panese fitted out a fleet at Satsuma, made a descent on Lewchew, took the king prisoner, and carried him off, having plundered the palace, and killed one of his near relations, who also resisted the acknowledgment of the Japanese. During a captivity of two years, Chang-ning acquired the admiration of the captors by his unyielding firmness and constancy in refusing to swerve from his first allegiance, and they generously sent him back to his states. "The Tartar dynasty, soon after this, was placed, by conquest, on the throne of China, and made some alteration in the nature of the tribute to be paid, stipulating that envoys, in future, should be sent to Pekin only once in two years. Cang-hi paid much attention to the welfare of Lewchew; and his memory to this day is much respected by the people. It is said to be nearly a thousand years since the bonzes of the sect of Fo introduced their mode of worship into these islands, which has continued to the present time. "When they make a vow, it is not before the statues or images of their idols; but they burn incense, and, placing them.selves in a respectful attitude before certain consecrated stones, which are to be seen in various public situations, they repeat some mysterious words, said to have been dictated by the divine daughters of Omomey-kieou. They have also among them a set of holy women, who worship certain spirits deemed powerful among them, and who visit the sick, give medicines, and recite prayers. This seems to have given rise to the accusation of an old missionary at Japan, who said they practised sorcery and witchcraft. Cang-hi likewise introduced among them the adoration of a new deity, under the name of Tien-fey, or Celestial Queen. Polygamy is allowed here, as in China, but seldom practised. Men and women of the same surname cannot intermarry. The king can only take a wife from one of three great families, who always hold the most distinguished posts: there is also a fourth, of the highest consideration, but with which the princes cannot form an allance, because it is doubtful whether that family is not itself of the royal line. Their chiefs are generally hereditary, but not always; for men of merit are promoted, and all are liable to be degraded for improper conduct. The king s revenue arises from his own domains; from imposts on salt, sulphur, copper, tin, and several other articles; and from this income he defrays the expenses of the state, and the salaries of the great officers. "These salaries consist nominally in a certain number of bags of rice; but they are paid generally in silks, and various other necessary articles of clothing and food, in proportions equal to the value of so many bags of that grain. All their interior com→ merce or marketing is performed by the women and girls at regulated times. They carry their little loads upon their heads with singular dexterity, consisting of the usual necessaries of life and wearing apparel, which they exchange for what they more immediately want, or for the copper coin of China and Japan. The men are said to be neat workmen gold, silver, copper, and other metais; and there are manufactones of silk, cotton, flax, and paper. They also build very good vessels, quite large enough to undertake voyages to China and Japan, where their barks are much esteemed. They have adopted the Chinese calendar with respect to the division of the month and wear. This island produces rice, warat, and all sorts of vegetables, in abundance. The people of the roast are expert fishermen, and the sea and rivers are well furnished with fish. They are famous evers, and obtain shells and mother-of-pearl, very much esteemed in China and Japan. "I hey possess many woods proper for dying; and one tree in partalar yields an oil which is held is great repute. They have likew.se a great variety of most delicate fruits, oranges, citrons, lelong-y-ven, lee-tchees, grapes, &c. Wolves, tigers, and bears, are unknown; but they have many useful animals, such as horses, water-dogs, black catthe stags, poultry, geese, peacock*, pigeons, doves, &c. ** I he camphor, cedar, and ebomv, are among the number of their trees; and they have also wood well fitted for ship-building, and for punde edifices. They are represented as disdaining slavery, iving, and cheating. They are food of games and amusements, and celebrate, with much pomp, the worship of their idols, at the end and commencement of the year: and there exists much union among the branches of families, who give frequent and cheerful entertainments to each other." The dress of these people is as remarkable for its simplicity as it is for its elegance. The hair, which is of a glossy black, (black anointed with an oleaginous substance, obtained from the leaf of a tree,) is turned up from before, from behind, and on both sides, to the crown of the head, and there tied close down; great care being taken that all should be perfectly smooth; and the part of the hair beyond the fastening, or string, being now twisted into a neat little top-knot, is there retained by two fasteners, called camesashee and usisashee, made either of gold, silver, or