“ Toe, in the ftreights o f Sunda, the caverns o f which are lined
“ with the nefts, but .no where in greater abundance than about
“ Creee, near the fouth end o f Sumatra, four miles up a river of
“ that name ; but they are not peculiar to the above places ; for
“ they are likewife common from Java to Cochin-China on the
“ north, and from the point of Sumatra weft, where it is called
“ Layung, to TsTeko Guinea on the eaft, where thè fea is faid to be
*' covered with a vifcous fnbftance like half melted glue, which
11 the bird is fuppofed either to take up from the furface with its
“ bill during flight, or to pick it from the rocks when left there
“ by the waves.
cf T h é belt nefts, or thofe of a pure white, and free from
“ mixture, fell in China from 1,000 to 1,500 dollars the picle, the
18 black and dirty ones for only twenty dollars. The laft are
“ fuppofed to arife from age, mixed with dirt, or feathers ; and
“ the gatherers beat down all the black ones they can get at, in
“ hopes that, from-the neGeflity o f the birds making frelh nefts,
“ they may meet with the more valuable ones at the next gathering.
It is faid, that the Dutch alone export from Batavia
88 1,000 picles o f thefe nefts .every yqar, which are brought from
“ the ìfles ó f Cochin-China, and thofe lying to the eaft Qf them.
“ Among our Eaft India imports, it is much to be wondered,
“ that, among other luxuries imported by us from the Eaft, the
“ ufe o f thefe nefts ihould not have found a way to our tables ;
88 as yet being To fcarce in England, as to be kept as rarities in
** the Cabinets o f colle ¿tors.”
Whay, the T h e king relides generally at Whay, in Lat. 16° 48' north,
K i n g ’s C o u r t . a £> J J
* about
about twenty-five miles from the fea, on a river navigable for
veffels o f fifty or fixty tons up to the city; but the bar has on
it at low water only four feet. The city is extenfive; the palace
a large fquare, the ftreets near it wide, long, and regular; the
reft o f the city confifts o f ftraggling houfes; feveral branches
o f the river meet here; every family keeps its covered boat;
and there are numbers beiides kept for hire, for moft of the
conveyance is by water. It is a place o f great trade, both from
Kankao, and all parts of their own coafts.
T he celebrated M. Le Poivre was here in 1749, and appeared
at court with great fplendor *, bearing a letter from the king o f
France, and fome very paltry gifts for the Cochin-Chinefe monarch.
Le Poivre was too open, and boafted fo much o f his
Grand Monarque, that his veracity was called in queftion, and
in the end he and his countrymen forced to make a hafty
retreat.
T he government of Cochin-China is monarchical. It had once G o v e r n m e n t
> - . 1 o f C o c h in *
been a province to T o n q u i n , but was feparated from it in the C h i n a .
beginning o f the laft century. The ftory is differently related.
I refer the reader to Hamilton's account + o f the caufe
and manner: Le Poivre relates it differently ; yet both may he
right in the chief circumftances of the event. The ruling religion
is that o f the Chineje, not the pure and primaeval worihip
o f the Sbangti, the patriarchal religion ; but that o f China in its
corrupted lfate. Chriftianity (introduced by the Portuguefe
during the time o f their favor at the court of Cochin-China) got
ground for fome little time: mifiionaries were fent, churches
Oriental Repertory, 251, f Voi. ¡i*2xx.
erefted.