A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume I Part 6

To the natives of Winland, the Icelanders gave the name of Skraellinger, signifying cuttings or dwarfs, on account of their being of very low stature. These were probably the ancestors of the present Eskimaux, who are the same people with the Greenlanders, and are called Eskimantsik in the language of the Abenaki, on account of their eating raw fish; in the same manner as the Russians, in their official state papers, call the Samojeds Sirojed'zi, because they also eat raw and frozen fish and flesh.

In the same year Thorstein, the third son of Eric-raude, set sail for Winland, taking with him his wife, Gudridthe daughter of Thorbern, with his children and servants, amounting in all to twenty-five persons; but they were forced by a storm on the western coast of Greenland, where they were obliged to spend the winter, and where Thorstein died, with a large proportion of his retinue, probably of the scurvy. Next spring Gudrid took the dead body of her husband home; and Thorfin, surnamed Kallsefner, an Icelander of some consequence, descended from King Regner-Lodbrok, married the widow of Thorstein, from which he considered himself ent.i.tled to the possession of the newly discovered country. He accordingly sailed for Winland with a vast quant.i.ty of household furniture, implements of all kinds, and several cattle, and accompanied by sixty-five men and five women, with whom he began to establish a regular colony. He was immediately visited by the Skraellingers, who bartered with him, giving the most valuable furs for such wares as the Icelanders had to give in exchange. The natives would willingly have purchased the weapons of the Icelanders, but this was expressly and judiciously forbidden by Thorfin. Yet one of them found means to steal a battle-ax, of which he immediately made a trial on one of his countrymen, whom he killed with one blow; on which a third person seized the mischievous weapon and threw it into the sea. During a stay of three years, Thorfin acquired a large stock of rich furs and other merchandize, with which he returned to Greenland; and at length removing to Iceland, he purchased an estate in the northern part of Syssel, and built a very elegant house which he called Glaumba. After his death, his widow Gudrid made a pilgrimage to Rome, whence she returned, and ended her days in a nunnery in Iceland, which was built for her by her son Snorro, who was born in Winland.

Sometime afterwards, Finbog and Helgo, two Icelanders, fitted out two s.h.i.+ps, carrying thirty men, with which they made a voyage to Winland. In this expedition they were accompanied by Freidis, the daughter of Eric-raude; but by the turbulence of her disposition, she occasioned many divisions and quarrels in the infant colony, in one of which Finbog and Helgo were both killed, together with thirty of their followers. Upon this Freidis returned to Greenland, where she lived for some time universally detested and despised, and died in the utmost misery. The remaining colonists were dispersed, and nothing farther that can be depended on remains on record concerning them. Even the Icelandic colony in Greenland has disappeared, and the eastern coast, on which especially it was settled, has become long inaccessible, in consequence of the immense acc.u.mulation of ice in the straits between it and Iceland. To this it may be added, that, in the beginning of the fifteenth century, a prodigious number of people were carried off in Norway and Iceland by a disease or pestilence called the _Black Death_; probably the scurvy in its worst state, occasioned by a succession of inclement seasons and extreme scarcity, impelling the famished people to satisfy the craving of hunger upon unwholesome food.

Deprived of all a.s.sistance from Iceland and Norway, the colonists of Greenland and Winland were in all probability extirpated by the continual hostilities of the Skraellingers, or Eskimaux; and the fabulous idea of any remnant of those in Winland having still an existence in the interior of Newfoundland, is entirely unworthy of any consideration.

[1] Forster, Hist. of Disc. in the North, 82.

[2] Every quality must be judged of by comparison; and, contrasted with the inhospitable regions of Iceland and Greenland, in lat. 65, this country, which was as far south as even beyond the south of England, must have appeared admirable.--E.

[3] It is true that grapes grow wild in Canada which are very good to eat, yet no one has ever been able to make good wine from their juice. Whether these wild grapes are found in Newfoundland I know not.

