the southern, eastern, or western shores, it is impossible, we are told, for the imagination to picture any thing more magnificent or delightful. In the interior the forests abound in a vast profusion of birds; many of which are still unknown. There, also, are the largest elephants in the world; and the soil produces enough to satisfy, even to abundance, not only all the wants and necessities of savage, but even that of polished life, if adequately valued. Its harbour of Trincomallee is almost unequalled. Important for its cinnamon, pearls, and elephants, and commanding, as its does, the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel, it may well be styled the key to India. But Nature has, in a measure, contrasted these advantages by loading the island with almost every description of insect and reptile;—from the spider to the cobra capella, and boa-constrictor.

a

The MALDIVE islands deserve some notice, because the Madras System of Education seems to have originated amongst them: but they have little beside to distinguish them from their neighbours.

BATAVIA is as beautiful, as a mere plain can be rendered; but the climate being pestilential, and the water poisonous, it forms at once “a garden and a grave” A young man coming out of his ship, after a long voyage, was so enraptured with the general appearance of this settlement, that he exclaimed, “surely this is an abode for the immortals!" Three weeks after his arrival, he died! The malignity of

"Pour apprendre à escrire à leurs enfans, ils ont des planches de bois faites exprès, bien polies et bien unies, et estendent dessus du sable fort menu et fort délié, puis avec un poinçon ils font les lettres, et les font imiter, effaçans à mesure qu'ils ont escrit, n'usant point en cela de papier."-Pyrard de Laval (A. D. 1614).—From a passage in Thunberg (vol. iii. p. 124), it would seem that this system was not unknown in some parts of Japan. Poiret, also, relates, that in Barbary he found a public school, in which children were taught to write on a board, covered with white varnish, on which letters were traced with a reed. They washed their tables and began again.-Voy. en Barbarie, 1789.

b Stavorinus, vol. iii. p. 403, in notis.

the Batavian climate has, however, of late years been considerably mitigated.

JAVA, of which Batavia forms a part, is remarkable for its variety of vegetation; indicating Nature, as it were, in her youngest beauty: and, unlike all other tropical islands, is abundant in water. It is, indeed, a magnificent island! The soil, in many parts, resembles the rich garden mould of Europe; and, when exposed to inundation, bears one heavy and one light crop every year. From the tops of the mountains to the sea-shore it possesses six distinct climates, each of which furnishes an indigenous botany. There is not a plant upon the globe, that could not be cultivated in Java: and its indigenous fruits are equal to those of any continent. On the cliffs are edible swallows; and in the forests, peacocks, stags, and two distinct species of deer: to which must, however, be added jackals, several species of the tiger, leopards, wild dogs, and the rhinoceros. This island was taken from the Dutch in 1811; and, under the able administration of Sir Thomas Raffles, raised in a short time to a greater degree of prosperity, than any other colony in the Indian Seas. Soon after the peace, however, it was re-delivered to the Dutch authorities.

SUMATRA is an island, recently discovered to be rich. During an excursion into its interior, Sir Thomas Raffles found gold, cassia, and camphor. To his astonishment, also, he discovered it to be exceedingly populous; highly cultivated ; and peopled with a fine athletic race of men. The country, too, is magnificent; being varied by rocks and mountains, some of which are 6000 feet high, frequently covered with trees, even to their summits. Over this island birds of paradise are said to float in "aromatic air." Their flight extends over most of the Spice Islands; but New Guinea is their native land. When first seen, they seem as if they descend from heaven. They live on butterflies and nutmegs, and fly in the upper regions of the air. In a high wind, they croak

like ravens ; and in their flight resemble starlings. At night, Sir Thomas and his lady slept covered with the leaves of trees. "She was the sign of amity put forth," says the journalist; "and, under the influence of her beauty, treaties of peace and commerce were concluded with the native princes."

BORNEO has a brilliant sky, and a hot climate:—its state of intellectual progress may be estimated, in some degree, by the following circumstance. Two Portuguese ambassadors a being sent to the king of this country for the purpose of making a treaty of commerce, among other presents, exhibited a piece of tapestry, representing the marriage of Catharine of Arragon with Henry VIII. of England. When the king saw these figures, he was alarmed; believing them to be real personages enchanted into the canvass, for the purpose of depriving him of his kingdom. The Portuguese explained the nature of this tapestry; but to no effect: the king ordered them immediately to depart: as he had no inclination, he said, to see any other monarch in Borneo, than himself.

