Note 1924 — I.—PHÆNOGAMOUS OR FLOWERING PLANTS. (continued 16)

“ ... That there was an ulterior commerce beyond Ceylon is indubitable; for at Ceylon the trade from Malacca and the Golden Chersonese met the merchants from Arabia, Persia and Egypt. This might possibly have been in the hands of the Malays or even the Chinese, who seem to have been navigators in all ages as universally as the Arabians....” Vincent, op. cit. ii. 284. 285.—In the time of Marco Polo, the trade of China westward met the trade of the Red Sea, no longer in Ceylon, but on the coast of Malabar, apparently at Calicut, where the Portuguese found it on their first arrival. Here, says Marco, the ships from Aden obtained their lading from the East, and carried it into the Red Sea for Alexandria, whence it passed into Europe by means of the Venetians.—See also Yule, Book of Ser Marco Polo, ii. (1871) 325, 327.