The species of vines which grow in North America, are named by Linnaeus, Vitis labrusca, vulpina, and arborea.--Forst.

The propriety of the names imposed by the Norwegians on their new discoveries is admirable. Iceland, Greenland, h.e.l.leland, Markland, Winland, and many others; which are perfectly philosophical, excellently systematic, and infinitely preferable to the modern clumsy appellations, New Britain, New France, New England, New Holland, Sandwich Islands, Society islands, and a mult.i.tude of much worse names.--E.

CHAP. IV.

_Travels of two Mahomedans in India and China, in the Ninth Century._[1]

INTRODUCTION.

This curious remnant of antiquity was translated from the Arabic, and published in 1718, by Eusebius Renaudot, a learned Member of the French Academy, and of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres. It is not known by whom the travels were actually performed, neither can their exact date be ascertained, as the commencement of the MS. which was translated by Renaudot was imperfect; but it appears to have been written in the 237th year of the Hegira, or in the year 851 of the Christian era. Though ent.i.tled the travels of _two_ Mahomedans, the travels seem to have been mostly performed by one person only; the latter portion being chiefly a commentary upon the former, and appears to have been the work of one Abu Zeid al Hasan of Siraf, and to have been written about the 803d year of the Hegira, or A.D. 915. In this commentary, indeed, some report is given of the travels of another Mahomedan into China. The MS. employed by Renaudot belonged to the library of the Count de Seignelay, and appears to have been written in the year 619 of the Hegira, or A.D. 1173. The great value of this work is, that it contains the very earliest account of China, penned above four hundred years earlier than the travels of Marco Polo, who was esteemed the first author on the subject before this publication appeared.

There are many curious and remarkable pa.s.sages in these travels, which convey information respecting customs and events that are nowhere else to be found; and though some of these carry a fabulous appearance, the greatest part of them have been confirmed and justified by the best writers in succeeding ages. The first portion, or the actual narrative, begins abruptly, on account of some portion of the original ma.n.u.script being lost, which would probably have given the name and country of the author, and the date and occasion of his voyage.

In the accompanying commentary by Abu Zeid, we are informed that the date of the narrative was of the Hegira 237, A.D. 851, which circ.u.mstance was probably contained in the missing part of the ma.n.u.script; but though written then, it is probable that the first journey of the author was undertaken at least twenty years before that date, or in 831, as he observes, that he made a second journey into the same countries sixteen years afterwards, and we may allow four years for the time spent in the two journies, and the intervening s.p.a.ce, besides the delay of composition after his last return. Though not mentioned, it is probable his travels were undertaken for the purpose of trade, as we can hardly suppose him to have twice visited those distant countries merely for the satisfaction of curiosity.

With regard to the second treatise or commentary, it seems probable, that when the affairs of China became better known, some prince or person of distinction had desired Abu Zeid to examine the former relation, and to inform him how far the facts of the original work were confirmed by succeeding accounts. The date of the commentary is not certainly ascertainable; yet it appears, that Eben Wahab travelled into China A.H.

285. A.D. 898, and that Abu Zeid had conversed with this man after his return, and had received from him the facts which are inserted in his discourse, which therefore is probably only sixty or seventy years posterior to the actual treatise of the nameless traveller.

[1] Translation from Renaudot, 8vo. Lond. 1733. See likewise Harris, I.

522.

SECTION I.

_Original Account of India and China, by a Mahomedan Traveller of the Ninth Century_.

The _third_ of the seas we have to mention is that of Herkend[1]. Between this sea and that of Delarowi there are many islands, said to be in number 1900, which divide those two seas from each other[2], and are governed by a queen[3]. Among these islands they find ambergris in lumps of extraordinary bigness, and also in smaller pieces, which resemble plants torn up. This amber is produced at the bottom of the sea, in the same manner as plants are produced upon the earth; and when the sea is tempestuous, it is torn up from the bottom by the violence of the waves, and washed to the sh.o.r.e in the form of a mushroom or truffle. These islands are full of that species of palm tree which bears the cocoa nuts, and they are from one to four leagues distant from each other, all inhabited. The wealth of the inhabitants consists in sh.e.l.ls, of which even the royal treasury is full.

