C A M 



279 



CAM 



Cunux, 

 C anil my. 



the most fertile and agreeable in the whole Arabian 

 Gulf. Great quantities of white coral, fish, and 

 pearl oysters, are obtained on the coast. Salt in also 

 made here, and a considerable number of cattle arc 

 reared. The inlanders carry to the coast of Arabia, 

 the dates, sugar, and millet, which a: d on 



the island. N. Lat. of the northern point 15 314', 

 N. Lat. of the southern point 1.0 IS', K. Long of 

 the centre of the island 42 W. See Ovin^ton's 

 Voyage to Surat, and the Chart of the Ko! S a in 

 Lord Valentia's Travels, vol. ii. (o) 



CAMAX, a genus of plants of the class Pen- 

 tandria, and order Monogynia. See BOTANY, p. 145. 

 CAMBAY, probably the ( 'dimities of Ptolemy, 

 is a city of Hindustan, in Gu/erat, situated about a 

 league from the gulf of the same name, upon the 

 north bank of the river Canari, Catari, or Myhie. 

 This city is enclosed with a strong wall, about five 

 miles in circuit, in which there are 12 gates. The 

 streets, which are very large, have separate gates at 

 the entrance of each, and these are shut every night. 

 The houses, which are well built, are chiefly of stone, 

 brick, or marble; and the principal edifices of a 

 public nature, are the three bazars, and four cisterns, 

 by which the town is copiously supplied with wa- 

 ter in dry seasons. 



The sea formerly flowed to the city of Cambay, 

 and formed a commodious harbour, but it is now 

 fully half a league from the town, and large vessels 

 cannot approach nearer to it than within three or 

 four leagues. This cause, together with the violence 

 of the tides, which move with immense velocity, 

 and the numerous rocks in the Gulf of Cambay, have 

 contributed to the decline of its commerce. 



Cambay was formerly one of the largest and 

 richest cities of the East. It was called the 

 Cairo of the Indies, on account of the extent of 

 its commerce, and the fertility of its soil, which 

 produced cotton, opium, indigo, and many other 

 valuable articles of trade ; but though its com- 

 merce has suffered a great diminution, it is still very 

 considerable. The natives of the country, particu- 

 larly the Benjans, who devote themselves to commer- 

 cial pursuits, and who have a perfect knowledge of 

 precious stones, carry on a very extensive trade with 

 Diu, Goa, Cochin, Acheen, Bantam, Batavia, Ben- 

 gal, the coast of Coromandel, Persia, and the Red 

 Sea. As the Benjans, however, were unexperienced 

 sailors, their vessels were always managed by Dutch 

 pilots, whom they hired at a very high rate from the 

 Company. This city was frequented by merchant 

 vessels from every part of the East Indies, from Mo- 

 zambique, Melinda, and from the Arabian and Per- 

 sian gulfs. 



The principal articles exported from the country 

 were fine cotton cloths, canvass for the sails of ships, 

 silk bluffs of various kinds, scarfs for ladies head 

 dresses, carpets, bed covers of silk and cotton, mat- 

 tresses, indigo, saltpetre, borax, cummin, ginger, 

 rhubarb, sugar, oil, butter, elephants teeth, and 



numerous precious stones, which are found in Cu- 



i. Great quantities of grain and fruit* of dif- v 



i kinds were also shipped at Cambay for different 



.ast. East Long. 72 36', North Lat. 



OGE, CAMBOYA, CAMBOJA, CAMBODIA, 



the different iiarnei of a country in Asia, which now 

 forms a part of the empire of Tunkin. C-xnbogc 

 commences a little above the 9th degree of north la- 

 titude, and terminates at the 12th. It is bounded 

 on the east by Cochinchina and Tsiampa, Ciampa, 

 or Champa, on the west by the kingdom of .S 

 on the north by Laos, and on the south by Cu< 

 china. A perpendicular chain of mountain!, running 

 from north to south, separates Camboge, Lac-tho, 

 and Laos, from Cochinchina and Tunkin ; and ano- 

 ther chain of mountains, having nearly the same di- 

 rection, separates these three states from Siam and 

 China. This chain descends as it approaches the 

 south, and terminates at Cape Camboge, the most 

 southern part ot the empire of Tunkin. The river 

 Camboge, called Mecon, or Maykavmg, near its 

 mouth, and by some the Japanese river, takes its ori- 

 gin in this country. It waters Lower Cochiuchina, 

 and after passing by its capital, it throws itself into 

 the Chinese Sea on the south south east. This river 

 is one of the largest and finest in the country. At 

 a great distance from the sea, it is about two miles 

 broad, and is always so deep that the largest vessels 

 may navigate it about 20 miles up the country.* At 

 its embouchure, there are several sand banks and low 

 islands, which impede the navigation, but these may 

 be easily avoided. This river begins to inundate thie 

 country in June, and it is said to have a depth of 

 four fathoms at its mouth. At the distance of five 

 or six miles from the shore, the depth of the sea 

 was seldom greater than four fathoms, and no vessel 

 larger than a boat could approach within less than 

 two miles of the coast. 



The soil of Camboge is extremely fertile, but its 

 cultivation has been greatly neglected. It produces 

 abundance of corn, rice, legumes, sugar, indigo, 

 opium, camphire, and various medicinal plants, whose 

 names aid properties are not well known, but which 

 abound more in Camboge than in any of the adja- 

 cent states. The point of Camboge, and the while 

 coast stretching from it to the western branch of the 

 river, is exceedingly low, and is covered with under- 

 wood. The articles of trade exported from this 

 country, when it was visited by Bowyear in 1696, 

 were Camboge gum, benjamin, cardamoms, war, 

 kick neckarie, cayalaca, and Japan wood ; darner, 

 buffaloes hides, deer skins, and nerves ; elephant's 

 teeth, rhinoceros's horns. A considerable quantity 

 of gold is found in the neighbourhood of Nam: 

 a village situated at the extremity of the country, a 

 few days journey from the frontiers of Laos ; and 

 amethysts, hyacinths, rubies, topazes, and other pre- 

 cious stones, are found in different parts of Cam- 

 boge. The following passage from Mr Bowyear*s 



Y 1 



" A considerable way up the river a cataract is laid down by some map, which, if correct, must be an interruption to 

 the navigation upwards. However, I do not find any authentic account >f tlm Tail, nor indeed any at all of its height, M 

 that it is imposMble to >ay whether it will be a hindrance at all seasons, or only when the Waters are low." Dairympte'i 

 Oriental Repertory, vol. i. p. 67 



