CARAVANSERAIS OF THE EAST.

5

an important station, was called the Stone Tower, from a monument of that kind at the spot. From this place to the capital of the Seres, silk, was a journey of seven months-a length of time which indicates with sufficient distinctness that the route must have reached at least to the frontier provinces of China Proper. Accommodation for rest, and other arrangements after a long journey, before starting afresh, was naturally provided at the site, particularly as it skirted the vast expanse of the desert of Cobi. There is some historical evidence that it was a caravanserai under the protection of a sanctuary, a temple of the sun. This idea is supported by present appearances, for the place still exists, and is used as a grand caravan station. The first information respecting it was obtained from a Russian, who, being taken prisoner on the frontiers of Siberia, was sold as a slave to the Usbeck Tartars. In the year 1780, he accompanied his master, a merchant, to the spot; and upon recovering his liberty, he went to India, and related his adventures to Sir Eyre Coote. The Stone Tower, in a narrow pass of the Belur-tag,

Indian Choultry or Caravanserai of Forty Pillars.-From a Drawing by Daniel

is one of nature's erections which man has modified for his own convenience. It is a massy rock, the face of a mountain which forms one side of the defile, hewn into a regular form, with two rows, each of twenty columns, now in a ruinous condition. Hence its modern name of Chihel-Sutun, or the Forty Columns. It is a most wonderful work, venerated by the natives far and wide, who ascribe it to supernatural agents. But by the traders who rendezvous at the station, it is styled Tahkti-Suleiman, the Throne of Solomon.

Buildings for the reception of caravans, or caravanserais, in situations remote from towns, may be traced to a very early age in districts under regularly constituted government. Xenophon refers their foundation to Cyrus, who, he states, caused them to be erected at the distance of a day's journey from each other, and supplied persons to take charge of them. They are now very characteristic of Persia, and of provinces once included in the empire. However differing in detail, they are all constructed essentially on the same model; and consist of large quadrangular structures, divided into a series of naked chambers enclosing on every side an

It

open court. Passengers, whether traders, pilgrims, or general travellers, may occupy any of the apartments that are vacant, but all further accommodation, as well as food, must be provided by themselves. The Persians also took the lead in the formation of highways, which extended from the capital cities to the remotest parts of the empire, and were constructed at an immense cost. Though lines of military communication, intended to secure conquered frontier provinces, they were open to general use, and greatly facilitated traffic and intercourse. One of these roads, the principal, described by Herodotus, stretched from Susa, through the north of Mesopotamia, into Asia Minor, and terminated at Ephesus on the west coast. had one hundred and eleven lodging-places or caravanserais; and as the route passed through an inhabited and safe region all the way, it might be traversed by passengers singly or in company. The same road, with few deviations, is now used by caravans between Ispahan and Smyrna. But the whole economy of overland transit in these countries is on the eve of a change, after having subsisted with but slight alterations from the patriarchal age to the present. Egypt, Asia Minor, and India, have railways in action; and a grand trunk-line has been surveyed, intended to connect the Mediterranean with the Euphrates and the Persian Gulf. The time will certainly come, and is perhaps not far distant, when to a great extent the camel's occupation will be gone; when the winds will daily bear across the desert the whistle of the steam-engine; and 'tickets,' 'tickets,' may, perchance, be heard within sight of the ruins of Babylon.

The Nile and the Euphrates, intimately associated with the great monarchies of antiquity, were applied to the purposes of transit at an early era. But flowing

principally through level tracts of pasture or wastes, unsupplied with wood for the construction of vessels, the circumstance was unpropitious to their navigation by a people dependent upon local resources. Boats of papyrus were used upon the Nile

RAFTS AND BOATS OF THE ANCIENTS.

7

for the conveyance of light produce and passengers for short distances; and are perhaps the 'swift ships' to which one of the sacred writers compares the rapid passage of human life. Though swift with the current, the navigation against it, at least above Elephantina, was accomplished by the boats being hauled along with ropes from the banks. On the lower course of the river, comparatively large sailing vessels were employed. But it is probable that the produce of Ethiopia and interior Africa was brought down into Lower Egypt on rafts or rude craft which never returned, being broken up at the termination of the voyage. This we know to have been the case with reference to the navigation of the Euphrates. Descending from the highlands of Armenia to the level plains of Babylonia, the people of the former country sent their commodities by the stream, principally wine, to the latter, which they could not produce themselves. The barks were floats with only a skeleton of wood. This was covered with skins, overlaid with reeds; and an oval form was given to the whole, so that there was no difference between the stern and prow. The wine was placed in casks upon them, with other goods; and they were carried along with the current under the guidance of two oars. On arriving at their destination, the conductors sold the cargo and the skeleton of the craft, carrying back the skins by land, since the force of the stream rendered it impossible for them to return up the river. Thus in the present day, the market-boats which go down the Danube to Vienna, and the corn-rafts which drift with the Vistula to Dantzic, never return, but are sold with the cargoes they convey.

