c o c 



705 



C O C 



Cochin, and airy mansion fronting a large plain. The mainguard 

 Cochinchi- stands opposite to it, and on the left side are the bar- 



.^ ' racks for the governor's body guards. The church is a 

 "" Y "^ targe and oblong building. The fine cathedral, which 

 was built by the Portuguese, was employed by the 

 Dutch as a store-house, in which they kept the sugar 

 from Batavia, the cinnamon from Ceylon, together with 

 the nutmegs, cloves, iron, copper, cordage, rice, pepper, 

 and various other articles of merchandise, which they 

 sold to the native prince?. There is also here a city ho- 

 tel, annually farrried out by the goverment, where stran- 

 gers are provided with lodgings. Cochin has three 

 gates, one to the north, leading to the river, called the 

 Water Gate, another to the east called the New Gate, 

 and another to the west called the Bay Gate. 



Although Cochin is not fortified according to the rules 

 of art, it could only be taken by a regular siege. Ap- 

 proaches could only be made from the south, where 

 there is a dry and level plain ; for to the east, as far as 

 the river?, there are several morasses, which would great- 

 ly impede an attack from that quarter. The security 

 of the city would be much increased by destroying the 

 woods, which lie about a mile and a half south east from 

 the town, and also those which cover the southern part 

 of the island of Vaypi. The enemy would thus be de- 

 prived of the materials for constructing their batteries, 

 and for filling up the morasses and ditches in their way. 

 Coch'n was taken by the English in 1795. E. Long. 

 75 16' 15", and N. Lat. 9 56' 30". For further in 

 formation on this subject, see Baldzut's Description of 

 the Coasts of Malabar and Coromandel, p. Ill 136, 

 Amsterdam, 1672. Valentin'* Betcliryi-iiig i-an't tfe- 

 derlnndsck Cnniptoir op de Kusl van Milabar. Amst. 

 1726. Hamilton's New Account of the East Indies, 

 from 1668 to 1672, vol. i. and ii. p. 3'2I. and London, 

 1739. Bartolomeo's Voyage to the East Indies, p. 126, 

 130, &c. Stavorinus' Voyages to l/ie East Indies, vol. 

 ni. p. 228. Annales des Pot/ages par M. Make Brun. 

 vol. vi. p. 216. (*> 



touaiion. COCHINCHINA, a kingdom in Asia, extends from 

 about the 10th to the 20th degree of North Latitude, 

 and is bounded by the kingdom of Tonkin, or Tung- 

 qnin on the north ; by the gulf of Tung-quin, and the 

 Chinese sea, on th east ; by the Indian ocean on the 

 south ; and by a ridge of high mountains, which separate 

 it from Cambodia, on the west. It stretches along the 

 ide of the Chinese sea from 6(X) to 700 miles, its 

 breadth bearing no proportion to its length ; f or, in ge- 

 neral, its breadth, from east to west, docs not exceed a 

 degree, and in many places is not above 20 miles. The 

 whole country is intersected by rivers which descend 

 from the mountains, and which, though not large, are 

 very favourable to inland navigation. The climate is 

 healthy, similar in temperature to Tung-quin, but mild, 

 er Ly its vicinity to the ocean. 



Froduc- The face of the country exhibits but few marks of 



tk>ai. tillage, nevertheless it is not unfruitful. In the rainy 



season, which lasts during the months of September, Oc- 

 tober, and November, the low lands are subject to inun- 

 dations from the mountains, which continue for three or 

 . four days at a time. These, like the overflowings of the 

 Nile, contribute very much to the fertility of the coun- 

 try. Of rice, they have generally two plentiful cn.ps 

 every year, one in April and the other in October ; that 

 grain requiring no other manure than the mud deposi- 

 ted by the torrent* which issue from the mountains. 

 Oranges, bananas, figs, pine-apples, greavas, pomegra- 

 nates, and other fruits of inferior quality, are produced 



VOL. VI. PART II. 



in great abundance in all parts of the country. Indeed fiocbjnchi- 

 all the fruits of India, and many of those of China, are v na * f 

 to be found here in the greatest perfection. They have ""V^ 

 also good yam?, and plenty of a sweet kind of potatoes. 

 Sugar canes and tobacco are cultivated in large planta- 

 tions. The juice of the former, after undergoing a par- 

 tial refinement, is exported to China in cakes ; but the 

 latter is consumed in the country, for persons of every' 

 age and rank indulge in the habit of smoking. 



The timber of this country is the finest in the world, 

 and it may be said to afford the same supply to China 

 that Norway does to Britain. Their oak, pines, and 

 teak, are admirably adapted for ship. building ; and their 

 mountains also abound with a species of wood, which, 

 from possessing the power of preservation under earth 

 and water, is called by the natives the incorruptible tree. 

 Their forests also produce a variety of scented woods, 

 as the rose-wood, eagle wood, and sandal wood, all of 

 which fetch very high prices in the China market. 

 Their cinnamon, though of a coarse grain, and strong 

 pungent flavour, is preferred by the Chinese to that of 

 Ceylon. On the mountains of the Ktmois there grows 

 a tree, the wood of which is most fragrant, and is sup- 

 posed to be the same with lignum aloes. Being account- 

 ed the most valuable wood in the country, it sells from 

 5 to 16 ducats per pound, and the profits belong to the 

 king. But in China and Japan it fetches not less than 

 200 ducats per pound, and is formed into beds for the 

 emperor and nobility, it is also used in the funeral 

 piles of those Indians, who still continue to burn their 

 dead. Some gold and silver mines, as well as some spe- 

 cies of diamonds, have been found in this country, but 

 the latter are not deemed so valuable as pearl. On co- 

 ral and amber they set a high value. 



Of domestic animals, they have almost every species 



except sheep. The country abounds with small horned , 



I,, , , % i , ,- . animals ana 



cattle, short-legged hogs, kids, ducks, and fowls. Their f 00 ^ 



cattle being of a small breed, do not supply them with 

 much milk ; but they seem to have no great desire for 

 that article, for they do not give it even to their children, 

 whose food consists chiefly of rice, sugar-cane, and water 

 melons. Like the Chinese, they feed on dogs, and frogs 

 are also a very common article of food. To the- inha- 

 bitants of the coast, who form the greater part of the 

 population, the sea is a never-failing source of suste- 

 ance ; and the great extent of sea coast enables them to 

 avail themselves of the inexhaustible stores which that 

 element supplies. For catching the fish they employ a 

 net, and sometimes wicker baskets ; and vast quantities 

 of flying fish are taken by sinking deep earthen jars with- 

 narrow necks, baited with pork, or the offals of fish. 

 The great body of the people, like the Chinese, have 

 but two meals in the day, one about nine in the morn- 

 ing, the other about sunset ; and in the dry season these 

 are usually eaten before the doors of their cottages, on 

 mats spread in the open air. They do not cultivate the 

 grape, but drink a liquor brewed from rice. 



The wild animals are such as are common to India, W M . 

 viz. the boar, tyger, rhinocerus, elephant, buffalo, with ma 'i 6 . * 

 abundince of deer. In the forests of this and the neigh- 

 bouring countries, the elephants are said to be of a lar- 

 ger sue than in any other part of the world ; and the 

 hunting of the elephant, the tyger, and the buffalo, is an, 

 amusement with which the sovereigns entertain foreign 

 am!) ssadors. On these occasions they celebrate the 

 roy nl feast of elephants, which has probably given rise 

 to tii -eport that the Cochinchinese feed on the flesh 

 of those animals. 



