eastern nations, but they are kept in general ignorance by their rulers. The
higher classes are well instructed in the learning of China, whither the literati
and professional men, and especially the physicians, are sent to finish their
education. The literature, whatever they may possess, is derived from the
Chinese and Japanese.
The occupation of the Lew Chewans is chiefly agricultural, although they
have some little commerce with China and Japan, to which they send annu-
ally a few junks, which carry such articles of clothing and provisions as can
be spared, and bring back in exchange the productions of those countries.
They have apparently no currency of their own, but in spite of their protestations
to the contrary, they are evidently familiar with money, particularly with
the Chinese copper coin termed cash. Their manufactures are few, and consist
of sugar of a coarse kind, salt of an inferior quality, large vats for making
which are found extending along the bay of Napha, Sakee, a spirit distilled
from rice, cotton and grass cloth of rude texture, an inferior style of lacquered
ware, pottery, hair pins, junks, agricultural tools, and a limited variety of other
articles needed for their own simple life.
In the higher arts, the Lew Chewans have not made much progress,
although there are specimens among them of rude paintings and sculpture,
particularly of the latter, in the coarse figures of their idols, with which they
adorn their tombs and temples. In their architecture there is more evidence
of advance than in the other branches of the fine arts. The ruins of the castles
in the northern and southern parts of the island, and the structure of the
palace of Shui, with the various bridges, viaducts and roads throughout the
country, show considerable architectural skill. In the arches and massive
masonery of the fortresses, and walls of stone, there are marks, not only of
artistic design, but of skilful workmanship. Their town houses are all constructed
of wood, roofed with earthen tiles, surrounded with verandahs of
bamboo, and enclosed within high walls of coral. The cottages in the
country are generally thatched with rice straw, and surrounded by either stone
walls or bamboo picket fences, within which there is not only the house, but
the usual farmer’s concomitants of stable, pig pen, and poultry hutch. The
furniture is of the simplest kind, consisting of thick mats spread upon the plmV
floor, upon which the natives sit crosslegged, a few stools, a table, and a
teapot with a supply of cups. The food of the people is simple, being mostly
rice and sweet potatoes. Animal food is but rarely used by the lowest
classes, and consists, when enjoyed, chiefly of pork. The higher ranks have a
more elaborate cookery, and succeed in spreading occasional banquets, which
were found quite appetising. A great variety of soups, with various sweetened
confections, and vegetable concoctions of different kinds, are the chief
elements of the recherché Lew Chewan cuisine of the best tables.
The Lew Chewans are a hard-working people, and enjoy but little relaxation
from labor. They have certain festivals, but of not frequent occurrence,
for the celebration of religious and national holidays. Of their amusements
little oould be observed, although it was inferred from the existence of large
level spaces, handsomely bordered with spreading pines, in the neighborhood
of the towns and villages, apparently adapted for racing, wrestling and other
athletic sports, that the Lew Chewans occasionally indulge in such exercises
and amusements. In the markets there are frequently found for sale certain
large balls, adorned with bright colored threads, supposed to be used in a
game like that of our football.
Captain Basil Hall, in his interesting but not very authentic account of
the Lew Chewans, states that they were unacquainted with war; and in
relating, during an interview with Napoleon, at St. Helena, his experiences
of travel, startled, that great soldier with this unique characteristic of the
Lew Chewans, which drew from him, as he shrugged his shoulders, the remark,
“ No wars; it is impossible!” Hall’s statement would seem to be
confirmed by the apparent absence of all arms or ammunition, or even the
rudest weapons of attack and defence, such as bows and arrows. The ruins
of fortresses and the walled defences of Shui, however, seem to indicate that
the island has not always enjoyed this blessed condition of peace, and the
Japanese histories record the fact of ancient intestine and foreign wars.*
The government of Lew Chew seems to be an absolute despotism, witb a
system of administration like that of Japan, to which the island is tributary.
The present king is said to be a youth of some eleven years of age, under the
immediate personal guardianship of a queen mother, while his government,
during the minority, is delegated to a regency, composed of a regent and
three chief officers, entitled pe-cMngs or treasurers. As the policy of the
government is to keep all foreigners in an absolute ignorance of its character,
and as every kind of deception is resorted to for the purpose, it is difficult
to acquire a full knowledge of its nature. The very existence of a young
king is doubted, since from the time of the visit of Basil Hall, nearly forty
years ago, to that of Commodore Perry, the same story has been told about
the minority of the ruling prince, and unless he is endowed with perpetual
childhood, or there has been a succession of juvenile kings, it is difficult to
reconcile the experiences of the various travellers who have visited Lew Chew
in the long intervals of scores of years. The literati, as in China and Japan,
* Our well known and deservedly distinguished countryman, Doctor John W. Francis,
of New York, knew Captain Basil Hall personally, while he was in the United States, and
has furnished the compiler with the following memorandum : “ On the occasion of an assemblage
of literary men, at some entertainment given to Captain Hall, inquiries were
put hy several of the gentlemen as to the literal accuracy of various circumstances related
by the Captain in his hook on Lew Chew. They wished to know whether they were to
understand his statements literally. In my hearing, he made this general remark, hy way
of answer to all these interrogatories: 1 If I were to rewrite the hook, I should make of it.
a different story.’ ”