLIEST PERIODS.

No. I.

AMONG the countries earliest settled after the flood were probably Egypt and Greece. The contiguity of those countries to the regions from which the first migrations have been made, the fertility of their soil, the salubrity of their climate, and the acknowledged antiquity of their history, all warrant the supposition. Yet of Greece we have no

authentic accounts which carry us back farther than 1600 years before Christ; and in regard to Egypt, though its settlement can be traced back farther than that of Greece, we have no evidence that it was settled till a considerable time after the deluge. Tradition states that the first settlements in Egypt were made by Misriam, grandson of Ham, 160 years after the flood.

In all probability most of the early migrations of mankind were made by land; for not only the ocean, but even a channel or frith of any considerable extent, would, in the infancy of society, be invested with enough of terror to deter the unpractised wanderer from trying so dangerous a path to discovery. The colony that Misriam led to Egypt probably preferred the isthmus of Suez, rather than tempt the dangers, fearful, indeed, to them, of the Mediterranean and Red Seas. It may, however, be safely concluded, that the inventive genius of man did not rest very long without attempting some way to surmount the obstacles to human intercourse, and the settlement of the world, interposed by rivers and arms of the sea, and the still more formidable ones presented by the ocean itself. Doubtless, tradition, and probably some remains of knowledge relative to Noah and the ark, continued long to exist among his descendants. These would suggest the practicability of forming structures which would form a safe means of conveyance across rivers and arms of the sea, as the ark had over the waters by which the world was covered.

The first attempts at ship-building and navigation after the deluge were probably the construction of rafts and canoes, and the guiding of them, with more or less skill, over the rivers that impeded the huntsman in his pursuit of the chase, or the channels and arms of the sea that interrupted the communication between the occupants of opposite shores.

Under these circumstances, it would soon be found that the water, instead of impeding the intercourse of men with one another, furnished far better means and far greater facilities for carrying on that intercourse than the land. Hence, maritime intercourse between comparatively distant cities on the same coast would arise, and the commodities of one would be exchanged for those of the other. The convenience of water as a means of transporting those commodities would become more and more obvious, as their commercial operations became more extensive, and this would excite increased attention to the arts of ship-building and navigation. In the course of the voyage thus made, new discoveries would from time to time occur, and these would stimulate the spirit of enterprise to more active efforts, and give it a higher tone. In this way we may safely conclude that the foundation was laid for the U. S. JOURN. No. 84, Nov. 1835.

X

advancement of commerce, and for the many splendid discoveries which have attended and rewarded the enterprise of subsequent ages.

Like all other arts, the arts of ship-building and navigation were at first very imperfect. Naval operations which, in subsequent ages would have been considered as unworthy of mention, were, in the earlier ages of antiquity, regarded with such wonder, that the conductors of them. were deified, and the names of the ships themselves transferred to the constellations of heaven. With many of the great principles and operations in navigation which are now considered as the very elements on which that science is founded, the ancients were wholly unacquainted. The property of the magnet, by which it attracts iron, was known to them, but that more important property, by which it points to the poles, had entirely escaped their observation. They had no other means of regulating their course than the sun and stars; their navigation, of course, was uncertain and timid. They seldom ventured far from land, but crept along the coast exposed to all the dangers, and retarded by all the obstructions incident to a course so circuitous and so liable to interruption. A voyage which would now scarcely require weeks, then required months for its completion. Even on the calm waters of the Mediterranean they ventured to sail only in summer, and few indeed were the hardy spirits that did not shrink back as they thought of encountering the wild waves of the Atlantic. Winter laid an embargo on all their maritime operations. To put to sea at that season would have been deemed the height of rashness.

The art of ship-building appears to have made much more rapid progress than that of navigation. The account of the commerce of Tyre given in the 27th chapter of Ezekiel affords strong evidence that the Tyrians had made no small advances in this art; and it is reasonable to conclude that the naval and commercial operations in which the Tyrians and other ancient nations were engaged, would stimulate them to devise various means of increasing the strength, and speed, and convenience, of their ships. The Romans transported from Egypt to Rome obelisks formed out of a single stone, of a length and size so enormous, that it is questionable whether they could have been put on board any modern ship whatever. This fact shows that the Roman ships must have been large and strong, and that a considerable degree of skill must have been exhibited in their construction.

