The Story of Australia. Its discovery, colonisation and development ... With a map

Front matter

ITS DISCOVERY, COLONISATION AND DEVELOPMENT BY J. S. LAURIE BARRISTER-AT-LAW; FORMERLY H.M. INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS AND DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION "History is the Tribunal of the World." — Schiller WITH A MAP LONDON OSGOOD, McILVAINE _r CO. 45 ALBEMARLE STREET, W. THIS SOUVENIR OF EARLY FRIENDSHIP IS INSCRIBED TO THE RT. HON. THE MARQUIS OF LORNE K.T., G.C.M.G. FORMERLY HER MAJESTY'S VICEROY OF THE DOMINION OF CAN ADA- AUSTRAL ASIA'S NOBLE RIVAL IN COLONIAL PROGRESS Sharers of our glorious past, Brothers, must we part at last? Shall we not through good and ill Cleave to one another still? Britain's myriad voices call, " Sons, be welded each and all Into one Imperial whole — One with Britain, heart and soul. One life, one flag, one fleet, one Throne ! " Tennyson.

Preface

These sketches, drawn^ with a tolerably free hand, and occasionally varied with episodes of an impor tant or interesting nature, are offered as a small contribution to Australian letters. Written for the purpose of whiling away weary hours in the mono tonous "bush," and therefore under considerable disadvantages, their material shortcomings must be indulgently regarded. The bulk of the volume was prepared some little time ago when no work existed embracing the history of the seven Colonies at one glance ;* and the few that have happily more recently appeared, are framed on a less novel plan and with a different aim and purpose. In such a work, which has no pretension to being either statistical or exhaustive, the leading events constituting the framework of the fabric being neither changeable nor fleeting, need no bringing up to date : unfortunately for most of them, they stand recorded on perennial triple bronze ; and the creators of history, whether bad or good, * Except a useful school compendium by A. & G. Sutherland.

Dr. Garran's praiseworthy but necessarily costly " Picturesque Australia " was just appearing when the main task was done. But, of course, both respectively differ from this in plan and purpose.

PREFACE.

VIII are henceforth bound, from time to time, to be brought before the bar of the "tribunal of the world." Carlyle speaks but half a truth in saying, " What is history but the lives of great men ! " Why omit " and bad," for if the former make, the latter mar the workmanlike building of a State ? In structural form and style, it will be noticed that the writer has, in a certain sense, largely discarded the stereotyped model presented by short histories : in other words, his foremost endeavour has been to avoid overcrowding the pages with dry and super fluous facts. For, given a limited margin of space, the net result of such needless excess is crude and repellent, instead of being luminous and attractive. Whether rightly or wrongly, he confesses he has no "stomach" for the husks of so-called learning — in Miltonic phrase, an "assinine feast of sow thistles."

Salient and central facts furnish ample data for tracing the lines of history, while accumulations of trifling and incongruous details only serve to confuse, and thus to render a book unreadable. Surely, in these prolific days there is no need to indulge in the paltry ambition of producing a fresh claimant for repose on a groaning shelf; and what book better deserves so wretched a fate than an unentertaining history ? No ! rather than earn the reputation of a Dryasdust, the writer has preferred to be influenced by the dictum of his sage old professor, Leopold von Ranke — " To be interesting is everything." On the other hand — fairly assuming that the style of treatment largely depends on the subject-matter

PREFACE.

IX how often has " friendly " warning been urged against wasting time on a topic " intrinsically as devoid of all charm as the country itself aboriginally was?" It is safe to demur to, or even to strongly protest against, so idle and ignorant a charge ; and this offhand sketch is presented as a feeble proof of the fallacy. As a matter of fact, could anything be more astonishing — yea, more dramatic — than the birth of a new world within the limits of a life time ; than the sudden, swift, sturdy growth of the Southern Heptarchy — and so silent withal ? " Like some tall palm the noiseless fabric sprang. With a reasonable curtailment of the earlier years when it was essentially no colony at all, but a penal settlement, writhing in the throes of mortal agony, steeped in troubles, strifes, privations, vice and misery — the age of this embryonic Dominion fairly dates, not from the dark days of the Early Settlement, but from the abolition of transportation in 1840, or perhaps the dawn of the Golden Age in 1851 ; or, roughly, about half a century ago.

