Trangportaiiai^ — ^Aa  a  mode  of  aeqiiUtion  tfiiadbMacf
labor  has  aasumed  a  ptominent  plaee  in  the  Iiialoiy  of  aoet
ety.  The  transportation  of  Taiiona  eommoditiea  fram  ena
place  to  another  ia,  next  to  their  prodnetiony  peiliape  the  moit
important  of  hnman  enterpriaea.  It  involves  the  hialoiy  of
the  various  interesting  voiyagea  after  artidea  not  found  b
tlie  countries  from  which  they  were  made.  The  voyagsi
which  were  so  saccessfnlly  conducted  by  the  Pboenieiaiia  ta
all  points  on  the  Mediterranean,  to  the  shores  of  the  BaUe^
and  even  to  remote  points  in  Africa  and  Asia,  in  search  of
various  metals,  of  spices,  and  other  vegetable  and  animal
products,  possess  an  interest  for  the  student  of  sociology  only
equaled  by  their  value  as  keys  to  the  history  and  charso-
ter  of  the  human  race.  In  the  reign  of  King  Xeku  II  of
Egypt,  six  centuries  before  tho  Christian  era,  a  Phoenician
voyage  is  supposed  to  have  been  made  under  hia  auspices
around  the  entire  continent  of  Africa;  and,  according  to
Aristotle,  Strabo,  and  Pliny,  an  attempt  was  made  by  Ba-
rneses tho  Great  to  cut  a  canal  through  the  Isthmus  of  Sues
for  the  purpose  of  transporting  the  copper,  then  eo  much
more  important  comparatively  than  now,  from  certain  parts
of  Arabia,  where  it  was  found,  to  the  Egyptian  metropolis.