BALI has a soil and climate similar to those of Java, from which it is not far distant; and may, possibly, at some remote era, have been severed by an earthquake. Shut out from foreign commerce by the nature of its coast, the inhabitants have manners, customs, and habits, more original than either Java or Sumatra. To strangers they appear unceremonious, and even repulsive; but, on a more intimate intercourse, these rough manners are perceived, not to proceed from abstraction to their own concerns, but from an undisguised frankness of nature. The female character is said to have a beauty and a dignity, almost unknown in any other island, or continent, of the East. They have kindly affections; and are extremely partial to their relatives. The parents are mild in the exercise of their authority; and their children, as a natural consequence, are docile and affectionate. They are addicted

* Joao de Barros, 4th Decade, b. i. ch. 17; Trans. vol. iv. part i. p. 107.

to gambling; but inebriety and conjugal infidelity are unknown to them. They have a great respect for age and learning; and are free from the listless indolence of other eastern nations. But, even here, the tincture of a barbarous state exhibits itself; for, like the negroes of the Gold Coast of Guinea a, they use no milk; and the burning of widows is far from being unfrequent b. They are divided into four castes; having much of the Hindoo, not only in religion, but in manners. Rice is their principal sustenance; but the mountaineers live, almost entirely, on maize and sweet potatoes. They employ oxen for ploughing, and women reap; but they do no other office of husbandry. In 1816, the population was about eight hundred thousand. Some years since, the slave trade was carried on in this island: when all insolvent debtors, prisoners of war, thieves, and those who attempted to emigrate, for the purpose of eluding the laws, were sold to slavery.

In the island of CELEBES, which is well watered, the climate is salubrious; it has one mountain, the Boutain, which is 8,500 feet above the level of the sea. The inhabitants procure subsistence without much exertion. Marriages are early; polygamy is allowed; and women are held in more esteem than, in polygamous countries, they generally are. It is, indeed, said to be more difficult to procure a wife than a husband. The peasantry are bold, and have a spirit of independence and enterprise; while no little pride of ancestry and chivalry distinguishes the higher orders: but many of their customs are barbarous in the highest degree. Thus, they eat the blood and the flesh of animals raw; and one of their favourite dishes consists of the heart and liver of a deer, cut into pieces, and mixed raw with the warm blood. In respect to their ferocity, it may be sufficient to instance, that it has several times occurred, that, after they have slain an

a Bosman, p. 226, ed. 1721.

b Crawford's Communications to Sir S. Raffles, Appendix, p. ccxxxix.

enemy, they have cut out the heart, and eaten it while it was warm. The slave trade, too, exists in its most odious form; one of the chief sources of the Rajah's revenue consisting in the sale of his subjects.

The COREAN ARCHIPELAGO affords the most picturesque views in the world. For a hundred miles, ships sail among islands, which lie, in immense clusters, in every direction, varying in size, from a few hundred yards to five or six miles in circumference. The sea is generally smooth; the air temperate; and the natives are frequently observed, sitting in groups, watching ships as they pass. The valleys are cultivated, and objects perpetually changing. When Captain Hall was in this archipelago, he counted no less than 130 islands from the deck of his ship, presenting forms of endless variety. Many of those islic clusters are inhabited: the houses are built in valleys, almost entirely hid by hedges, trees, and creepers; but the natives are, in manners, cold and repulsive. They have many gardens; and on the sides of the hills are seen millet and a peculiar species of bean. The animals seen here, and at Loo-choo, are pigeons, hens, hawks, and eagles; crows are innumerable. Here are also cats, dogs, pigs, bullocks, and horses; butterflies, grasshoppers, spiders, snakes, and monkeys; and in pools, left by the tide, are numerous fish of various colours. The inhabitants, as before observed, are cold; while, not far distant, reside the Loo-choos, a people amiable and engaging to the last degree.

The heat of AFRICA is but little relieved, in any latitude of that great continent. At CONGO, the climate may be ascertained by the number of its flowers. There is scarcely a field that does not present a richer assemblage than the finest garden in Europe: the lilies, which grow in the woods and valleys, are exquisitely white, and of the most bewitching fragrance. Flowers, which grow single in other places, are here seen associating upon one stalk in clusters. Under the a Raffles' Hist. Java, Appendix E., vol. ii. p. clxxix.