Athenæus gives the following account of one of the ancient ships :"It had forty ranks of oars, was four hundred and twenty-seven feet in length, and nearly eighty feet in perpendicular height from the taffrel to the keel. It was furnished with four rudders, or steering oars, fortyfive feet in length, and the longest of the oars by which it was impelled were in length equal to the extreme breadth of the vessel. The crew consisted of upwards of 4000 rowers, and at least 3000 other persons employed in the different occupations connected with navigating so immense a fabric."

The earliest mode of conducting commerce was doubtless by caravans, which, as appears from Scripture, were known as early as the days of Joseph; and the merchants to whom he was sold probably belonged to a caravan. The earliest commerce with India, of which we have any authentic account, was carried on in this way by the merchants of Arabia and Egypt.

The Mediterranean and Red Sea were the scenes of the first commerce carried on by water. This would naturally be the case, as those seas border on the countries in former days distinguished for the richness and variety of their productions; and the first people of whose maritime commerce we have authentic and distinct account are the Egyptians. They are said, soon after the establishment of their monarchy, to have opened a commerce with the western coast of India, though of the extent of this commerce we know but little. It appears, however, that its flourishing period was short, for pursuits of this kind were by no means congenial to the spirit of that proud and self-sufficient people, who regarded themselves as superior to all other nations, and their country as superior to all other countries. Thus considering themselves the first of men, they looked down with contempt on other nations, and were supposed to stand at a haughty and repulsive distance from them. Seafaring-men were regarded by them with a feeling bordering on contempt; their manners and institutions differed widely from those of other nations. Possessing a character, and cherishing a spirit so entirely the reverse of that which commerce is calculated to form and to foster, it is not strange that they soon retired from the theatre of commercial enterprise, and left it to be occupied by a people possessing more of that free and social spirit which commerce requires.

The character and situation of the Phoenicians were as favourable to commercial pursuits, as those of the Egyptians were adverse to it. Addicted to no unsocial form of superstition, and indulging in no selfimportant notions of their own superior dignity, they mingled freely and familiarly in the society of those with whom commercial or other pursuits called them to associate. Their territory was small, and not remarkable for fertility; hence commerce was the only means by which they could obtain wealth. Before them opened the Mediterranean, vast in extent, and almost unoccupied, as if it were inviting them to enter a field in which commercial enterprise was yet to reap its richest rewards. It is not strange that, with all these motives pressing upon them and urging them forward, the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon engaged in commercial pursuits with an ardour which in a short time gave them the empire of the sea. The trade of these cities was far more extensive and enterprising than that carried on by any of the other ancient states; they visited all the Mediterranean, the western part of which was almost wholly unknown before their time, and explored the western coasts of Spain and Africa; they probably discovered England; and by some are thought to have accomplished the circumnavigation of Africa. Of these two famous cities Sidon was the more ancient, having been built, as is supposed, soon after the flood, by Sidon, the eldest son of Canaan. Tyre, about twenty-five miles south, was built about the year 1252 B.C., by a colony from Sidon.

The fullest account that we have of the commerce of Tyre is to be found in the 27th chapter of Ezekiel, and from that account it appears that she traded with Judea, Egypt, Persia, Greece, Syria, Babylon, Arabia, Spain, and India. From the mines of Spain she procured great quantities of silver, and the inhabitants of that country being then savages, unacquainted with the precious metals, the Tyrians easily persuaded them to sell large quantities of silver for a few gaudy trinkets;

thus treating them, as the Spaniards themselves, at a subsequent period, treated the inhabitants of Mexico and Peru.

The numerous colonies planted by the Phoenicians on the shores of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, while they added to the wealth and splendour of the parent state, diffused to a greater or less extent, among their uncivilized neighbours, the arts and improvements of civilized life. The city of Cadiz in Spain is supposed to have been founded by one of these colonies about 1000 years before Christ. The commerce, however, of the Phoenicians was not wholly confined to the lawful and honourable interchange of the produce of their soil, or their industry with those of other nations. There is but too much evidence that some of their maritime operations were little better than piracy; and in Scripture they are expressly charged with seizing the Israelites and selling them to the Grecians for slaves. Possessing such resources, and controlling the commerce of the world, it is not strange that the Phonician cities excelled all others in commercial importance and naval power, and that Tyre especially, situated, as she was, "at the entry of the sea," became "a merchant of the people for many isles."