From that chronological standpoint the marvel is enhanced ten fold — is sublime ! Again, behold the permanent stimulus given to the wheels of progress by the irrepressible energy of a single far-seeing man, Macquarie, at a time when salvation seemed too remote and the chances of reproductive fruit purely imaginary ! Are not the doings of this unmatchable Governor, along with those of Phillip, Bass and Flinders, Sturt, Leichardt, Eyre, Stuart, the Gre-

PREFACE.

X gorys, Burke and Wills— in fact, the whole galaxy of explorers — typical of a heroism which the uni versal world instinctively applauds with one voice ? To cleanse and burnish, after the manner of " Old Mortality," the sad memorials of these vanished shades is the author's duty — reluctantly tendered in the case of responsible leaders who have been carelessly bespattered with praise instead of warrant able blame, contumely or contempt ; cheerfully, in respect to those heroes who, each in his own way, sacrificed themselves on the altar of their adopted country, without the expectation of reward. If it is an unpleasant task to bring the deeds of bad or imbecile men — foolish knaves or knavish fools — to the light of day, it is delightful to clear the memory of innocent men from unjust or foul charges."

In connection with the meagre chapters on the growth of farming, trade, &c, the reader will excuse anticipations of ulterior results, the object being to avoid needless repetition at a later date. Similarly, occasional repetitions of the landmarks of the early history of the several colonies have been found necessary, as the disentanglement of the seven-fold strands would otherwise be liable to produce con fusion. The limited amount of space accorded to the branch colonies was obviously as unavoidable as it is here essentially unnecessary. Again, similarly, there is no affectation of carrying the story beyond the period of independent government and legisla tion; for this would encroach on a field of politics agreeable neither to the writer nor the reader.

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XI The time is luckily past for the needless revival of the hateful question of yore ; and now that the memory thereof is almost completely obliterated and all social distinctions are finally merged in sacred relations, let the dreadful nightmare of the Early Settlement be buried in oblivion, and the moral alone stand as a lasting lesson. For, it should never be forgotten that if we search historic records all the world over, we shall look in vain for a more heart rending story of, falsely so styled, prison discipline, devoid of the smallest pretence at reformatory mea sures, without a touch of humanity, barren of a drop of Christian charity or Godly grace. Well did the philosophic Coleridge then exclaim : " God seems to hold out His fingers to us over the sea : but it must be a colonisation of Hope, not of Despair."

Curious it may be here to note that, as regards adults, even now we are not one whit radically advanced in a reformatory direction. Extrinsically, yes ; intrinsically, not at all. A recent Parliamen tary Committee declares in substance that, while there is little to complain of in the style of our buildings, the diet and the formal discipline, the system is a chilling, cast-iron one, repulsive and powerless for good. Nay, that it is banefully crushing in its effects on any surviving modicum of moral or kindly feeling and of self-respect. Hardened criminals delight in further corrupting each other, while they combine in degrading and debasing com paratively innocent youths, still allowed to associate with them. Inferentially, industrial, as well as

PREFACE.

moral, training is almost nominal ; and, in short, instead of improvement, deterioration and a sharper appetite for crime is the net result ! A still more marvellous feature of the Land of the Southern Cross, is its "conspicuous absence" from the pages of so called " Histories " of England, es pecially of the scholastic kind. Necessarily, there fore, both as a cause and effect, it has no assigned place in the stereotyped, time-honoured syllabus of the whole host of examinations, public or private, not excluding those connected with the Services or the Universities. Even where Canada, India, or South Africa happens to be favoured with a trifling glance, Australasia is either coldly ignored or cur sorily dismissed with an air of flippant, feeble, and faint patronage, as if unworthy of recognition within the charmed circle of the grand imperial brotherhood of British nations.

This simply means ignorance of modern mundane progress on the part of academic examiners, whose cherished conception of history — in plain defiance of Greek and Roman models — is derived from the usual ready-made, hodge-podge of sovereignties, court gossip and intrigue, squabbles between Church and State, battlefields, thrice revised Parliamentary Acts, with dates and tables galore. Let us construe the omission in question into a com pliment to a country falling so far outside the rule of prescribed exemplars of sanguinary growth, as to have dared to become a nation, wisely and courageously, under the fostering arts of Peace rather than of War. MACTE VIRTUTE, O TERRA INCOGNITA! CONTENTS Section I DISCOVERT OP AUSTRALASIA (1503—1772) CHAl'. PAGE I. Dawn to Daylight i (a) Presumptive Evidence i (6) Circumstantial Evidence g (c) Positive Evidence 17 Section II THE EARLY SETTLEMENT, SYDNEY COVE (1788-1808) I. Governor Phillip (1788 — 1792) 33 I. Governor Hunter (1795 — 1800) 54 IV.

