144 VOYAGE TO THE 



supposed both by Captain Hall and ourselves to be 

 the capital of Loo Choo. With our telescopes it ap- 

 peared to be surrounded by a wall, and it had several 

 flags (hattas) flying upon tall stafts. The houses were 

 numerous, but the view was so obstructed by masses 

 of foliage which grew about these delightful resi- 

 dences that w^e could form no estimate of their num- 

 bers. Upon a rise, a little above the site of the 

 other houses of the town, there was a large building 

 half obscured by evergreen trees, which some of us 

 imagined might be the residence of the king, who had 

 chosen so elevated a situation, In order to enjoy the 

 luxury of breathing a high current of air in a country 

 occasionally exposed to excessive heat. A rich carpet 

 of verdure sloping to the westw ard connects this part 

 of the landscape with the bustling town of Napa, or 

 Napa-ching,* of which we could see little more than a 

 number of red roofs turned up at the corners in Chi- 

 nese style, or at most only a few feet down the chu- 

 nammed walls which support them, in consequence of 

 a high wall surrounding the towni. To the right of 

 the town a long stone causeway stretches out into the 

 sea, w^ith arches to allow the water a free access to 

 the harbour at the back of it, and terminates in a 

 large square building with loop-holes. To this cause- 

 wav sixteen iunks of the larii:est class were secured: 

 some had prows formed in imitation of animals, and 



* Napa is decidedly the name of the village, and the words 

 ching and keang, which are occasionally subjoined, in all probabi- 

 lity are intended to specify whether it is the town, or the river 

 near it, that is intei ded; ching being in chinese language a town, 

 and kenns a river : and thou^-h these substantives are differently 

 expressed in Loo Choo, yet when thus combined, the Chinese ex- 

 pression may probably be used. 



