he fourth son of
Shem, as the origin of those trihes which occupied Sabaea and Hadraumaut, or
the incense country; Ishmael as the father of the families which settled in
Arabia Deserta; and Edom as the ancestor of the Idumeans, who settled in
Arabia Petraea.

Eight hundred years before the Christian era, the merchandize of the
Sabeans is particularly noticed by the prophet Isaiah; and even long before
his time, we are informed, that there were no such spices as the Queen of
Sheba gave to Solomon. That Sheba is Sabaea, or Arabia Felix, we learn from
Ezekiel:--"The merchants of Sheba and Ramah, they were thy merchants: they
occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious
stones and gold." Six hundred and fifty years after Isaiah bore his
testimony to the commerce of Sabaea, we have the authority of Agatharcides,
that the merchants of this country traded to India; that the great wealth
and luxury of Sabaea were principally derived from this trade; and that, at
the time when Egypt possessed the monopoly of the Indian trade, with
respect to Europe, the Sabeans enjoyed a similar advantage with regard to
Egypt.

Having thus established the fact, that, from the earliest period of which
we have any record, the Arabians were the merchants who brought the
cinnamon, &c. of India into the west, we must, in the next place, endeavour
to ascertain by what means and route this commerce was carried on; and we
think we can prove that the communication between Arabia and India, at a
very early period, was both by sea and land.

There were many circumstances connected with Arabia and the Arabians, which
would necessarily turn their thoughts to maritime affairs, and when they
had once embarked in maritime commerce, would particularly direct it to
India. The sea washed three sides of the peninsula of Arabia: the Arabians
were not, like the Egyptians, prejudiced, either by their habits or their
religion, against the sea. The monsoons must have been perceived by them,
from part of the sea-coast lying within their influence; and it can hardly
be supposed that a sea-faring people would not take advantage of them, to
embark in such a lucrative trade as that of India. "There is no history
which treats of them which does not notice them as pirates, or merchants,
by sea, as robbers, or traders, by land. We scarcely touch upon them,
accidentally, in any author, without finding that they were the carriers of
the Indian Ocean." F