brass, according to the circumstances of the wearer; the former of these having a little star on the end of it, which points forward. This mode of hair-dressing is practised with the greatest uniformity, from the highest to the lowest of the males, and has a very pleasing effect, whether viewed singly, or when they are gathered together. At the age of ten years the boys are entitled to the usisashee, and at fitteen they wear both. Except those in office, who wear only a cap on duty, they appear to have no covering for the head, at least in fine weather. Interiorly, they wear a kind of shirt, and a pair of drawers, but over all a loose robe, with white sleeves, and a broad sash round their middle. have sandals on their feet, neatly formed of straw; and the higher orders have also white gaiters, coming above the ancle. The quality of their robes depends on that of the individual.—The superior classes wear silk of various hues, with a sash of contrasting colour, sometimes interwoven with gold.-The lower orders make use of a sort of cotton stuff, generally They of of a chesnut colour, and sometimes striped, or spotted blue and white. There are nine ranks of grandees, or public officers, distinguished by their caps; of which we observed four.-The highest noticed was worn by a member of the royal family, which was of a pink colour, with bright yellow lozenges. The next in dignity was the purple; then plain yellow; and the red seemed to be the lowest. On the female attire we could make but little observation.-The higher ranks are said to wear (and some indeed were seen with) simply a loose flowing robe, without any sash; the hair either hanging loose over the shoulders, or tied up over the left side of the head, the ends falling down again. The lower orders seemed to have petticoats scarcely deeper than a Highlander's kilt, with a short, but loose habit above. One lady, who very frequently promenaded at the nearest village, in front of the ships, appeared to have her robe richly embroidered. The island of Lewchew itself is situate in the happiest climate of the globe. Refreshed by the seabreezes, which, from its geographical position, blow over it at every period of the year, it is free from the extremes of heat and cold, which oppress many other countries; whilst from the general configuration of the land, being more adapted to the production of rivers and streamlets than of bogs or marshes, one great source of disease in the warmer latitudes has no existence: and the people seemed to enjoy robust health; for we observed no diseased objects, nor beggars of any description, among them. The verdant lawns and romantic scenery of Tinian and Juan Fernandez, so well described in Anson's Voyage, are here displayed in higher perfection, and on a much more magnificent scale; for cultivation is added to the most enchanting beauties of nature. From a commanding height above the ships, the view is, in all directions, picturesque and delightful. On one hand are seen the distant islands, rising from a wide expanse of ocean, whilst the clearness of the water enables the eye to trace all the coral reefs, which protect the anchorage immediately below. To the south is the city of Napafoo, the vessels at anchor in the harbour, with their streamers flying; and in the intermediate space appear numerous hamlets scattered about on the banks of the rivers, which meander in the valley beneath; the eye being, in every direction, charmed by the varied hues of the luxuriant foliage around their habitations of Kint-ching, the capital city, Turning to the east, the houses built in their peculiar style, are observed, opening from among the lofty trees which surround and shade them, rising one above another in gentle ascent to the summit of a hill, which is crowned by the king's palace: the intervening grounds between Napafoo and Kint-ching, a distance of some miles, being ornamented by a continuation of villas and country houses. To the north, as far as the eye can reach, the higher land is covered with extensive forests. About half a mile from this eminence, eminence, the traveller is led by a foot-path to what seems only a little wood; on entering which, under an archway formed by the termingling branches of the opprite trees, he passes along a serpentine labyrinth, intersected at short distances by others. Not far from each other, on either side of these walks, small wicker doors are observed, on opening any of which, he is surprised by the appearance of a court-yard and buse, with the children, and all the usual cottage train, generally gambling about; so that, whilst a man fancies himself in some lonely and sequestered retreat, he , in fact, in the middle of a popilous, but invisible village. Nature has been bountiful in all her gifts to Lewchew: for sach is the felicity of its soil and cirmate, that productions of the vegetable kingdom, very distinct in their nature, and generally fund in regions far distant from each other, grow here side by side. It is not merely, as might be expected, the country of the orange and the lime; but the banyan of Iisa and the Norwegian fir, the tra-plant, and sugar-cane, all Bourish together. In addition to many good qualities, not often fand combined, this island can al- boast its rivers and secure harbours; and last, though not rast, a worthy, a friendly, and a happy race of people. I hese islanders are represented as being remarkable for their honesty and adherence to truth, and to this character they appear to be fully entitled. The chiefs informed us that there was little probability of their stealing any thing, but, as iron implements were a great temptation, they begged that none might be left carelessly about.