With such an aim the Supreme Government had boxed the compass ...

[pars]

Dear all:

What does the following passage mean? It is from the book The Asian Trade Revolution of the Seventeenth Century, by Niels Steensgaard, p. 135:

"With such an aim the Supreme Government had boxed the compass from trade to trade under its own protection, and from trade under its own protection to tribute-levying on the trade of others."

The words in bold are unclear for me.
Many thanks in advance.

 

[Amigos4]

The following link may be helpful: Boxing the Compass

 

[pars]

The following link may be helpful: Boxing the Compass

Thanks, but the meaning of it in the context is ambiguous.

 

[Skrej]

Look at the metaphorical definitions, rather than the literal maritime usage.

box the compass