ABSTRACT
It was undoubtedly the natural or religious antipathy o f the Hindoos for the sea, or a combination o f both sentiments, which threw the navi gation of the Indian ocean, from the earliest ages, into the hands o f the more nautical Arabs, who thereby succeeded eventually in acquiring a predominating influence on the western coast. The same aversion, pro ceeding from religious prejudice, is noticed by Marco Polo, who in de scribing the customs o f the Malabarians remarks, that the testimony of one who sails by sea was not admissible, because such men were regarded as desperate. See P i n k e r t o n ’s Voyages, vol. vii. p. 163.
