134 



PHYSICAL HISTORY OF MAN. 



length of time in the harbour of Manila without having it on board ;" 

 and Singapore, even, is not altogether exempt from this disease. In 

 the Straits of Banca, we fell in with a vessel from Batavia, nearly 

 disabled in consequence of the loss of twelve of the crew by dysen- 

 tery. We experienced in the East Indies, a greater difference be- 

 tween the night temperature on the land and on the water, than 

 among the Pacific islands : and a further comparison seems to inti- 

 mate, that this tendency to gastric affections may possibly form an 

 element in the physical degeneracy of the population. 



We were thirty-three days in crossing the wide expanse of the 

 Indian Ocean, without seeing land, until we reached the African 

 coast, eastward of the Cape of Good Hope. On landing at Cape 

 Town, I remarked among the population, many persons who were 

 obviously of Malayan descent, more or less mixed. I did not, during 

 our short stay, ascertain their precise origin, whether from the East 

 Indies or from Madagascar : and I felt the less interest on this point, 

 as they had been introduced through the agency of Europeans, and 

 all nationality had been lost. 



THE INDO-CHINESE COUNTRIES. 



The Cochin-Chinese were easily distinguished at Singapore by the 

 black national dress. I there had an interview with a highly intelli- 

 gent young man, who " had been educated by the French missiona- 

 ries; and who spoke English, and had visited France, where he was 

 a good deal noticed." He readily admitted the defects in the political 

 institutions of his own country ; but he seemed resigned. He had 

 been sent to Singapore by his king, in charge of the cargo of one of 

 the two national ships then in the harbour. 



It appears, that " a century ago or more, a French ship happened 

 to be wrecked on the coast of Cochin-China ; and the people have 

 continued to copy her model, with great particularity, to the present 

 day." Here then was a singular revival of the antiquated European 

 mode of construction ; but on visiting these vessels, the workmanship 

 was pronounced by our naval critics, "exceedingly rude." We were 

 shown a finely executed chart of the coast of Cochin-China ; appa- 

 rently the copy of some European survey, with the names of places 

 written in Chinese characters. Every individual on board appeared 



