A view of the commerce of the Eastern world, and the channels in which if flowed, before the arrival of the Portuguese, is thus accurately given by Faria y Sousa. “Before these our discoveries, the spicery and riches of the Eastern world were brought to Europe with great charge and immense trouble. The merchandise of the clove of Maucca, the mace and nutmeg of Banda, the sandal-wood of Timor, the camfire of Borneo, the gold and silver of Luconia, the spices, drugs, dyes, and perfumes, and all the various riches of China, Java, Siam, and the adjacent kingdoms, centered in the city of Malaga, in the golden Chersonesus. Hither all the traders of the countries as far west as Ethiopia and the Red Sea, resorted, and bartered their own commodities for those they received; for silver and gold were esteemed as the least valuable articles.By this trade the great cities of Calicut, Cambaya, Ormuz, and Aden, were enriched; nor was Malaca the only source of their wealth. The western regions of Asia had — [continued]