About the Erinæan promontory a species of jet was found in great plenty, which when burnt emitted a bituminous odour.[[2334]]
Sicily likewise exported salt,[[2335]] emeralds,[[2336]] lapis specularis,[[2337]] and agates.[[2338]] An abundant supply of coral was obtained from the sea around Cape Pachynos, near Syracuse;[[2339]] and from Agrigentum, a liquid bitumen found floating on the clear surface of fountains and burnt instead of oil in lamps, and therefore called by some the oil of Sicily.[[2340]] Poisons of great force were also found in the island. Among the favourite dishes of the ancients were the lampreys and eels of the Pharo of Messina,[[2341]] the bellies of thunnies caught near Cape Pachynos,[[2342]] snails,[[2343]] and oysters from Cape Peloros.[[2344]]
The Lipari islands exported sulphur,[[2345]] alum,[[2346]] reddle, pumice stone,[[2347]] crabs,[[2348]] and anchovies;[[2349]] Corsica, timber[[2350]] of a superior quality; Sardinia, carnelians,[[2351]] snails,[[2352]] salt provisions,[[2353]] wax,[[2354]] and honey, which though bitter, because the bee there fed on wormwood, was much used in cosmetics. In this island likewise was found the seseli,[[2355]] the juice of which, extracted from the root, was set to thicken in the shade, because, exposed to the sun, it evaporated altogether. It was esteemed a cure for the toothache. The persons employed in collecting it were careful to anoint their beard and nostrils with oil of roses, in order to escape those pains and vertigoes which would otherwise have been caused by its effluvia. The little island of Elba exported iron ore and a precious stone richly sprinkled with brilliant colours.[[2356]]
With Gaul Greece carried on no great trade. The few articles which it thence obtained were hams, reckoned among the best in the ancient world,[[2357]] pitch,[[2358]] larch, resin,[[2359]] wool; French lavender, from the island of Hieres; wormwood from Xaintonges;[[2360]] seseli,[[2361]] whetstones called passernices,[[2362]] and carbuncles from Marseilles, which were so highly esteemed, that a stone of very small size sold for fifty pieces of gold.[[2363]] In the environs of Ruscino[[2364]] a very fine sort of mullet was caught in certain sandy lagoons near the sea. Aquitania produced gold; Belgium a sort of white stone (pierre franche) which was sawed into tiles more easily than wood, and used for mosaics.[[2365]]
The produce of Spain and Portugal was richer and more varied: merino rams[[2366]] for breeding, valued at two hundred and forty pounds, were thence imported into Greece, together with wool of the very finest quality.[[2367]] At an earlier period superior cloth had been manufactured for exportation.[[2368]] The linen of Emporiæ and of the Saltiæti long continued to be famous.[[2369]] The kermes[[2370]] procured from Spain were of an inferior quality, but they always continued to be an article of commerce,[[2371]] as well as the alum,[[2372]] the slate used in medicine, the whetstone,[[2373]] lapis specularis,[[2374]] the sory,[[2375]] minium,[[2376]] and palmati, round pebbles having within the figure of a palm-tree, found near Munda.[[2377]]
The cinnabar[[2378]] of this country was artificial,[[2379]] and produced from the mixture of a certain ore and argentiferous sand, which being cast into furnaces assumed a most brilliant and flame-like colour. In the mines the above ore emitted so pestilential a vapour that, to protect themselves from it, the workmen covered their faces with a mask of transparent bladders, which at once guarded their eyes and prevented their inhaling it, until by their own breath it had been somewhat tempered. This pigment was used by artists in painting the most costly and gorgeous frescoes.
It has often been remarked that Spain[[2380]] was to the ancient world what Peru and Mexico afterwards were to Spain. Gold and silver abounded almost throughout the land. The miners in constant working were numerous; the rivers and mountain-torrents rolled down golden sands; and frequently after floods morsels of this precious metal were discovered flashing and glittering among the rocks and stones.[[2381]] Silver was so plentiful, that the natives applied it to the most common uses, and the Phœnicians and Greeks who first touched upon the shore not only freighted their ships with it, but absolutely cast away their anchors and supplied their place with masses of silver.[[2382]]
The large and opulent province of Bætica, now Andalusia, supplied the ancient world with numerous valuable commodities, among which were wheat,[[2383]] wine,[[2384]] oil,[[2385]] bees’ wax, honey, pitch,[[2386]] kermes,[[2387]] vermilion not inferior to that of Sinopè,[[2388]] rock-salt, and excellent salt-fish.[[2389]] The thunnies of this part of Spain were said to fatten, like droves of wild hogs,[[2390]] on the large acorns of the dwarf oak which grew plentifully along the coast, and dipped its fruit into the sea. Hence, too, were obtained numerous species of shellfish, among which were conchs of enormous size.[[2391]] The congers and murænas, likewise, attained extraordinary dimensions, some of them weighing no less than eighteen minæ, while polypi were found a full talent in weight, and cuttle-fish a yard in length.[[2392]]
The Spartium, or Spanish broom, principally used in the manufacture of ropes[[2393]] and cables, grew chiefly[[2394]] along the high and arid plains of Valentia and Catalonia, through which passed the great high road from Italy.[[2395]] Spain exported, besides, cumin, together with wild rocket,[[2396]] which grew chiefly on the shores of the Atlantic.[[2397]] The seeds were substituted by the natives for mustard. In fact, we find that it was a common practice among the ancients to use the seed of rocket in seasoning their dishes; and in order to preserve it for constant use they reduced it with milk or vinegar to a kind of paste, which they fashioned into round cakes, and laid up when dry.