The workmen in these islands are exceedingly expert, and make s.h.i.+rts and vests, or tunics, all of one piece, of the fibres of the cocoa nut. Of the same tree they build s.h.i.+ps and houses, and they are skilful in all other workmans.h.i.+ps. Their sh.e.l.ls they have from the sea at certain times, when they rise up to the surface, and the inhabitants throw branches of the cocoa nut tree into the water, to which the sh.e.l.ls stick. These sh.e.l.ls they call Kaptaje.

Beyond these islands, and in the sea of Herkend, is Serendib[4] or Ceylon, the chief of all these islands, which are called Dobijat. It is entirely surrounded by the sea, and on its coast they fish for pearls. In this country there is a mountain called Rahun, to the top of which Adam is said to have ascended, where he left the print of his foot, seventy cubits long, on a rock, and they say his other foot stood in the sea at the same time.

About this mountain there are mines of rubies, opals, and amethysts. This island is of great extent, and has two kings; and it produces aloes wood, gold, precious stones, and pearls, which last are fished for on the coast; and there are also found a kind of large sh.e.l.ls, which are used for trumpets, and much esteemed. In the same sea, towards Serendib, there are other islands, not so many in number as those formerly mentioned, but of vast extent, and unknown. One of these is called Ramni, which is divided among a number of princes, and in it is found plenty of gold. The inhabitants have cocoa nut trees, which supply them with food, and with which also they paint their bodies, and oil themselves. The custom of the country is, that no man can marry till he has killed an enemy, and brought off his head. If he has killed two he claims two wives, and if he has slain fifty he may have fifty wives. This custom proceeds from the number of enemies with which they are surrounded, so that he who kills the greatest number is the most considered. These islands of Ramni abound with elephants, red-wood, and trees called Chairzan, and the inhabitants eat human flesh.

These islands separate the sea of Herkend from the sea of Shelabet, and beyond them are others called Najabalus, which are pretty well peopled, both men and women going naked, except that the women wear ap.r.o.ns made of leaves. When s.h.i.+pping goes among these islands, the inhabitants come off in boats, bringing with them ambergris and cocoa nuts, which they barter for iron; for, being free from the inconveniencies either of extreme heat or cold they want no clothing. Beyond these two islands is the sea of Andaman.

The people on this coast eat human flesh quite raw; their complexion is black, with frizzled hair, their countenance and eyes frightful, their feet very large, almost a cubit in length, and they go quite naked. They have no sort of barks or other vessels, or they would seize and devour all the pa.s.sengers they could lay their hands upon. When s.h.i.+ps have been kept back by contrary winds, and are obliged to anchor on this barbarous coast, for procuring water, they commonly lose some of their men.

Beyond this there is an inhabited mountainous island, which is said to contain mines of silver; but as it does not lie in the usual track of s.h.i.+pping, many have searched for it in vain, though remarkable for a very lofty mountain called Kashenai. A s.h.i.+p, sailing in its lat.i.tude, once got sight of this mountain, and steered for the coast, where some people were sent on sh.o.r.e to cut wood: The men kindled a fire, from which there ran out some melted silver, on which they concluded that there must have been a silver mine in the place, and they s.h.i.+pped a considerable quant.i.ty of the earth or ore; but they encountered a terrible storm on their voyage back, and were forced to throw all their ore overboard to lighten the vessel.

Since that time the mountain has been several times carefully sought for, but no one has ever been able to find it again. There are many such islands in those seas, more in number than can be reckoned; some inaccessible by seamen, and some unknown to them.

