ASIATIC. 169 



to the nabob of Oude ; Lahore, in the north, is the capital of the 

 Seiks ; and Poona/i, near Bombay, belongs to the Mahrattas. Gwa- 

 lior, south of Delhi and Agra, is said to be the capital of Scindiah, 

 the most independent of the Mahratta chiefs ; and Hyderabad is the 

 capital of Sinde, bordering on the Indus. Goa belongs to the Portu- 

 guese ; Pondicherry, to the French ; and Tranquebar, to the Danes. 

 British Hindoostan has a governor general, appointed by the sovereign 

 of Great Britain. The Hindoos, or natives, are divided into heredi- 

 tary castes ; of which the Brahmins rank the highest ; while the lower 

 castes are in a very degraded state. 



Chin-India, is a name recently given to the region previously 

 called India beyvnd the Ganges ; extending from the Bay of Ben- 

 gal, on the west, to the Sea of China, on the east. It comprehends 

 the Birman Empire, including Jlva and Pegu, in the west ; Siam, 

 including part of Laos, in the centre ; the empire of tfnam, or 

 Annan, in the east ; and Malacca, in the south. The British pos- 

 sess Arracan, in the north-west ; and some parts of Malacca. The 

 empire of Anam comprehends Tonquin, and part of Laos, in the 

 north; Cochin China, in the south-east; and Cambodia, in the south. 

 The largest rivers of Chin-India, are the Irrawaddy, in the west ; 

 and the Cambodia; between which is the Meinam, flowing into the 

 Gulf of Siam. The chief cities are Jlva, Ummerapoora, and Ran- 

 goon, in Birmah ; the latter being farthest south ; Bankok, in Siam ; 

 and in Anam, are Hue, the central capital, Kesho, in the north, and 

 Saigon, in the south. The Birmans are said to be intelligent ; the 

 Siamese deceitful ; and the Malays piratical. The religion is Boodh- 

 ism, and the governments are despotic. 



3. The Chinese Empire, includes China, Corea, Thibet, and 

 Chinese Tartary. It is the most populous, and one of the richest 

 empires known; but embraces a great variety of people, climate, 

 and productions. The southern parts of this empire are warm and 

 fertile ; but the northern, are cold and barren. China proper, called 

 Sinse by the later Romans, extends from the China Sea, northward 

 to the Chinese Wall ; which is 1500 miles long, and was built 2000 

 years ago, as a defence against the Tartars. Its chief rivers are the 

 Hoang-Ho, in the north; and the Kiang-Ku or Yang-Tse-Kiang, 

 which runs eastward through the centre, and is nearly 2,800 miles 

 long, being the longest in Asia. The Imperial Canal, in the north- 

 east, crossing both these rivers, is 500 miles long, and the longest in 

 the world. Hainan, on the south, Formosa, on the south-east, and 

 the Loo-Koo (Leoo Keoo, or Liu Chiu) Islands, on the east, belong 

 to China. The chief cities are Pekin, the capital, in the north-east, 

 containing 1,500,000 inhabitants ; Canton, in the south ; and Nankin, 

 Sootchow, Hangtchow, (or Hangtcheou), and Kingteching, in the 

 east. China produces rice, cotton, and silk ; supplies the world 

 with tea ; and excels in the manufacture of porcelain. The religion 

 is chiefly Boodhism ; the government is despotic ; and the learning 

 of the Chinese mostly superficial. 



Corea, east of the Yellow Sea, is a small peninsula, tributary to 

 China. Kingkitao is its capital, and chief city. Thibet, the ancient 

 Serica, including Boo tan, which is tributary to it, lies west of 

 22 P 



