NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

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as far as the mouth of the Indus, and thence steered alongthe coast to the place of their destination, Mem. de Literat.tom. xxxii. p. ;6?. Some authors have contended, thatboth the Arabs and Chinese were well acquainted with themariners’ compass , and the use of it in navigation; but itis remarkable that in the Arabic, Turkish, or Persianlanguages there is no original name for the compass. Theycommonly call it Bojsola , the Italian name , which showsthat the thing signified is foreign to them as well as theword. There is not one single observation, of ancient date,made by the Arabs on the variation of the needle, or anyinstruction deduced from it, for the assistance of navigators.Sir John Chardin , one of the most learned and bestinformed travellers who has visited the East, having beenconsulted upon this point, returns for answer, 44 I boldly44 assert, that the Asiatics are beholden to us for this“ wonderful instrument, which they had from Europe a44 long time before the Portuguese conquests. For, first,“ their compasses are exactly like ours, and they buy44 them of Europeans as much as they can, scarce daring44 to meddle with their needles themselves. Secondly, It44 is certain that the old navigators only coasted it along,44 which I impute to their want of this instrument to guide44 and instruct them in the middle of the ocean. We64 cannot pretend to fay that they were afraid of venturing44 far from home , for the Arabs, the first navigators in44 the world, in my opinion, at least for the Eastern seas,44 have, time out of mind, failed from the bottom of the44 Red Sea, all along the coast of Africa ; and the Chinese44 have always traded with Java and Sumatra, which is a44 very considerable voyage. So many islands uninhabited44 and yet productive, so many lands unknown to the44 people I speak of, are a proof that the old navigators44 had not the art of failing on the main sea. I have44 nothing but argument to offer touching this matter,44 having never met with any person in Persia or the Indies44 to inform me when the compass was first known among44 them, though I made inquiry of the most learned men

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