It often happens in these seas that a whitish cloud suddenly appears over-head, which lets down a long thin tongue or spout, quite to the surface of the water, which is then turned swiftly round as if by a whirlwind, and if a vessel happens to be in the way, she is immediately swallowed up in the vortex. At length this cloud mounts up again and discharges itself in prodigious rain; but it is not known whether this water is sucked up by the cloud, or how this phenomenon comes to pa.s.s. All these seas are subject to prodigious storms, which make them boil up like water over a fire; at which times the waves dash the s.h.i.+ps against the islands with unspeakable violence, to their utter destruction; and even fish; of all sizes are thrown dead on sh.o.r.e, against the rocks, by the extreme agitation of the sea. The wind which commonly blows upon the sea of Herkend is from a different quarter, or from the N.W.; but this sea is likewise subject to as violent agitations as those just mentioned, and there ambergris is torn up from the bottom, particularly where it is very deep; and the deeper the sea so much the more valuable is the ambergris which it produces. It is likewise observed, that when this sea is tossed by tempestuous winds it sparkles like fire; and it is infested with a certain kind of fish called Lockham, which frequently preys upon men[5].

Among other circ.u.mstances, the fires which frequently happen at Canfu are not the least remarkable. Canfu is the port of all the s.h.i.+ps of the Arabs who trade to China, and fires are there very frequent, because all the houses are of wood or of split canes; besides, s.h.i.+ps are often lost in going and coming, or they are plundered, or obliged to make too long a stay in harbours, or to sell their goods out of the country subject to the Arabs, and there to make up their cargoes. In short, s.h.i.+ps are under a necessity of wasting much time in refitting, and many other causes of delay. Soliman[6] the merchant, writes, that at Canfu, which is a princ.i.p.al staple of merchants, there is a Mahomedan judge appointed by the emperor of China, who is authorized to judge in every cause which arises among the Mahomedans who resort to these parts. Upon festival days he performs the public services of religion to the Mahomedans, and p.r.o.nounces the usual sermon or _Kotbat_, which he concludes with the usual form of prayers for the sultan of the Moslems. The merchants of Irak or Persia, who trade to Canfu, are no way dissatisfied with the conduct of this judge in the administration of his office, because his decisions are just and equitable, and conformable to the Koran.

Respecting the places whence s.h.i.+ps depart and those they touch at, many persons affirm that the navigation is performed in the following order: Most of the Chinese s.h.i.+ps take in their cargoes at Siraff[7], where also they s.h.i.+p their goods which come from Basra, Oman, and other ports; and this is done because there are frequent storms and many shallows in those seas. From Basra to Siraff is an hundred and twenty leagues; and when s.h.i.+ps have loaded at this latter place they take in water there also. From thence they sail to a place called Mascat, in the extremity of the province of Oman, which is about two hundred leagues from Siraff. On the east coast of this sea, between Siraff and Mascat, is a place called Nasir Bani al Sasack, and an island called Ebn Kahowan, and in this sea there are rocks called Oman, and a narrow strait called Dordur between two rocks, through which s.h.i.+ps often venture to pa.s.s, but the Chinese snips dare not. There are also two rocks called Kossir and Howare, which scarce appear above the water's edge. After they are clear of these rocks, they steer to a place called s.h.i.+tu Oman, and take in water at Muscat, which is drawn up from wells, and are here also supplied with cattle from the province of Oman.

From Mascat the s.h.i.+ps take their departure for India, and first touch at Kaucammali, which is a month's sail from Mascat with a fair wind. This is a frontier place, and the chief a.r.s.enal in the province of that name; and here the Chinese s.h.i.+ps put in and are in safety, and procure fresh water.

The Chinese s.h.i.+ps pay here a thousand drams for duties, whereas others pay only from one dinar to ten. From thence they begin to enter the sea of Herkend, and having sailed through it, they touch at a place called Lajabalus, where the inhabitants do not understand Arabic, or any other language in use among merchants. They wear no clothes, are white, and weak in their feet. It is said their women are not to be seen, and that the men leave the island in canoes, hollowed out of one piece, to go in quest of them, and carry them cocoa nuts, mousa, and palm wine. This last liquor is white, and when drank fresh is sweet like honey, and has the taste of cocoa nut milk; if kept some time, it becomes as strong as wine, but after some days changes to vinegar. These people give this wine, and the small quant.i.ties of amber which is thrown up on their coasts, for bits of iron, the bargains being made by signs; but they are extremely alert, and are very apt to carry off iron from the merchants without making any return.

