148 Notice of a Chinese Geographical work. [Feb. 



session of it. It produces a grain 5 or § fan * in length. Many peo- 

 ple from Cheang chiu, and Chcen chiu cultivate this grain and carry it 

 to other countries. They pay an annual personal tax of five or six 

 pieces of gold to reside there. Traders are kept apart in one corner. 

 They are separated from others and not allowed to transgress the 

 boundaries. They, also, pay taxes according to their trade. Of all the 

 foreign countries of the South-east Ocean, Lee sung is the most pros- 

 perous ; because the Kan si la Shi pan ya of the Great Western Ocean 

 bring silver there for commerce. Silk, silken cloth, cottons, and a 

 hundred varieties of merchandise are sold. The productions of other 

 countries are brought in great abundance, f The established religious 

 doctrines are those of the Great Western Ocean.% They have erect- 

 ed fortified cities and fortresses for the foreigners. The country 

 originally belonged to the aborigines ; but now it is possessed by for- 

 eigners. 



When the people of Hdn§ marry a woman of this country, they must 

 adopt the heretical doctrines, and worship the Lord of Heaven in the 

 church. They use oil and water, and write the character shi\\ on their 

 forehead. The name of this water is iv at er of sprinkling They burn 

 incense in honor of their fathers and mothers. When their old people 

 die, they go to the church, dig a grave, and there deposit the body. 

 The rich spend more or less money, and bury their dead in the church, 

 within the foundations.* The poor are buried without the walls. 



reading is no doubt the correct one, and is the Chinese transcript of " Castillian 

 Spaniards." The " Great Western Ocean" is equivalent to " Europe." 



* Fan, is the hundredth part of a cubit. 



f M. Klaproth translates this passage, " Le nombre des indigenes s'est accru 

 considerablement :" an evident mistranslation, " in the island the produce of foreign 

 countries (fan thu c hang) is collected in clouds." 



% Europe. 



§ i. e. China. 



II That is I , the Chinese ten; the cross. 



* M. Klaproth translates : " Les riches font, a cette occasion, plus ou moins de 

 depense, selon l'dtat de leur fortune, et elevent des monumens sur la tombe." The 



is X£p J \] M na h within, on the foundations ; which is antithetical to the 



text 



mode of burying the poor in the next sentence, J-JinJ // [ tseang wai ,■ " outside 

 the walls." 



■MM 



