CHAPTER XI .
Changes a t Napha. New Regent.—Banquet on board of the Susquehanna.—Excessive dignity of the new
Regent—Stateliness o f Lew Chawans thawed out by the Dinner.—Guests sent Home.—Bamboo T illage.
Interior of Lew Chew'Houses.—Men Indolent—Gossipping at Lew Chew.—Lew Chew Loom.
—Different classes of the People.—Their fear of Spies.—Slavery of Peasants.—Causes of Degradation.
—Excellence of Agricultural Cultivation.—Origin of Population of Lew Chew.—Former Kingdoms
v on the Island.—Relation of Lew Chew to China and Japan, respectively.—Education in Lew Chew.—
' Religion of the Inhabitants.—Christian Mission in Lew Chew.—Distinction of Dress.—People sell
themselves as Slaves.—Clanship.—Coin in Lew Chew.—Sugar Making.—Natural Products of the
Island.
HEN the squadron returned to Napha,
on the 23d of June, it was found that
a new regent had been installed. The
old occupant, who had so pertinaciously
striven to prevent the Commodore’s
visit to Shui, and who had also so bountifully
entertained our countrymen at
his own habitation, had, it was said,
been deposed. I t was difficult to ascertain
with certainty the causes of this
degradation; hut it was not to he
douhted that, if true, it was in some
mode connected with the presence of
our ships at Napha, and probably resulted from the admission of the Commodore
and his suite into the royal residence at Shui. I t was not a pleasant
reflection to the officers that they should have been, however innocently, the
cause of the poor old man’s degradation; and it seemed hard to understand
why their visit should have led to more serious consequences than those
produced by that of the officers of H. B. M. ship Sphynx to the same place.
At first, it was rumored that the old regent had been obliged to perform the
hara-kiri, or disembowelling operation; but the painful feelings produced
by this intelligence were happily relieved by the sight of the old man in his
house at Shui, by two of the officers of the Susquehanna. Dr. Bettelheim
(who did not seem to feel any pity for the degraded dignitary) stated that