Governor King (1800 — 1806) 61 V. Governor Bligh (1806 — 1808) 69 Section III GENERAL TOPICS VI. Maritime Exploration : Flinders .... 79 VII. Growth of Agricultural Farming .... 88 VIII. Growth of Pastoral Farming 96 (a) Cattle 96 (b) Horses 99 (c) Sheep 101 IX. Growth of Trade CONTENTS XIV Section IV THE TRANSITIONARY PERIOD (1808-1855) CHAP. X. Governor Macquarie (1808 — 1821) . • • • lr5 XI. Governor Brisbane (1822 — 1825) .... i32 XII. Governor Darling (1825 — 1831) I38 XIII. Governor Bourke (1831— 1838) J45 XIV. Governor Gipps (1838— 1846) 151 XV. Governor Fitzroy (1846— 1855) 160 XVI. A Public Benefactor : Dr. Lang (1842 onwards) . 164 Section V PROGRESSIVE PERIOD XVII. The Gold Discovery (1851) 169 XVIII. Political and Industrial Progress . . . 176 XIX. Note on the Land Question 184 Section VI LATER GOVERNORS XX.

Denison, Young, Belmore, Robinson, Loftus, Carrington, Jersey, Duff, Hampden (1885 — 1896) 195 XXI. General Retrospect and Forecast .... 203 Section VII TASMANIA (1803 onwards) Formerly VAN DIEMEN'S LAND XXII. Early History , 213 XXIII. Treatment of the Aborigines .... 224 XXIV. The Black War 230 XXV. Political and Industrial Progress . . . 239 Section VIII VICTORIA (1802—1835 onwards) XXVI. Gradual Discovery 247 XXVII. Tardy Colonisation 257 XXVIII. Industrial and Political Progress (1841 — 1851) CONTENTS XV CHAP. PAGE XXIX. The Gold Discovery in Victoria (1851) . . 272 XXX. The Gold Diggers' Rebellion .... 278 XXXI. The Burke and Wills Expedition (1861 — 1862) . 286 XXXII. General Survey: Fact and Fancy . . . 291 Section IX SOUTH AUSTRALIA (1836-1872) XXXIII. Discovery and Colonisation (Governor Hindmarsh) 299 XXXIV.

Industrial and Financial Difficulties (Governor Gawler) . 309 XXXV. Farming, Mining, and General Progress (Governors Grey and Robe) 315 XXXVI. Assured Success and Independence (Governors Young and Macdonell) 320 Section X QUEENSLAND (1827 onwards) XXXVII. A Bird's Eye View 325 Section XI WEST AUSTRALIA (1527 onwards) XXXVIII. Early Discovery and Colonisation . . . 335 Section XII NEW ZEALAND (1839 onwards) XXXIX. Discovery by Tasman and Cook .... 343 XL. Native Manners and Customs .... 350 XLI. Land Disputes and Final Settlement . . 355 Section XIII (1874—1883) XLII. Fiji and British New Guinea .... 360 INDEX Section I DISCOVERY OF AUSTRALASIA (1503-1772)

Chapter I Dawn To Daylight

(a) PRESUMPTIVE EVIDENCE I. The Old "World. — From time immemorial among the great nations of Europe, a vague belief in the existence of the Continent of America, and also of a " Great South Land," had floated about, no one can say how or why.* Up to the year 1492, when the grand and glorious Columbus (in quest of the East Indies by a westerly course) planted the cross on that insular shred of the New World, San Salvador — the known portions of the earth consisted of the European continent, the northern section of Africa, and the more accessible countries of Asia. 2. The dawn of a New World. — The early dreams respecting the two continents — America and * Australia is sometimes called the " largest island " in the world, as if Europe and Asia as well as North and South America jointly, and (after date of Suez Canal) Africa singly, were not also islands respectively.

