COCHIN CHINA. 271 
assembled a considerable body of troops and war elephants 
in the vicinity of the town : nor was it till some days had ex- 
pired before this impression was done away. 
But before I proceed to give any account of our own trans- 
actions in this country, or of the manners and appearance of 
the people, I shall continue my narrative of the progress made 
by Caung-shung in the recovery of his kingdom ; and select from 
my materials the leading features of the character of this extra- 
ordinary man, who may justly be ranked among those few who 
are born with talents to rule in the world ; who now and then 
appear, in all countries, with a splendour which outshines the 
rest of their fellow mortals* It may be riglit to apprize the 
reader that a considerable part of the sketch which I have 
here given, as well as that which follows, is the substance of 
a manuscript memoir drawn up by IMonsieur Barissy, an in- 
telligent French officer, who commanded a frigate in the 
service of this monarch. And as the former part agrees so 
well with what we learned in Turon bay, through our inter- 
preter, from a Chinese secretary to the government at that 
place, and with the different relations of the missionaries who 
have resided there, I have no hesitation in giving to the 
sequel the most implicit belief. The material facts have, in- 
deed, been corroborated by the testimony of two Englisli 
gentlemen, who visited Sai-gong in the j^ears 1799 'dnd 
1800. 
The rebel Yin-yac did not long survive the destruction of 
his fleet. He died a few months after we left Turon ba}', in 
the year 1793, of a disease of the brain, as one account states, 