From Lajabalus the s.h.i.+ps steer for Calabar, the name of a kingdom on the right hand beyond the Indies, which depends on the kingdom of Zabage, _bar_ signifying a coast in the language of the country. The inhabitants are dressed in those sorts of striped garments which the Arabs call Fauta, and they commonly wear only one at a time, which fas.h.i.+on is common to people of all ranks. At this place they take in water, which is drawn from wells that are fed by springs, and which is preferred to that which is procured from cisterns or tanks. Calabar is about a month's voyage from a place called Kaukam, which is almost upon the skirts of the sea of Herkend. In ten days after this, s.h.i.+ps reach Betuma, from whence, in ten days more, they come to Kadrange. In all the islands and peninsulas of the Indies, water is to be found by digging. In this last mentioned place there is a very lofty mountain, which is entirely inhabited by slaves and fugitives. From thence, in ten days, they arrive at Senef, where is fresh water, and from whence comes the aromatic wood which we call Hud al Senefi. Here is a king; the inhabitants are black, and they wear two striped garments. Having watered at this place, it is ten days pa.s.sage to Sanderfulat, an island which has fresh water. They then steer through the sea of Sanji, and so to the gates of China; for so they call certain rocks and shallows which form a narrow strait in that sea, through which the s.h.i.+ps are obliged to pa.s.s. It requires a month to sail from Sanderfulat to China, and it takes eight whole days to steer through among the rocks and shoals.

When a s.h.i.+p has got through the before mentioned gates, she goes with the flood tide into a fresh water gulf, and drops anchor in the chief port of China, which is called Canfu[8], where they have fresh water, both from springs and rivers, as also in most of the other cities of China. The city is adorned with large squares, and is supplied with every thing necessary for defence against an enemy, and in most of the other provinces of the empire there are cities of strength similarly fortified. In this port the tide ebbs and flows twice in twenty-four hours; but, whereas from Basra to the island of Bani Kahouan it flows when the moon is at full, and ebbs when she rises and when she sets; from near Bani Kahouan quite to the coast of China it is flood tide when the moon rises, and ebb when she is at her height; and so on the contrary, when she sets, it is flowing water, and when she is quite hidden under the horizon, the tide falls.

They say, that in the island of Muljan, between Serendib and Cala, on the eastern sh.o.r.e of the Indies, there are negroes who go quite naked; and when they meet a stranger they hang him up by the heels and slice him into pieces, which they eat quite raw. These negroes, who have no king, feed chiefly on fish, mousa, cocoa nuts, and sugar canes. It is reported, that in some parts of this sea, there is a small kind of fish which flies above the water, and is called the sea locust; that in another part, there is a fish which, leaving the sea, gets up into the cocoa nut trees, and having drained them of their juices, returns to the sea; and it is added, that there is a fish like a lobster or crab, which petrifies as soon as it is taken out of its element, and that when pulverized it is a good remedy for several diseases of the eyes. They say also, that near Zabage there is a volcanic mountain which cannot be approached, which sends forth a thick smoke by day, and throws out flames at night; at the foot of which are two springs of fresh water, one hot and the other cold.