-Although, however, the rope machinery and other articles remained, for many nights, unguarded on the beach, and their opportunities on board were numberless, yet not one theft occurred during the whole of our sojourn among them. That proud and haughty feeling of national superiority, so strongly existing among the common class of British seamen, which induces them to hold all foreigners cheap, and to treat them with contempt, often calling them outlandish lubbers in their own country, was, at this island, completely subdued and tamed by the gentle manners and kind behaviour of the most pacific people upon earth. Although completely intermixed, and often working together, both on shore and on board, not a single quarrel or complaint took place on either side during the whole of our stay; on the contrary, each succeeding day added to friendship and cordiality. Notwithstanding it was an infringement of their established rules for strangers to land upon their coasts, yet they granted every possible indulgence, and conceded the point as far as they could; for their dispositions seeined evidently at war with the unsocial law. When any of the officers wandered into the country beyond the bounds prescribed, they were never rudely repulsed, as in China or Morocco, but mildly entreated to return, as a favour to those in attendance, lest they should incur blame; and, as this appeal was powerful, it was never disregarded. They erected little temporary brunboo bamboo watch-houses or sheds, where those engaged in this duty resided; and, as we wandered about, handed us over from one post to another. In these houses they always pressed the officers to partake of their fare, which was often very good, especially a kind of hung beef which they have the art of curing extremely well. They appeared to be much accustomed to these pic-nic sort of parties, having a small japanned box, containing sliding drawers for the various viands, which a boy generally carried, on the end of a bamboo, to any part of the fields where they thought proper to dine. One man, very often accompanied by Geroo, or (as he was sometimes termed, from having a constant smile upon his countenance) the laughing mandarin, seemed to carry about with him a constant supply of these refreshments, and chazzi, a liqueur, which led us to believe that he had been deputed for the express purpose of paying attention to our officers. The sudden vicissitudes of weather to which we had been exposed, by leaving England during extreme cold, and passing suddenly into the torrid zone; then immediately afterwards into the cold raw climate of the southern Atlantic; meeting with heat again at the Cape of Good Hope; then crossing in rather a high latitude the chilly Southern Ocean; and, quickly following that appearing on the burning coast of Java; might, in fact, be said to have exposed us, in the short period of four months, to the effects of three summers and three winters; and proved as might naturally be supposed, ex tremely trying to the health of the men. On our arrival at Lewchew, our cases of sickness, though not numerous, were severe; and to the kindness of the natives may, in a great measure, be attributed their recovery. They were not only comfortably lodged, but the higher class of people daily attended, inquiring into their wants, giving additional coogas or eggs, and other delicacies, to those whose cases more particularly required them, and paying a cheering attention to the whole; for theirs was a substantial, not a cold or ostentatious charity. Captain Maxwell, in riding one morning to inspect the progress of the artificers, by the stumbling of his horse, which fell among the rocks, not only fractured the bone, but badly dislocated the joint of his fore-finger. Some of his Lewchewan friends, who were near him, ran to the next village for one of their surgical professors. He soon arrived, and, after much salutation, proceeded to examine the injury, (the dislocation had in the interim been reduced by the coxswain pulling upon it,) and stated that he would come on board the ship, whither the captain was then proceeding, in an hour, with the applications he thought necessary for it. At the time appointed, one of the chiefs, with this surgeon, and another more in the character of a physician, and their retinue, some of them bearing a medicinechest, made their appearance alongside. The injury being again examined, (and it having been previously decided that they were to have the management of the cure, under surveillance, in order to |