Whereas, Before The Discovery Of The Cape, They Were Purchased And
Repurchased Frequently; Consequently, Repeated Additions Were Made To Their
Original Price; And These Additions Were Made, In Almost Every Instance, By
Persons Who Had The Monopoly Of Them.
Their conveyance to Europe was long,
tedious, and mostly by land carriage, and consequently very expensive.
There are no
Data by which it can be ascertained in what proportion the
Portuguese lowered the price of Indian commodities; but Dr. Robertson's
supposition appears well founded, - that they might afford to reduce the
commodities of the East, in every part of Europe, one half. This
supposition is founded on a table of prices of goods in India, the same
sold at Aleppo, and what they might be sold for in England, - drawn up,
towards the end of the seventeenth century, by Mr. Munn: from this it
appears, that the price at Aleppo was three times that in India, and that
the goods might be sold in England at half the Aleppo price. But as the
expense of conveying goods to Aleppo from India, may, as Dr. Robertson
observes, be reckoned nearly the same as that which was incurred by
bringing them to Alexandria, he draws the inference already stated, - that
the discovery of the Cape reduced the price of Indian commodities one half.
The obvious and necessary result would follow, that they would be in
greater demand, and more common use. The principal eastern commodities used
by the Romans were spices and aromatics, - precious stones and pearls; and
in the later periods of their power, silk; these, however, were almost
exclusively confined to rare and solemn occasions, or to the use of the
most wealthy and magnificent of the conquerors of the world.
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