Robert Kerrs General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 18 | Page 7

along the north coast of Spain: the
discovery of the Cassiterides also, and their trade to these islands for tin,
(which we have shewn could hardly have taken place so early as is
generally supposed,) must also have occurred, either immediately
before, or soon after, the building of New Tyre. It is generally believed,
that the Cassiterides were the Scilly Islands, off the coast of Cornwall.
Strabo and Ptolemy indeed place them off the coast of Spain; but
Diodorus Siculus and Pliny give them a situation, which, considering
the vague and erroneous ideas the antients possessed of the geography
of this part of the world, corresponds pretty nearly with the southern
part of Britain. According to Strabo, the Phoenicians first brought tin

from the Cassiterides, which they sold to the Greeks, but kept (as was
usual with them) the trade entirely to themselves, and were utterly
silent respecting the place from which they brought it. The Greeks gave
these islands the name of Cassiterides, or the Tin Country; a plain proof
of what we before advanced, that tin was known, and generally used,
previous to the discovery of these islands by the Phoenicians.
There is scarcely any circumstance connected with the maritime history
of the Phoenicians, more remarkable than their jealousy of foreigners
interfering with their trade, to which we have just alluded. It seems to
have been a regular plan, if not a fixed law with them, if at any time
their ships observed that a strange ship kept them company, or
endeavoured to trace their track, to outsail her if practicable; or, where
this could not be done, to depart during the night from their proper
course. The Carthaginians, a colony of the Phoenicians, adopted this,
among other maritime regulations of the parent state, and even carried
it to a greater extent. In proof of this, a striking fact may be mentioned:
the master of a Carthaginian ship observing a Roman vessel following
his course, purposely ran his vessel aground, and thus wrecked his own
ship, as well as the one that followed him. This act was deemed by the
Carthaginian government so patriotic, that he was amply rewarded for
it, as well as recompensed for the loss of his vessel.
The circumstances attending the destruction of New Tyre by Alexander
the Great are well known. The Tyrians united with the Persians against
Alexander, for the purpose of preventing the invasion of Persia; this
having incensed the conqueror, still further enraged by their refusal to
admit him within their walls, he resolved upon the destruction of this
commercial city. For seven months, the natural strength of the place,
and the resources and bravery of the inhabitants, enabled them to hold
out; but at length it was taken, burnt to the ground, and all the
inhabitants, except such as had escaped by sea, were either put to death
or sold as slaves.
Little is known respecting the structure and equipment of the ships
which the Phoenicians employed in their commercial navigation.
According to the apocryphal authority of Sanconiatho, Ousous, one of
the most ancient of the Phoenician heroes, took a tree which was half
burnt, cut off its branches, and was the first who ventured to expose
himself on the waters. This tradition, however, probably owes its rise to

the prevalent belief among the ancients, that to the Phoenicians was to
be ascribed the invention of every thing that related to the rude
navigation and commerce of the earliest ages of the world: under this
idea, the art of casting accounts, keeping registers, and every thing, in
short, that belongs to a factory, is attributed to their invention.[2] With
respect to their vessels,-- "Originally they had only rafts, or simple
boats; they used oars to conduct these weak and light vessels. As
navigation extended itself, and became more frequent, they perfected
the construction of ships, and made them of a much larger capacity.
They were not long in discovering the use that might be drawn from the
wind, to hasten and facilitate the course of a ship, and they found out
the art of aiding it by means of masts and sails." Such is the account
given by Goguet; but it is evident that this is entirely conjectural history:
and we may remark, by the bye, that a work otherwise highly
distinguished by clear and philosophical views, and enriched by
considerable learning and research, in many places descends to fanciful
conjecture.
All that we certainly know respecting the ships of the Phoenicians, is,
that they had two kinds; one for the purposes of commerce, and the
other for naval expeditions; and in this respect they were imitated by all
the other nations of antiquity. Their merchant-ships were called Gauloi.
According to Festus's definition of this term, the gauloi were nearly
round;