140 Notice of a Chinese Geographical work. [Feb. 



ly, on the magnetic rhumbs yin, hi, mao,* is an archipelago of seventy- 

 two islands, all belonging to Yi pan, the country of the Wai nu,f These 

 maintain a traffic with the Central Kingdom .% There is one island named 

 Chang hi, which with difficulty produces sufficient pulse and grain 

 for the sustenance of the inhabitants. There trade is carried on for the 

 public benefit, accounts are kept, and at the end of each year, whatever 

 profit accrues, is equally divided among the people of Chang hi. The 

 king of this nation resides in the north-east part of Chang hi. About 

 one month's journey by land is a country named Mi ye ko,% which 

 translated means " the capital." He [the king] receives his title from 

 the court of Han.\\ He dresses according to the fashion of the Central 

 Kingdom. The people study the literature of the beautiful Central 

 Kingdom, but read it with the accent of Wai.* 



The king possesses the authority, but military and political affairs 

 are managed by the military chief. The king interferes not in these. 

 He receives sufficient for his subsistence from the tribute and offerings 

 of the country. The military chieff occasionally pays his court to him, 

 and that is all. 



Changes in the succession occasionally occur from strife [among the 

 members of the royal family] ; but strife never occurs between the king 

 and the military chief. It is narrated in the annals of Yi pan, that 

 from the earliest ages of the empire to the present, there has been a 

 succession of kings. In former times a military chief usurped the 

 throne ; but the country ceased to produce the usual tribute ; the five 

 grains became scarce ; and the productive energies^ of nature became 



* These points of the Chinese compass extend from E. 30° N. to east. The bear- 

 ings appear to be given from Peking. 



f Japanese. 



% China. 



§ The Meaco of our maps. 



|| Of China, from the dynasty of that name. 



* Wai, Japan. 



f This is the Cubo of our geographers. 



% R£s |T-B Yin yang : which may also mean, the male "and female powers of 



I "25* Izs-f nature, in which sense the words are used by Chinese writers. On the 



subject of these powers, Dr. Harland, in an interesting article on Chinese Anatomy 



and Physiology published in the Transactions China Branch of the Royal Asiatic So= 



