“Passengers generally set sail at midsummer before the rising of the Dog-star, or else immediately after, and in about thirty days arrive at Ocelis in Arabia, or else at Cane, in the region which bears frankincense.  To those who are bound for India, Ocelis is the best place for embarkation.  If the wind called Hippolus happens to be blowing, it is possible to arrive in forty days at the nearest mart of India, Muziris by name [the modern Mangalore].  This, however, is not a very desirable place for disembarkation, on account of the pirates which frequent its vicinity, where they occupy a place, Mtrias; nor, in fact, is it very rich in articles of merchandise.  Besides, the roadstead for shipping is a considerable distance from the shore, and the cargoes have to be conveyed in boats, either for loading or discharging.  At the moment that I am writing these pages,” continues Pliny, “the name of the king of the place is Caelobotras.  Another part, and a much more convenient one, is that which lies in the territory of the people called Neacyndi, Barace by name.  Here King Pandian used to reign, dwelling at a considerable distance from the mart in the interior, at a city known as Modiera.  The district from which pepper is carried down to Barace in boats hollowed out of a single tree, is known as Cottonara.  None of these names of nations, ports, and cities are to be found in any of the former writers, from which circumstance it would appear that the localities have since changed their names.  Travellers set sail from India on their return to Europe, at the beginning of the Egyptian month Tybus, which is our December, or, at all events, before the sixth day of the Egyptian month Mechir, the same as our ides of January:  if they do this, they can go and return in the same year.  They set sail from India with a south-east wind, and, upon entering the Red Sea, catch the south-west or south.”

The places on the Indian coast which the Egyptian merchant vessels then reached are verified from the coins found there; and as we know the course of the trade-wind by which they arrived, we also know the part of Africa where they left the shore and braved the dangers of the ocean.  A hoard of Roman gold coins of these reigns has been dug up in our own days near Calicut, under the roots of a banyan-tree.  It had been there buried by an Alexandrian merchant on his arrival from this voyage, and left safe under the cover of the sacred tree to await his return from a second journey.  But he died before his return, and his secret died with him.  The products of the Indian trade were chiefly silk, diamonds, and other precious stones, ginger, spices, and some scents.  The state of Ethiopia was then such that no trade came down the Nile to Syene; and the produce of southern Africa was brought by coasting vessels to Berenice.  These products were ivory, rhinoceros teeth, hippopotamus skins, tortoise shell, apes, monkeys, and slaves, a list which throws a sidelight both on the pursuits of the natives and the tastes of the ultimate purchasers.