A the Great South Land— have at length been fully realised ; and the results have not only changed the face of the globe, but directed and regulated the entire course of industrial civilisation in modern times. Hence the successive discoveries of America and Australasia suggest a parallel, which, as far as prosperity and international friendship are concerned, will, it is hoped, prove for ever cordial and lasting. 3. Commerce the master-key of the world. — Commerce — that industrious handmaid of human progress in the arts of life — received its earliest stimulus from the East. The star of India spread its brilliant rays over Europe, helping to dispel the murky vapours of the Dark Ages, and to diffuse a spirit of activity over every branch of trade. The remote Cathay, or China, soon added her lustre to the waxing beam.

Accordingly, how to abridge space or how to reach most easily and conveniently those distant points became the problem of the day. 4. Discovery of America and a route to the East and "West. — Tedious and costly journeys overland by caravan were bound to give way to easier and cheaper communication by ocean routes, and enough was then known of the globular structure of the earth* to suggest a double key for a westerly as well as an easterly gateway to Asia the golden. To reach India by sailing west from Europe — not, as is generally supposed, in order to discover America — was the simple and specific task of Columbus in 1492. Under the impression that he had reached the sea-board of Asia, he named the Bahamas and others of the group of islands thus accidentally discovered, the " Indies " — the epithet " West " being afterwards applied for distinction. •Mathematically proved and acknowledged even in the Alexandrian 5.

Circumnavigating the globe. — The grand feat of proving the rotundity of the earth by sailing round it, either in a westerly or in an easterly course, was reserved for the Portuguese, Magellan, in 15 19. That is to say, by steering westerly across the Atlantic, through the Straits of Magellan ; thence across the Pacific, and after doubling the Cape of Good Hope, regaining the Atlantic and the point of departure — Magellan was indeed the first to "put a girdle round the earth ; " or, as it is expressed by Tennyson : — " Blush from West to East, Blush from East to West, Till the West is East, Blush it thro' the West." Swinburne similarly alludes to the annihilation of two time-honoured cardinal points : — " Sunset smiles on sunrise : east and west are one ; Face to face in Heaven before the sovereign sun."

The misfortune of Magellan's murder at the Mindana Islands (though his ship, by continuing her westerly course safely reached at once her destination and starting point) is sometimes dis honourably taken advantage of by English historians in claiming the credit of the first circumnavigation of the globe in favour of Sir Francis Drake, in 1577 — whose course was actually the same as Magellan's, even without any deviation Austral-wards ; closely followed by Cavendish, too. 6. The names "America" and "New South "Wales." — It is always a matter of real sentimental regret that even South America — the only part afterwards honoured by the tread of Columbus, chanced to be christened after his pilot, Amerigo ; and that the same name was naturally extended to North America, although the discoverer was Sebastian Cabot in 1495, during the reign of Henry VII. of England.

Not less is it to be regretted that the modest discoverer of New South Wales omitted to claim the right of naming it Cooksland.* May the tardy honour yet be thrust upon his noble memory ! 7. Hints of the existence of the American Continent. — The fame of first discovering so magni ficent a land as America is claimed in favour of a. Welsh prince in the twelfth century ; and there is still more certain ground for the contention that at least the northern seaboard, as far south as the present Boston, was known in the tenth century to the Icelanders, the adventurous descendants of the Norse or Scandinavian vikings — sprung from the same sturdy Teutonic race as that which had vanquished and swayed England from the Roman departure till the arrival of the Normans in 1066, whom it has practically absorbed. 8.

The Cape of Good Hope. — The merit of an easterly ocean route to India by the Cape of Good Hope is due to its Portuguese discoverer, Bartho lomew Diaz, in 1486. Soon after Columbus had found that a large continent obstructed his westerly passage to India, Vasquez de Gama doubled the Cape in 1497, and successfully accomplished the easterly voyage to India by sea. Thus was opened, what for the time-being and long afterwards was the grand and sole avenue to commerce with the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the alternative option of a westerly route by the Straits of Magellan or Cape Horn being subsequently available. * It is a curious fact that Sir Henry Parkes, Premier in 1886, during an agitation in favour of a single name, ambitiously, and somewha°t arrogantly, tned to appropriate the name " Australia " for New South Wales alone—" Cooksland " not being picturesque enough ' 9.

The secret of the Pacific hitherto undisclosed. — Quitting the shores of the superb continent of America, with all its wonderful and eventful history from the conquest of Mexico and Peru down to the Declaration of Independence of the United States in 1775, we henceforth launch ourselves on the broad Pacific Ocean, either westerly or easterly as we please. With all the eagerness of pioneer adven turers, we survey a vast expanse of ocean, ere this unploughed by any keel — a truly mysterious world of waters now luring the bold and hardy navigator to explore its surface and unveil beauties as yet hid from mortal ken. At last had come the chance of "proving true" the dream of the Great South Land — a dream which had actually visited the couches even of Roman, if not Alexandrian, geographers and perplexed the wits of the " Fathers" of the Church. 10.

