named Oofoomee, through which Mr. Collie passed, preceded
by his guide, who warned the female part of tbe inhabitants ofhisap-
Igs;’ proach in order that they might get out ofhis way. His guide was de-
bghted when be directed his steps toward the ship, as he was very tired,
and even had a horse brought to him before be got to tbe beach. This
animal was eleven hands and a half in height, and would hardly have kept
a moderately tall person’s feet off the ground; but his guide, though
there was not much necessity for bracing his feet up very high,
obviated the possibility of this inconvenience by riding with his knees
up to his breast. Tbe stirrups were massy, and made of iron curiously
inlaid with brass, and shaped something like a clumsy Chinese shoe.
At Abbey Point he visited some sepulchres bewii out of the rock or
formed of natural caverns ; one of these happened to be partly open,
and be discerned four large red earthen jars, one of which was fortunately
broken, and e.xhibited its contents, consisting of bones of the human
skeleton.
In another excursion made by tbis gentleman to the north-east of
Potsoong, he visited a temple of Budh, situated in a romantic copse of
trees. The approach to it was along a path paved with coral slabs
partly overgrown with grass, and under an archway in the formation of
which art had been called in to the aid of nature. After resting a short
time in this romantic situation he descended the paved way, winding
among tall trees, among which was a species of erethrina of large growth,
and arrived at the house of a priest, who invited him to smoke and partake
of tea and rice. Three young boys were in tbe house, who, as well
as the priest, had their heads shaved according to the custom of the
priesthood in China.
By the 25tb May, we had completed the survey of the port, replenished
our water, received a little fresh stock, and obtained some
interesting astronomical and magnetical observations; the day of departure
was consequently near at hand. This event, after which many
anxious inquiries were made by the natives, W'as, I believe, generally
contemplated with pleasui-e on both sides; not that we felt careless
about parting with our friends, but we could not enjoy their society
without so many restrictions, and we were daily exposed to the tempta-
,17
ttoo 7ll '-
,1 , '
tion of a beautiful country without the liberty of exploring it that our -
situation very soon became extremely irksome. Tbe day of our de- . -------
parture, therefore, was hailed with pleasure, not only by ourselves but
1827.
by those to whom the troublesome and fatiguing duty had been assigned
of attending upon our motions: and they must moreover have
looked with suspicion on the operations of the survey that were daily
going forward, even had they not suspected our motives for putting into
their port.
I was very anxious before tbis day arrived to possess a set of the
pins that are worn by the natives in their hair, as they set so much
value upon these articles that none of the natives could be induced to
part with them. I begged An-yah would acquaint tbe mandarin with
my desire, and if possible, that he would procure me a s e t ; from tbe
conduct of tbe natives it appeared that these ornaments had some
other value attached to them besides that of their intrinsic worth, or
there would not have been so much difficulty in procuring them.
An-yah said he would certainly deliver my message to tbe mandarin,
and the next morning brought a set of the most inferior kind, made of
brass. As tbe mandarin had received some liberal presents from me, I
observed to An-yah that this conduct was ungenerous, and that I expected
a set made of silver; his opinion he said very much coincided
with mine, and that he would endeavour to have them changed, but the
following morning he came to me on shore and said—“ mandarin very
bad man, no give you silver kamesache: ” but An-yah, determined that
I should be gratified by having a set, had by some means succeeded in
procuring them for me, and presented them in bis own name. I rewarded
bis generous behaviour by making him a present of some cut
glass decanters and wine glasses, which are more esteemed in Loo Choo
even than a telescope.
On the 27tb w'e made preparations for weighing by hoisting our
sails, and An-yab, Shtafacoo, and Shayoon, who had been our constant
attendants, came off to take leave. These good people bad been
put to much trouble and anxiety on our account, and had so ingratiated
themselves with us that as tbe moment approached I really
believe tbe desire for our departure was proportionably lessened;