Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/215

 ASIATIC NATIONS. 199 which the cargoes consisted seventeen centuries back, as betel-nut, damar, bees-wax, ivory, lignum- aloes, Indian frankincense, cloves, nutmegs and mace, black pepper, and tin. From the Malay states on the south-west coast of the Peninsula next to Siara, and tributary to it, a considerable number of elephants have been usually sent, which are of a race highly esteemed, and thought not to be infe- rior to the boasted breed of Siam itself. As the benefits of the influence of the capital and enter- prise of Europeans begin to be felt in the carrying and general trade of India, it is probable that much of this particular traffic will decline, or be alto- gether superseded, for it may be said, in a great degree, to have long owed its existence, or con- tinuance, to the privilege which the unlawful ex- clusion of Europeans confers upon it. Whether it be superseded, or otherwise, however, it ought not to be forgotten, is not the proper care of the legislator, whose duty lies solely in seeing justice done to all parties, and taking care that the natu- ral and wholesome influence of competition be not obstructed by the impertinence of restriction, or pretended regulation. The Arabs formed, in the early times of orien- tal commerce, the thh^d link of that chain of com- mercial voyages by which the ordinary commodi- ties of the Indian islands were transmitted to the farthest nations of the west, the Jourih link of that