The Chinese are dressed in silk garments, both in summer and winter, and this dress is common both to the prince and peasant. In winter, they wear drawers of a particular make, which reach to their feet, and of these, they put on two, three, four, five, or more, one over the other, if they can afford it; and are very careful to be covered quite down to their feet, because of the damps, which are very great, and of which they are extremely apprehensive. In summer they only wear a single garment of silk, or some such light dress, but they have no turbans. Their common food is rice, which they eat frequently with a broth made of meat or fish, like that used by the Arabs, and which they pour upon the rice. Their kings eat wheaten bread, and the flesh of all kinds of animals, not excepting swine, and some others not used by us. They have several sorts of fruits, as apples, lemons, quinces, moulats, sugar canes, citruls, figs, grapes, cuc.u.mbers of two sorts, trees, which produce a substance like meal, walnuts, almonds, filberts, pistachios, plumbs, apricots, services, and cocoa nuts, but no store of palms, of which they have only a few about private houses. Their drink is a kind of wine made of rice, having no other wine in the country, neither is any other imported by them. They do not even know what wine is, nor will they drink of it. They have vinegar also, and a kind of comfit, like that called _Natef_ by the Arabs and some others.

The Chinese are by no means nice in point of cleanliness, not was.h.i.+ng with water when they ease nature but only wiping with paper. They do not scruple to eat of animals which have died, and they practise many other things like the Magians[9]; and in truth, the two religions are much similar. Their women appear uncovered, and adorn their heads with many small ivory combs, of which they wear sometimes a score at one time. The heads of the men are covered by a cap, of a particular make. Thieves are put to death as soon as caught.

The Indians and Chinese agree that there are four great or princ.i.p.al kings in the world, all of them allowing that the king of the Arabs is the first and most powerful of kings, the most wealthy, and the most excellent every way, because he is the prince and head of a great religion, and because no other surpa.s.ses him. The Emperor of China reckons himself next after the king of the Arabs, after him the king of the Greeks, and lastly the Balhara[10], or king of the Moharmi al Adon, or people who have their ears bored. The Balhara is the most ill.u.s.trious sovereign in all the Indies, and though all the other kings in India are masters and independent each in their own dominions, they thus so far acknowledge his preeminence, that when he sends amba.s.sadors to the other princes, they are received with extraordinary honours. This king makes magnificent presents after the manner of the Arabs, and has vast numbers of horses and elephants, and great treasures in money. His silver coin is what we call Thartarian drams, being equal to one and a half of the Arabian dram. They are coined with the die of the prince, and bear the year of his reign, counting from the last year of the reign of his predecessor. They compute not their years from the era of Mahomed, like the Arabs, but only by the years of their successive kings. Most of these princes live a long time, many of them having reigned above fifty years; and those of the country believe that the length of their lives and reigns is granted in recompence of their kindness to the Arabs; for there are no princes more heartily affectionate to the Arabs, and their subjects profess the same kindness for us. Balhara is not a proper name, but an appellative, common to all those kings, like Cosroes and some others. The country under the dominion of the prince begins on the coast of the province called Kamcam, and reaches by land to the confines of China. He is surrounded by the dominions of many kings, who are at war with him, yet he never marches against them.

One of these is the king of Harez, who has very numerous forces, and is stronger in cavalry than all the other princes of the Indies. He is an enemy to the Arabs, neither is there any prince in India who has a greater aversion to the Mahomedans; though he confesses their king to be the greatest of princes. His dominions are on a promontory, where are much riches, many camels, and abundance of other cattle. The inhabitants traffic for silver, and they say there are mines of that metal on the continent.

There are no robbers in this country, nor in the rest of the Indies. On one side of this country is that of Tafek, which is not of very great extent.

This king has the finest white women in all the Indies; but he is awed by the kings about him, as his army is very small. He has a great affection for the Arabs as well as the Balhara. These kingdoms border upon the lands of a king called Rami, who is at war with the king of Harez, and with the Balhara likewise. This prince is not much considered, either for the dignity of his birth or the antiquity of his kingdom; but his forces are more numerous than those of the Balhara, and even than those of the kings of Harez and Tafek. It is said that he appears in the field at the head of fifty thousand elephants, and commonly marches in the rainy season, because his elephants cannot move at any other time, as they are unable to bear thirst. His army is said commonly to contain from ten to fifteen thousand tents. In this country they make cotton garments of such extraordinary fineness and perfection, as is to be seen nowhere else. These garments are mostly round, and are wove so extremely fine, that they may be drawn through a moderately sized ring. Sh.e.l.ls are current in this country as small money; and they have abundance of gold and silver, aloes wood, and sable skins, of which they make their horse-furniture.

