COCHINCHINAo 299 
what they could not obtain by begging they usually endea- 
voured to procure by stealing. They had not even the 
Spartan virtue of blushing at detection ; nor did it appear 
that they apprehended any punishment either for the theft or 
the discovery of it. This disposition to stealing was so 
general, that it was even found necessary to watch nar- 
rowly the officers of government who came on board the 
ships. 
In attempting to draw a very general sketch of the charac- 
ter of this nation, I am not unaware of the risk I incur of 
being drawn into error. To speak correctly of the manners and 
opinions of foreign nations ; to trace the motives of their ac- 
tions and the grounds of their prejudices ; to examine the 
effects produced on the temper and disposition of the people 
hj the civil and religious institutions ; and to inquire into 
their ideas of moral right and wrong, their notions of taste, 
of beauty, of happiness, and many other subjects necessary - 
to be investigated before a thorough knowledge can be ob- 
tained of their true character and real condition, require not 
only a long residence in the countr}-, but an intimate ac- 
quaintance with all the various classes of society : and, after 
all, an accurate portrait is hardly to be expected. What can 
be more ridiculous than a Frenchman attempting to describe 
Enghsh manners, or more preposterous than a German 
dramatizing the Engli'sh character ? There ai*e, however, 
certain strongly marked features which, prevailing in the mass 
of the people, may safely be set down as national character- 
istics ; and from such only the few observations I have to 
make on the Cochinchinese were derived. iSome of them, 
Q Q. 2 • 
