PACIFIC AND BEERING'S STRAIT. I43 



CHAPTER V. 



Appearance of Loo Clioo — Visits of the Natives — Deputation- 

 Permission given to land — Excursions into the Country — Disco- 

 ver Money in Circulation — Mandarin visits the Ship — Depar- 

 ture of a Junk with Tribute — Visit of the Mandarin returned — 

 Further Intercourse — Transactions of the Ship — Departure — 

 Observations upon the Religion, Manners, and Customs of the 

 People ; upon their Laws, Money, Weapons, and Punishments ; 

 their Manufactures and Trade — Remarks upon the Country, its 

 Productions and Climate — Directions for entering the Port — 

 Historical Sketch of the Kingdom of Loo Choo. 



Loo Choo from the anchorage presents a very agree- 

 able landscape to the admirers of cjuiet scenery. The 

 land rises with a gradual ascent from the sea-coast to 

 something more than five hundred feet in height, and in 

 almost every part exhibits a delightful picture of indus- 

 try. The appearance of formality is just removed by a 

 due proportion of hill and valley, and the monotonous 

 aspect of continued cultivation is broken by rugged 

 ground, neatly executed cemeteries, or by knots of trees 

 which mingle the foliage of the tenjperate zone with 

 the more graceful vegetation of the tropics. The most 

 remarkable feature is a hill named Sumar, the summit 

 of which commands a coup-d'oeil of all the country 

 round it, including the shores of both sides of the 

 island. Upon this hill there is a town apparently of 

 greater importance than Napa, called Shui or Shoodi, 



