Page:History of India Vol 8.djvu/44

16 traders in Asiatic waters had to fight their own way and hold their own ground; they could expect little or no help in Asia from their own governments, and nothing but merciless hostility from their European rivals. Trade was more valuable, to the maritime folk, than territory, and commerce than conquest. But traffic with distant lands could not be carried on without taking up stations and arming ships, since the understanding among European nations was that regular diplomatic relations practically did not extend beyond certain well-known lines of longitude.

THE MOGHUL MOSQUE AT FATHPUR-SIKRI.

According to a treaty made between France and