The old Egyptians, however expert in the navigation of the river, eschewed that of the sea on account of its perils, and viewed the great deep with horror as an emblem of the evil being, Typhon, the implacable enemy of their god Osiris. But the Babylonians, at the height of their power, had a direct maritime commerce, as well as a river and land trade. However impossible for barks like those described to proceed against the current of the Euphrates, it was ascended from the Persian Gulf by vessels of a different description; and the rich produce of India was not only brought to the luxurious capital, but conducted up the river to Thapsacus, and from thence transferred by caravans to the marts of Western Asia. Eschylus refers to its inhabitants as a promiscuous multitude, 'who both embark in ships, and boast of their skill in archery;' and prophecy indicates them as a people whose cry is in the ships.' These were probably built at the island of Tylos, a dependency in the Persian Gulf. It is expressly said to have possessed a species of timber for ship-building, possibly the teak-wood of India, an important historical notice, since Babylonia is totally destitute of trees, with the exception of the date and cypress, neither of which furnishes a suitable material.

Mankind settled upon the shores in far remote times, invited to such localities by the novelty of marine scenery, as well as by the facility for procuring food offered by the tenants of the deep, along with the cool refreshing sea-breeze, for it was beneath the hot sun towards the tropics that the primitive generations of men seem to have flourished. History has not recorded the people who first launched upon the ocean, and passed its billows to another strand. But history sufficiently intimates that the hope of plunder as well as the love of adventure was the impelling motive to the enterprise, and that the earliest sea-navigations were piratical descents upon stranger shores, as the mode of obtaining gain most obvious to unenlightened races. In this way the maritime states of modern times have generally commenced their career. But such a method of dealing speedily becomes of difficult execution, as experience of surprise and spoil in a single instance is sufficient to put a population upon its guard against a second. Necessity,

therefore, with an apprehension of the superior advantages of peaceable traffic to perilous rapine, grafted commerce upon piracy; and good gradually grew out of the original evil.

The ancients had ships of passage, of merchandise, and of war. In their management, the course of invention seems to have been, first rowing, then both rowing and sailing, and ultimately sailing only. The sailing vessels had but one mast, which was usually taken down when in harbour, and put up as occasion offered, commonly alone when the wind was favourable, as the art of sailing upon a tack was an accomplishment but slowly acquired. They were not adapted for quick movement, owing to the flatness of their bottoms and clumsy construction. Distant voyages were rarely undertaken, and never directly performed. The extreme point was gained by touching at a number of intermediate points, often out of the way, for the slowness of navigation, and the small size of ships, rendered it impossible to victual them for a long distance. As a general rule, mariners were reluctant to venture out to sea beyond sight of land. Storms must of course have imposed this necessity, but when possible, shelter was sought from the rising gale in the nearest harbour. Thus Ulysses declares:

at times as a

'Wide o'er the waste the rage of Boreas sweeps,
And night rushed headlong on the shaded deeps.
Now here, now there, the giddy ships are borne,
And all the rattling shrouds in fragments torn;
We furled the sail, we plied the labouring oar,
Took down our masts, and rowed our ships to shore.'

Boats from Ancient Sculptures. From the autumnal to the vernal equinox, the Greeks and Romans considered it unsafe to put to sea, not so much on account of storms, but because the rains prevailed, narrowing the horizon of the sailor, while mists hid the land, and clouds obscured the sky. Still, in the finest weather, some trading voyages necessarily involved the spectacle of scenery exclusively marine, while adventurous spirits sought to signalise themselves by departing from cautious and timid usages. But ordinarily the shore was kept in view for direction by day, and if anchorage at night was impracticable, seamen attended to the position of certain stars, their rise and setting, for guidance on their course.

The origin of nautical astronomy is generally ascribed to the Phoenicians, who made use of the Little Bear as indicating the true north. Hence, Aratus tells us, referring to the constellation,

'Observing this, Phoenicians plough the main.'

The Greeks, also, in their earliest ages, were accustomed to guide themselves by the stars in their navigations. Thus, Ulysses is represented sailing on his raft, sitting at the helm, and watching the heavens through the night. But from ignorance, the Greek sailors long confined themselves to the rough approximation to the north afforded by the Great Bear, the Helicè of classical antiquity, mentioned in the beautiful description in the Argonautics:

'Night on the earth poured darkness: on the sea

The wakeful sailor to Orion's star

And Helicè turned heedful. Sunk to rest,

The two asterisms are appropriately described by Aratus:

"The one called Helix, soon as day retires,
Observed with ease, lights up his radiant fires;
The other, smaller, and with feebler beams,

In a less circle drives its lazy teams;

But more adapted for the sailor's guide,

Whene'er by night he tempts the briny tide.'

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The philosopher Thales is said to have improved the navigation of his countrymen by introducing the knowledge of the Little Bear, derived from the Phoenicians.

The provision of coast-lights for the guidance of the mariner in early times is attested by allusions to them. Homer beautifully describes the flash of a beacon-light in some solitary place, as seen by seamen leaving their friends. The Pharos of Alexandria, built in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, about three centuries before the Christian era, seems to have been a proper light-house; and was regarded as one of the seven wonders of the world. Strabo describes it as built in an extraordinary manner, in many stories of white stone, on a rock forming the promontory of the island of Pharos, whence the tower derived its name. It bore the inscription 'Sostratus of Cnidos, the son of Dexiphanes, to the gods, the saviours, for the benefit of seamen.' The geographer mentions the neighbouring shores as low, encumbered with shoals and snares, requiring therefore the establishment of a lofty and bright beacon, as a sign for sailors arriving from the ocean to guide them into the entrance of the haven. The poet Lucan speaks of the Pharos as having indicated to Julius Cæsar his approach to Egypt on the seventh night after he set sail from the coast of Asia Minor; and Pliny, after a reference to it, states that there were light-houses also at Ostia and Ravenna.