CHAP. XXVII.
OF ASIA.
three pounds five shillings, which, from its low de-gree of purity, must be the correct price of suchgold, and the latter at five shillings, the value willthus appear:
380,000 ounces of gold at 31. 5s. £ 1,235,000
260,000 ounces of silver at 5s. 65,000
From want of correct data, we find it necessaryto supply their place with conjectures, and how-ever remote those conjectures may be from accu-racy, or however near they may approach to it, weentertain no doubt of the relative proportion ofthe two metals to each other being very near thetruth, and that the value of the gold yielded byAsia is from ten to twelve times as much as thatof the silver. From the earliest ages the exchangeof silver for gold was going on between the westernand the eastern world. Gold has been rarely usedin Asia as money, either coined or uncoined. Itwas needed like precious stones to ornament thepersons, the palaces, or the thrones of the princes.Its value was too great to be wanted in the usualcommerce of the country, and in large transactionssilver would be quite sufficient; whilst for thoseof smaller amount, brass coin or cowries were betteradapted. Where gold did not perform the func-tion of money, it would be of less value when ex-
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