In this country is the famous Karkandan, that is the rhinoceros, or unicorn, which has but one horn on his forehead, on which there is a round spot with the representation of a man; the whole horn being black, except the spot in the middle which is white. The rhinoceros is much smaller than the elephant, and resembles the buffalo from the neck downwards, and excels all other creatures in extraordinary strength. His leg is all one thickness, from the shoulder to the foot, and the hoof is not cloven. The elephant flies from the rhinoceros, whose lowing is like that of an ox, with something of the cry of the camel. His flesh is not forbidden, and we have eaten of it; There are great numbers of this creature in the fens of this country, as also in all the other provinces of India; but the horns of these are most esteemed, having generally upon them the figures of men, peac.o.c.ks, fishes and other resemblances. The Chinese adorn their girdles with these sorts of figures, so that some of their girdles are worth two or three thousand pieces of gold in China, and sometimes more, the price augmenting with the beauty of the figures. All these things are to be purchased in the kingdom of Rahmi, for sh.e.l.ls, which are the current money of the country.

After this country, there is an inland state distant from the coast, and called Kaschbin, of which the inhabitants are white, and bore their ears.

They have camels, and their country is for the most part desert, and full of mountains. Farther on the coast, there is a small kingdom called Hitrange, which is very poor; but in its bay, the sea throws up great quant.i.ties of ambergris, and they have elephants teeth and pepper; but the inhabitants eat this last green, because of the small quant.i.ty they gather.

Beyond these, there are other kingdoms, but their numbers and names are unknown. Among these is one named Mujet, the inhabitants of which are white and dress after the Chinese manner; their country is full of mountains, having white tops, and of very great extent, in which there are great quant.i.ties of musk; esteemed the most exquisite of any in the world. They have continual war with all the surrounding kingdoms; The kingdom of Mabet is beyond that of Mujet, wherein are many cities, and the inhabitants have even a greater resemblance to the Chinese than those of Mujet; for they have officers or eunuchs like those who govern the cities among the Chinese. The country of Mabet borders upon China, and is at peace with the emperor, but not subject to him. The king of Mabet sends amba.s.sadors every year with presents to the emperor of China, who in return sends amba.s.sadors and presents to Mabet. But when the amba.s.sadors of Mabet enter China, they are very carefully watched, lest they should survey the country, and form designs of conquest; which would be no difficult matter, as their country is very extensive, and extremely populous, and as they are only divided from China by rocks and mountains.

It is said that, in the country of China, there are above two hundred cities having jurisdiction over others, each of which has a governor and an eunuch or lieutenant. Canfu is one of these cities, being the port for all s.h.i.+pping, and has jurisdiction over twenty towns. A town is raised, to the dignity of a city, by the grant of certain large trumpets. These are three or four cubits in length, and as large about as can be grasped by both hands, growing smaller towards the end which is fitted to the mouth. On the outside, they are adorned with Chinese ink, and may be heard at the distance of a mile. Each city has four gates, at each of which five of these trumpets are stationed, which are sounded at certain hours of the day and night. There are also ten drums in each city, which are beaten at the same times; and this is done as a public token of obedience to the emperor, and to point out the hours of the day and night to the inhabitants; and for ascertaining the time; they have sun dials, and clocks with weights[11].

