There is, however, such a vast difference in the circumstances
under which an European and the inhabitant of a
tropical climate are situated, that the former, who for the
first time finds himself among the latter, will be very apt to
fall into error in attempting to form a comparative estimate
of their respective conditions. To the one, fuel and clothing
and close and compact lodging are essential, not only to his
comfort, but to his existence; to the other, fire is of no
further use than a few embers to boil his rice, or to prepare
an offeiing to his god. For splendid and massy fabrics
neither his taste nor necessity incline him; and ¿lose thick
clothing, so far from being a comfort, would be to him the
most inconvenient of all incumbrances. Even the little which
he occasionally finds it expedient to use he frequently throws
aside, for where nakedness is no disgrace, he can at all
times, and in all places, accommodate his dress to his feelings
and his circumstances, without offence to others or embarrassment
to himself; an advantage which is denied to the
European.
Although we had neither expected to meet with an extensive
city nor magnificent palaces, in the vicinity of Turon
bay» yet as this spot was known to have been anciently the
chief mart for the trade of this country with China and
Japan, we felt rather disappointed on finding a few villages
only, in the largest of which the number of houses did
not exceed one hundred, and these chiefly thatched cottages.
That it had suffered considerably from the late revolutions
was evident from the ruins of larger and better buildings
than any which now appeared, and from the inequalities
of surface indicating a former existence of walls and forts,
and which, by our officer’s account who was taken prisoner,
were still more visible and extensive at Fai-Jbo ;■ from the remains,
also, of gardens and plantations of fruit trees and
flowering shrubs, that were now run into, wildernesses : but no
traces appeared to indicate former opulence, or convey-the
impression of fallen magnificence. I t is true, the vestiges of
Oriental cities, when suffered to fall into decay, soon disappear.
Their best houses, limited to a single story, constructed
generally of wood or of bricks that have been dried only in
the sun, Require an unrematted attention to preserve them
from mouldering into dust. Their city walls, constructed of
light and imperfect materials, soon crumble into heaps of
ruins, and are buried under a rapid and vigorous vegetation:
The system on which their city walls are built is. but- ill calculated
for duration. The mass of loose, earth heaped in the
middle has a constant tendency to. push, out the brick or
stone casing which, tumbling’into the ditch, is lost in a few
years in the general surface. If the -great and populous city
of Pekin, the greatest and most populous perhaps-on the whole
globe, should by any accident be- deserted, many centuries
would1 not be-required to blot out every vestige of-its .situation.
I t is, therefore, the less surprizing-that, in the days of Alexander,
all traces of the supposed'magnificent palaces of. Troy
had disappeared ; and that the proud city of Babylon, once
the mistress of the world, should for so many, ages past have
been laid-prostrate in the dust..
The cottages of Turon- were in general snug and clean, and
sufficiently compact to protect, the inhabitants from the heat