The voyage of Nearchus from the Indus to the Euphrates, collected from the original journal preserved by Arrian, and illustrated by authorities ancient and modern ... / By William Vincent, D.D. To which are added three dissertations: two, on the acronychal rising of the Pleiades, by Dr. Samuel Horsley and by Mr. William Wales and one by Mr. de la Rochette, on the first meridian of Ptolemy.

  • William Vincent
Date:
1797
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The voyage of Nearchus from the Indus to the Euphrates, collected from the original journal preserved by Arrian, and illustrated by authorities ancient and modern ... / By William Vincent, D.D. To which are added three dissertations: two, on the acronychal rising of the Pleiades, by Dr. Samuel Horsley and by Mr. William Wales and one by Mr. de la Rochette, on the first meridian of Ptolemy. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    / With him, either for the purpofe of conduftlng the fleet, or with a view to their own advantage; many poiTibly who had frequently made the fame voyage, and knew the commerce of the coaft, from whom the inquifitive fpirit of Alexander could not fail to extrad: the information necelTary for the accomplifhment of defigns he had contemplated fo long, and with fiich anxious folicitude. The evidence of this does not refl upon dedudion or conjedure; the report of Nearchus the admiral, and Oneficritus the pilot of the fleet, is ftill extant in the writings of Strabo, Arrian, Diodorus, and Pliny; and though the credit of Oneficritus is impeached by Strabo, on account of his inclination to exaggerate, he does not hefi- tate to appeal to his authority in a variety of inftances, which evince his general knowledge, and fometimes his intimate acquaint- ance with the country ; but from Nearchus he proves, that all the native commodities which to this day form the ftaple of the Eafi: Indian commerce were fully known to the Macedonians. Rice cotton and the flue muflins made of that material, the fugar- Tyro aTTiO^x'rOv ry nar^of:>.ey:f. oTi cy? ^(TVT^ciTcvcrcciTCC'; tfopr/crat OiVTov oe AA£|ai/.5'j;ov uxpiQwa-cHf uvccypcc-\}.^ctv~ Vi* / TYiV OhYiV ^COpUV TU/V Sf^iTTSifOl UTU'V T'/JV Oc otvx'y^a.^^v xvTco ^o9y]vxif (priatvy v^ipov utto Zivo;c?\evg rs yoc^(j(pv?^xKo<;m Strab. lib. li. p. 6^,. Silinte Croix, 20. Nor is there any reafon to doubt what Pa- trocles fays, that thofe who accompanied Alexander wrote at random ; but that Alexan- der’s own knowledge was accurate, as he ob- tained his information from thofe who knew the country bed, and made them commit their intelligence to paper. Thefe papers were communicated to Patrocles. by Xenocies the Treafurer.—This paiTage poffibly alludes to the furvey of Beton and Diognetus. Sainte Croix extends it to more general information. Rice. The cultivation of it by flooding the lands is noticed by Ariftobulus. Strabo, 692. Cotton Teems to derive its name from the- fruit in Crete, called by Pliny Mala Cotonea,. or Cydonia, lib. xv. cap. ii. it is diilin- guiflied by other names ; Bombax, Bambax, Goiiipium, Xylon ; the cloth made of itj,. Byllus. Ferunt cotonei inali amplitudine cu- curbitas, quae maturitate ruptse oflendunt lanu- ginis pilas, ex quibus vefles pretiofo linteo' fa- ciunt. Pliny, lib. xii. c. 10. Byflus, referred by Parkhurll, Lex. in voce,’to 2 Chroni- cles, ill. 1 ^123* T^vcrcroq pcBToc <7roiy.iXicic» Flerod. lib. vii. Ezekiel, xxvii. 7-. Belocj,. p. 287. poflibly printed cotton, and' vvorn by the priells in Egypt. I'he Editor of Cham- bers’s Ditlionary fays, it grevy originally only in Egypt; but certainly he is midaken. See’ Salmaf. Plin. Ex. 296. cauifir