Chap. VII.) EARLY INTERCOURSE WITH EUROPE. J 45
crossing the Indus continued west, and then sent a branch north to the Ca.s{)ian. w 109.3. This route, with a slight modification, was now adopted as the safest and most practicable, and continued for a long period to be the main trunk by which the commerce between Em-ope and the more remote regions of Asia was main- tained. Two lines of caravans, the one from the western frontiers of China, and the other from the western frontiers of India, met at a connnon point of the Amoo or Oxus, where that stream fii".st became available for transport. The goods by both lines were here embarked ; being carried down the stream into Lake Aral, they were again conveyed by land carri.age to the Caspian, and thence by water to the mouth of the Kur, and up the stream as far as navigable. An- other land conveyance brought them to the Phasis, down which they were tran- sported into the Black Sea, and thence to Constantinople, which thus became a great commercial emporium. At a later period a direct caravan route brought the products of the East to Astrakhan, from which they were conveyed either down the Volga into the Caspian, thereafter to follow the same route as before, or by land to the Don, and thence to the Sea of Azof
This route, with all its obvious disadvantages, was the best which Europe Houtebytiio
Persian
possessed for more than two centuries. The cfiliphs would not have been unwill- ouif. ing to renew the ancient channels of commerce. They were perfectly aware of the riches which would thus l)e poured into their treasury, and were politic enough to keep their finaticism in check when it could not be indulged without sacrificing tlieir pecuniary interests. Accordingly, even while the Indian trade was confined almost entirely to their own subjects, they carefidly endea^ured to extend it, both by affording it new facilities at home, and encouraging the exploration of foreign coimtries. In this way, at an early period, the caliphs of Bagdad had provided a new emporium for the trade of the Persian Gulf, by founding the port and city of Bussorah, at the junction of the Euj^hrates and Tigris ; and both from tiie Persian Gulf and the Red Sea numeroiis voyages were made to both sides of the peninsula of India, to Ceylon, to Malacca, and to the shores of countries lying far beyond it. By means of these voyages all the valued productions of the East Indies arrived in their ports, and found ready pur- chasers in merchants, who earned them for distribution into the interior.
The friendly intercourse between Christian and Mahometan nations seemed i:ffect.<<oftiio on the point of being renewed, at least commercially, when the })reaching of Peter the Hermit set all Europe in a flame, and myriads of Crusjiders hastened from every quarter to wrest the holy sepulchre from the hands of infidels War accordingly began again to rage with new fury ; and the exasperation which had been gi'adually softened by time, became more bitter and imiversal than it had ever been bef(»re. All idea of peaceful trade was now necessarily aban- doned ; and yet, perhaps, at no ])eriod did the trade of the West make more rapid progress than during the Cnisades. The armies destined for these cele- brated expeditions never could have reached the East without tlie aid of the Vol. I. 19