In China they use a great quant.i.ty of copper money, like that named falus by the Arabians, which is the only sort of small money, and is current all over the country, and is indeed the only current coin. Yet their emperor has treasures like other kings, containing abundance of gold and silver, with jewels, pearls, silk, and vast quant.i.ties of rich stuffs of all kinds, which are only considered as moveables or merchandize; and from foreign commerce they derive ivory, frankincense, copper in bars, tortoise sh.e.l.l, and unicorns horns, with which they adorn their girdles. Of animals they have abundance, particularly of beasts of burden; such as oxen, horses, a.s.ses, and camels; but they have no Arabian horses. They have an excellent kind of earth, of which they make a species of ware equal in fineness to gla.s.s, and almost equally transparent. When merchants arrive at Canfu, the Chinese seize their cargoes, which they convey to warehouses, where the goods are detained six months, until the last merchant s.h.i.+p of the season has arrived; they then detain three parts in ten of every species of commodity, or thirty per cent as duty, and return the rest to the merchants. Besides which, if the emperor has a mind for any particular article, his officers have a right of taking it in preference to any other person, paying for it, however, to the utmost value; and they dispatch this business with great expedition, and without the least injustice. They commonly take the whole importation of camphor, on the account of the emperor, and pay for it at the rate of fifty _fakuges_ per _man_, each fakuge being worth a thousand _falus_, or pieces of copper coin. When it happens that the emperor does not take the camphor, it sells for half as much again.

The Chinese do not bury their dead till the day twelve months after their decease; but keep them all this time in coffins in some part of their houses, having previously dried them by means of quicklime. The bodies of their kings are embalmed with aloes and camphor. They mourn during three whole years, and whoever transgresses this law is punished with the bamboo, a chastis.e.m.e.nt to which both men and women are subjected, and are at the same time reproached for not shewing concern for the death of their parents. They bury their dead in deep pits, much like those in use among the Arabs. During all the time that the dead body is preserved in the house, meat and drink are regularly set before it every evening; and if they find these gone in the morning, they imagine that the dead have consumed all; and all this time they cease not from bewailing their loss, insomuch, that their expences upon these occasions, in paying the last duties to their deceased relations, are exorbitant, and often consume their wealth and estates, to the utter ruin of the living. In former times, they buried very rich apparel, and those expensive girdles already mentioned, with the bodies of their kings, and others of the blood royal; but this custom is now discontinued, because it has happened that the bodies have been dug up from their graves by thieves, for the sake of what was buried with them. The whole nation, great and small, rich and poor, are taught to read and write. The t.i.tles of their viceroys or governors, are varied according to the dignity and rank of the cities under their government.

Those of the smaller cities are called _Tusing_, which signifies the governor of a town. Those of the greater cities, such as Canfu, are stiled _Difu_, and the eunuch or lieutenant is stiled _Tukam_. These lieutenants are selected from among the inhabitants of the cities. There is also a supreme judge called _Laks.h.i.+ma-makvan_, and they have other names for other officers, which we do not know how properly to express.

A person is never raised to the dignity of a prince, or governor of a city, until he has attained to his fortieth year; for then they say he has acquired experience. When one of these princes or viceroys holds his court, in the city of his residence, he is seated on a tribunal, in great state, and receives the pet.i.tions or complaints of the people; having an officer called _Lieu_, who stands behind the tribunal, and indorses an answer upon the pet.i.tion, according to the order of the viceroy; for they null no applications but what are in writing, and give all their decisions in the same manner. Before parties can present their pet.i.tions to the viceroy, they must be submitted to the proper officer for examination, who sends them back if he discovers any error; and no person may draw up any of those writings which are to be presented to the viceroy, except a clerk versant in business, who must mark at the bottom that it is written by such a man, the son of such a man: And if the clerk is guilty of any error or mistake, he is punished with the bamboo. The viceroy never seats himself on his tribunal until he has eaten and drank, lest he should be mistaken in some things; and he receives his subsistence from the public treasury of the city over which he presides. The emperor, who is above all these princes or petty kings, never appears in public but once in ten months, under the idea that the people would lose their veneration for him if he shewed himself oftener; for they hold it as a maxim, that government can only subsist by means of force, as the people are ignorant of the principles of justice, and that constraint and violence are necessary to maintain among them the majesty of empire.