were carried up the Nile from Alexandria to the city of Coptus, and
conveyed across the desert from thence to the sea-port of Myos-Hormos on
the Red-sea[35]. To avoid the excessive heat, the caravans travelled only
in the night, directing their course by the stars; and water being very
scarce in the desert, they had to carry a sufficient quantity with them
for the journey. Afterwards, to avoid this trouble, deep wells were dug
at certain intervals; and in other places large cisterns or reservoirs
were constructed for the reception of rain water. Still later, in
consideration of the dangers attending the port of Myos-Hormos, on
account of flats and islands, Philadelphus sent an army into Troglodytica,
where he constructed a haven called Berenice, in which the ships engaged
in the Indian commerce took shelter, as a place of greater security. From
thence the goods were transported to the city of Coptus, and afterwards
to Alexandria, which became rich and famous, through its trade with India,
beyond any other city in the world; insomuch that it is asserted that the
customs of Alexandria yielded every year to Ptolemy Auletes, the father
of Cleopatra, seven millions and a half of gold, though the traffic had
then scarcely subsisted in that direction for twenty years[36]. After the
reduction of Egypt and Alexandria under the power of the Romans, the
customs are said to have advanced to double that amount; and the trade
was so great, that 120 ships used to be sent yearly from Myos-Hormos to
India. The ships set sail every year from Myos-Hormos about the middle of
July, and returned back within the year[37]. The merchandize they carried
amounted to the value of one million two hundred thousand crowns; and the
returns were an hundred for one; and through this prodigious increase of
wealth, the matrons and noble ladies of those days in Alexandria, were
exceedingly profuse in decorating themselves with purple, pearls, and
precious stones, and in the use of musk, amber, and other rich perfumes
of various kinds; of all which the historians and other writers of that
age treat at great length[38].