Vague hints of the Great South Land. — It is curious, if not materially important, here to note, that, according to the saying, " Coming events cast their shadows before," there are traces of an early knowledge of a region that first bore the name of New Holland. Among these may be cited Chinese reports, referred to by Marco Polo. Sometimes, however, it is difficult to tell whether or not Java, Sumatra, New Guinea, Borneo, or even Madagascar may have been alluded to. At all events, we may venture to class with " travellers' tales" the descrip tion by Corsali, a Florentine, in 15 15: — " Antara (that is the "Great South Land") contains many populous cities and towns ; it abounds in gold ; and the inhabitants are addicted to cock-fighting." Yet, if written at the present time and the species of popular sports slightly modernised, would the account be so very wide of the mark ? 11.

Earlier discoveries. — It is, indeed, somewhat difficult to discard as spurious the almost irresistible evidence of a successful doubling ot the Cape, and at least a hearsay portrayal of insu lar coast lines, fully a century before the usually accepted date.* The unearthing of a descriptive account of the voyage to which one of six recently found charts may have been the mere pictorial accompaniment, would at once set the matter at rest. Nor can we here fairly overlook as a pure fiction, or travellers' tale, the extraordinary and mysterious account of De Gonneville's voyage from Honfleur in 1503. The following recital of the object of the voyage and the circumstance of the loss of the Journal, together with a specimen abstract of the originals, are curiously interesting : — " The French having formed the design of following the steps of Vasco de Gama in the East Indies, equipped a vessel at Hon fleur for that voyage, which, being commanded by the Sieur de Gonneville, weighed anchor in June, 1503, and, having doubled the Cape of Good Hope, was attacked by a furious storm, which, driving them far from their intended course, left them uncertain in what part of the world they were.

Being in want of water, and their ship having suffered much by storm, the sight of some birds * Passing by the curious indication given by Marco Polo, so early as the thirteenth century, of the Great South Land, or at least of neighbouring islands, being known to the Chinese, and emerging from fog-land, we are now assured, on the authority of the printed evidence of maps bearing date 1531 and 1542, that the country, first called the " Greater Java," afterwards New Holland and now Australia, is marked as save la Grande, in contrast with the lesser Java lying to the north-west. Captain Flinders also refers to a similar map, published by Rotz in 1542, and dedicated to Henry VIII. Probably anterior to this, there is the "Dauphin Map," executed in the time of Francis I., of the famed " Field of the Cloth of Gold."

Deslieu's chart, dated Dieppe 1566, gives a rough outline of Great Java, bearing the Portu guese flag as an indication of a territorial claim which may then have been advanced on the not improbable sighting of the coast-line by Magellan's westerly-bound squadron in 1521. Lastly, Wit-Mappemondes, or World-maps of the period, show sometimes a curved line for the north coast of New Holland, with a surface extension to the South Pole. from the south induced them to hold their course that way, where they soon discovered a large country, to which they gave the name of Southern India, according to the usage of those days, when it was customary to give the name of India to every new discovered country. They cast anchor in a river, which they say was of the bigness of the Orne, near Caen. Here they spent six months refitting their ship, but the crew, being intimidated, obliged Gonneville to return to France.

During his stay in this country he had time to form a most curious account of the country and the manners of its inhabitants, which he inserted in his journal ; but, unfortunately, being just off the coast of France, he was taken near the Isle of Guernsey by an English privateer, who robbed him of his journal and everything he had. . . . Item : — " They say that during their stay in that country they conversed in all freedom with the natives, having gained their goodwill by some trifling presents. That the said Indians were simple people, leading a careless, easy life, subsisting by hunting and fishing, and on some roots and herbs which the soil furnishes spontaneously. Some wear mantles either of skins or of woven mats and some of them are made of feathers, like those of the gypsies in our country, only they are shorter, with a kind of apron girt above the haunches, which the men wear down to their knee, and the women to the calf of the leg.

