CHAP. II.
PERSIA AND INDIA.
39
which it had existed in the ore was all left,whilst the silver had been taken, and only smallparticles suffered to remain mingled with thescoria ; l 2 .
The silver and gold collected as tribute in the Persia and
capital of the Persian empire, if hoarded mere, asseems probable, will serve to account for the vaststore found by Alexander in that city and in thesurrounding countries. The tribute oflndiaaloneWould in a few years be almost sufficient to fur-nish a stock of gold, which, when dispersed, wouldhave an effect on the whole of the then knownWorld . We have but few notices of the placesfrom which the gold and silver of India were ob-tained. They are mentioned by Pliny , but notm a way to communicate any precise informationof the quantity of their produce ; and the namesgiven to the places in which those metals werefound are such as make their situation doubtful.
“ The Dardaneans,” he says, “ inhabit a countrythe richest of all India in gold mines, and theSelians have the most abundant mines of sil-ver 8 .” “ In the country of the Narmans, ontbe other side the mountain Capitalia, there area very great number of mines both of gold andsilver, in which the Indians work very exten-sively 3 .” “ Just without the mouth of the river
1 Gmelin, vol. 3. p. 300 and 304.
3 Idem, b. vi. cap. 20.