The Israelites, though a considerable portion of their territory bordered on the sea, do not appear to have applied themselves to commerce to any considerable extent before the time of Solomon. During his peaceful and prosperous reign their commercial operations were extensive and important, and the wealth thus brought into the kingdom made Israel in his days the glory and wonder of the East. After his death the dreadful division which took place on the accession of his son, and the subsequent misfortunes which befel the Israelites, doubtless exerted a most injurious influence on their commerce, as well as their other resources. In the reign of Jehoshaphat an attempt was made to restore the commerce of that people to its ancient prosperity, but the attempt was in a great measure unsuccessful. In fact, the religious character of the Jews, their worship, so different in its nature and objects from that of the surrounding nations, and the light in which they regarded the nations around them, all tended to prevent them from taking a high rank among the commercial nations of the world. Although at one period their commerce was flourishing, they cannot be reckoned among the nations who have improved navigation or extended discovery.

Thus, while Tyre and Sidon attained their career of commercial glory, a colony founded by themselves on the northern coast of Africa was fast rising to distinction among the maritime powers of the world: that colony was Carthage. The Carthaginians, finding the Phoenicians completely in possession of the trade with India, did not attempt to wrest any portion of that trade from them, but directed their own attention principally to the countries that lay to the west and north. Although the Phoenicians had visited these countries, and had colonized some of them, yet their commercial intercourse with them was not very frequent or extensive; and the local situation of Carthage, not far from the present site of Tunis, gave her much more ready access to the western countries of Europe and Africa than it was possible for the mother country to have.

The commercial spirit which so much distinguished the Phoenicians was no less prevalent among the Car Influenced by this,

ns.

and encouraged by the prospect of an extensive and lucrative commerce which was offered to them, they rapidly extended their maritime operations till the name of Carthage was known, and her power felt, through the greater part of Europe and Africa; and while the name of Rome, afterwards the formidable rival, and ultimately the relentless destroyer of Carthage, was scarcely known beyond the limits of Italy, the fleets of the latter city were traversing every sea where there appeared a prospect that wealth might be acquired by commerce, or glory attained by the discovery of unknown regions. Even at the time of the first war between Rome and Carthage, about 264 B.C., the Romans had scarce begun to turn their attention to maritime operations, and a Carthaginian ship, accidentally cast away upon their shores, furnished them with a model for the construction of those ships which afterwards bore their victorious armies to the destruction of Carthage, with the words on their banners, -" DELENDA EST CARTHAGO."

The Carthaginians appear to have been the first who undertook the voyages solely for the sake of discovery. The discoveries of the Phoenicians were numerous and important; but they were made in the course of their voyages of commerce, rather than by ships sent out for the purpose of discovery. On the other hand, the Carthaginians not only explored the western coasts of Europe and Africa far more thoroughly than they had ever before been, but pressed forward far into the Atlantic, and finally discovered the Canary Islands, lying at the distance of 150 miles from the nearest land on the continent. From the dispositions which they manifested to keep their discoveries private, their knowledge of geography for the most part perished with their power, and was of comparatively little advantage to after-times.

The progress of commerce and discovery among the Greeks and Romans, though perhaps less splendid than among the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, is better ascertained. The situation of Greece is peculiarly favourable to commerce; the fertility of her soil would furnish valuable articles of export, while the intercourse which would naturally subsist between the different Grecian islands, would tend to give boldness and experience to the navigator, and thus prepare him for more distant and important voyages. Still a long time elapsed after the settlement of Greece before her commerce became extensive. Even at the period of the destruction of Troy, which is placed by Sir Isaac Newton at 905 years before Christ, the art of navigation had made so little progress in Greece, that the voyage from that country to the eastern border of the Mediterranean, where Troy was situated, was thought to be an enterprise requiring no small degree of courage, and conferring on those by whom it was made great and lasting glory.

It

It is not till after the rise and organization of the Grecian republics that any indications of that spirit of enterprise are observable, which ultimately gave Greece so high a rank among commercial nations; but after this period the progress of commerce and navigation in that country was very rapid, and she soon became an important maritime state. is questionable whether ancient Greece ever attained to so high a degree of naval skill as the cities of Phoenicia; but her naval victories, the result of native spirit and courage inspired by liberty, rather than any remarkable skill in maritime operations, have made her naval battles and heroes more famous perhaps than those of any other ancient nation.