The women wear collars made of bones and small shells. The men have no ornament of this sort, but carry a bow, and arrows pointed with sharp bones. They have also a sword, made of very hard wood, burned and sharpened at the end ; and these are all their weapons. The women and girls go bareheaded, with their hair neatly tied up in tresses mixed with flowers of most beautiful colours. The men let their hair hang down, but they wear crowns of feathers, richly coloured. "They say further, that having gone two days' journey into the country and along the coasts both to right and left, they found it very fertile and full of many birds, beasts, and fish, utterly un known in Christendom. The late Nicole le Fevre, of Honfleur, a volunteer in this voyage, had taken exact draughts of all these things.

But everything was lost, together with the journals of the voyage when the ship was taken : and this makes their account very imperfect." &c. While some authorities discard the notion of Aus tralia being the scene of the adventure, Madagascar, Southern India, &c. are suggested. Why not Java or New Guinea? Singularly, Mr. Favenc* sup- * " Australian Exploration," c. ports De Gonneville, and tries to confirm the report of a superior race by reference to the childish attempts at drawing in the caves of the North-West Coast, discovered in 1838 by Lieutenant (afterwards Sir George) Grey.* 1 2. Wytfiiet's geographical description. — Again, Wytfliet's compiled geography of 1598 — based, of course, on the data of early voyages — would seem to suggest a definite and even a trustworthy source of information, apparently too astonishingly exact to admit of a doubt of its being founded on a fabric of fact : — " The Australis Terra is the most southern of all lands.

It is separated from New Guinea by a narrow strait. Its shores are hitherto but little known, since after one voyage and another, that route has been deserted, and seldom is the country visited unless when sailors are driven there by storms. The Australis Terra begins at two or three degrees from the equator, and is maintained by some to be of so great an extent that, if it were thoroughly explored, it would be regarded as a fifth part of the world." 13. Opinion of Flinders and Burney. — With reference to this interesting question, Captain Flinders remarks: — "In the chart dated 1542, an extensive country is marked to the southward of the Moluccas, under the name of Great Java, which agrees nearer with the position and extent of Terra Australis than with any other land ; and the direction given to some parts of the coast approaches too near to the truth for the whole to have * Compare also Dampier's account of the same region (par His acute observations of native character and habits have been largely corroborated by subsequent experience.

At all events he indicates no trace either of a superior tribe or of traditional rem'ains transcending those of one of the lowest types of mankind been marked from conjecture alone." Admiral Burney, in his " History of Discoveries in the South Sea," thus sums up his verdict : — "All these circumstances justify and support the opinion that the northern and western coasts of New Holland were known, and were the Great Java of the six teenth century." (b) CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE 14. Indispensable conditions of trade. — Com merce being the grand motive power of all progress, the removal of obstructions to free circulation and exchange obviously becomes an indispensable con dition of its life, growth and permanence. Second only to that of economy of production stands the question of ease, rapidity and cheapness of the carrying trade to the most central and profitable market of consumption, Hence, facilities for the transit of goods, or economic means of delivery and distribution by land or water are of paramount commercial importance. 15.

Shortening the avenues of trade. — No thing can more forcibly illustrate this fact than the enormous impetus given to European traffic with the East, through the discovery of the ocean passage by the Cape of Good Hope, unless, forecasting the future, we consider the marvellous effects of steam in combination with the advantages of the abridged route by the Suez Canal. Of course, this remark would apply similarly to the westerly route should a capable successor to Lesseps ever succeed in pene trating the stubborn neck of Central America.* * The curious fact may here be recorded that, among other wonders, the imaginary passage of the Panama Canal 120 years ago is glowingly 6. Genoese and Venetian commerce. — But our present concern is with a period so remote as nearly three centuries ago, when the eastern _ trade was in comparative childhood.

At that time it was substantially a monopoly in the hands of the two great rival republics of Genoa and Venice. North Asian merchandise came by caravan over thousands of miles of barren steppes, from Teheran, Cabul, Bokhara, Llassa, and Canton, to Stamboul, Smyrna, or other commercial centres on the Euxine or the Levantine coast. South Asia, including the entire East Indies, forwarded its produce chiefly through Arab traders up the long stretch of the Red Sea and across the weary desert from Suez to Cairo or Alexandria. 17. The Dutch monopoly of trade. — When, however, the new highway for the commerce of the seas was once fairly opened — for, doubtless, long before the historic date of 1497, the Cape had been successfully passed — the slow, plodding Dutchman stole a march on the merchant princes of Genoa and Venice.