62 AN HISTORICAL DISQUISITION

SECT. country did not furnish in sufficient quantity; and11 . then, as now, it was mostly with gold and silverthat the luxuries of the East were purchased. Intwo particulars, however, our importations fromIndia differ greatly from those of the ancients.The dress, both of the Greeks and Romans, wasalmost entirely woollen, which , by their frequentuse of the warm bath, was rendered abundantlycomfortable. Their consumption of linen andcotton cloths was much inferior to that of moderntimes, when these are worn by persons in everyrank of life. Accordingly, a great branch ofmoder^ importation from that part of Indiawith which the ancients were acquainted, is inpiece-goods ; comprehending, under that mercantileterm, the immense variety of fabrics, which Indianingenuity has formed of cotton. But, as far as Ihave observed, we have no authority that willjustify us in stating the ancient importation ofthese to be in any degree considerable.

1 In modern times, though it continues still tobe chiefly a commerce of luxury that is carried onwith India, yet, together with the articles thatminister to it , we import, to a considerable extent,various commodities, which are to be consideredmerely as the materials of our domestic manufac-tures. Such are the cotton-wool of Indostan, thesilk of China , and salt-petre ©f Bengal. But inthe accounts of ancient importations from India,raw silk-thread excepted, 1 find nothing mentionedthat could serve as the materials of any home-manufacture. The navigation of the ancients never