polite to ‘tellicberry. They extend from Lat. 10° to 12° ¿o'
north, are low, and not to be feen farther than fix or feven
leagues. Thefe are fuppofed to be the illes intended by Ptolemy,
by the title of Infula Numero x-ix. but, in fait, they are
thirty-two, all of them fmall, and covered with trees, and rocky
on their fides, moftly a sif laid on a bottom of fand, attended with
reefs, and the channels between them are very deep; They are
commonly navigated by our fhips, in their way to the Perjian
Gulph, or the Red Sea. That called^ the ix f degree channel;
or the paffage between the moft Ibuthern o f the Laccadives, the
ifle of Malique, and that- called Mamala, or the viii. degree
channel, between the ifle o f Malique, and the molt northern
o f the Maldive illes,. are thofe which are in ufe. Each illand
has its name : Captain Gornwal fays, that called Calpmia has a
river, where fhips of two hundred tons may float and clean.
T h e principal tralfic o f thefe ifles, is in the products o f the
•coco trees, fech as the oil, the cables, and cordage; and in filh,
■which is dried and fent to the continent o f India, from whence
they get rice, &c. in return. They, alfo trade to Mafcat, in large
boats, and carry there the fame commodities, and bring back
Amotrgmse. dry and wet dates, and a little coffee. Ambergrife is found
often, floating off thefe illes. Hamilton mentions a piece in
poflelfion o f a certain Rajah, valued at £ . 1,250 fterling. It is
now generally fuppofed to be a mineral; CranJIed, at left, ranks
it among them : the belt is o f a grey color, is a flrong perfume*,
and is. alfo much ufed in medicine. It is highly, efteemed as a
cordial, and in nervous complaints; and, in extremities, is ad-
miniftered often as.a perfuafive to the foul not to quit its earthly
tenement..
. .... . ; t-J A Captain
A Captain Coffin, engaged in the fouthern or Guinea whale
filhery, found in a female fpermaceti whale, three hundred
and.iixty ounces o f ambergrife. This is faid not to be unufual,
but then it always is in fickl.y emaciated filhes. Thefe inftances
do not prove that it was the production of the fpermaceti
whale, the food o f which is /quids, or the fep ia : many of the
horny beaks were found adhering to the ambergrifej or im-
merfed in that foft fubftance. It. appears to me, that the
whales fometimes fwallow it, .that it difagrees with them* and
adts as a fort of poifon, bringing on a decay, and death ; and
that the parts o f the fepia found lodged in it, are the undiflblved
remains lodged in the ambergrife. Mr. Coffin ibid his prize at
nineteen ihillings and nine pence per ounce. This is related in.
Phil. Tranf. lxxxi; p..43,
M i d w a y between thefe ifles and thofe o f the Maldives, is Isle o r Mall,.
the ifle o f Malique, a fmall, low, and lolitary ipot, furrounded (^JE*
with breakers, feated in Lat. 8” 20' north. It is inhabited, and
dependent on a Rajah on the Malabar coaft. A large Ihallop
of twenty-two oars came off to a French India ihip in 177a:
among the people were three who appeared o f rank, and who
very politely offered their fervices to the European officer.
T h e Maldive iflands are to the ibuth o f the laft. They M a l d i v e
extend from north to fouth, inclining a little to the •fouth-eaft; IsLANDS'-
from Lat. 7° 25'to a little more than Lat; iV Thefe are the
moft Angular and numerous groups of ifles in the world:
From their number Ptolemy names them Infulce mccclx-xviii;
The Nubian Geographer calls thefe ifles Robaihat%
T h e .