pieces; and in.every corner gamesters were playing cards o r
throwing dice.. But that which most attracted our attention,
was a party of young men keeping up a shuttlecock in the air,
by striking it with the soles of the feet... Nothing, indeed,.,
could exceed the activity and energy of the men. of Cochin-
china. A seaman of the Lion, having quarrelled with one
of these people* insisted on making a ring and boxing it
fairly out. While the sailor: was squaring his arms and
maneeuvring and looking for the exact spot where he should
hit his antagonist a knock-down blow, the Cochinchinese,,
while grinning in his face, very coolly turned up his heel'
and, giving him a hard and totally unexpected kick in the-
jaw, walked away with great composure, leaving the astonished
sailor to the laughter, and merriment of the crowd.
Active as they were in the use of their feet, their manual;
dexterity was not less remarkable. Jugglers and conjurors-
and posture-makers were exercising their respective arts for
the amusement of the crowd, and for their own advantage; and>,
we found to our cost that those who did not openly, practise
juggling as a profession were equally as expert in the art of,
picking pockets. Scarcely a day occurred in which some o f
the party did not return to the ships with the loss of pocket
handkerchiefs, an article for which they seemed to have a particular
liking. We found them all, from the highest to the
lowest, most importunate beggars, craving without the least
ceremony for every thing that might'suit their fancy ; . neither
were they satisfied with a simple denial, nor: with obtaining
what they asked, becoming generally more urgent in their
demands in proportion to the liberality of the giver; and
what they could not obtain by begging they usually endeavoured
to procure by stealing. They had not even the
Spartan virtue of blushing at detection; nor did it appear
that they apprehended any punishment either for the theft or
the discovery of it. This disposition to stealing was so
general, that it was even found necessary to wateh narrowly
the officers of government who came on board the
ships.
In attempting to draw a very general sketch of the character
of this nation, I am not unaware of the risk I incur of
being drawn into error. To speak correctly of the manners and
opinions of foreign nations; to trace the motives of their actions
and the grounds of their prejudices; to examine the
effects produced on the temper and disposition of the people
by the civil and religious institutions; and to inquire into
their ideas of moral right and wrong, their notions of taste,
o f beauty, o f happiness, and many other subjects necessary
to be investigated before a thorough knowledge can be obtained
of their true character and real condition, require not
only a long residence in the country, but an intimate acquaintance
with all the various classes of society; and, after
all, an accurate portrait is hardly to be expected. What can
be more ridiculous than a Frenchman attempting to describe
English manners, or more preposterous than a German
dramatizing the English character ? There are, however,
certain strongly marked features which, prevailing in the mass
of the people, may safely be set down as national characteristics
; and from such only the few observations I have to
make-on the Cochinchinese were derived. Some of them,
q q 2