COCHINCHINA. 357 
intercourse beyond what may be necessary for attaining the 
object of their pursuit. Secondly, a Chinese navigator not 
only considers the magnetic needle as a guide to direct his 
track through the ocean, but is persuaded that the spirit by 
which its motions are influenced is the guardian deity of his 
vessel ; and, conformably with this opinion, the sacred instru- 
ment is always, when in port, carefulij^ shut up in the little ca- 
binet on the stern part of the ship, in which the other sanctified 
utensils of his religion are deposited, and from which he is al- 
ways anxious to exclude strangers. With equal care is the mag- 
netic needle guarded when the vessel is ready to depart from 
port, and for a reason still better grounded than on its sacred 
character. When a voyage is once determined and the 
direct course to the intended port ascertained, the compass 
box is placed in sand in such a position that the character 
denoting the quarter of the horizon in which the port lies 
may coincide with the direction of the needle. So long as 
this coincidence continues, the ship will be on her right 
course ; and it is the object of the pilot, under all circum- 
stances, to preserve this position as nearly as possible and 
to note down the deviations from it, in order, by making the 
proper allowances, to bring the ship again into the right 
course. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance that no 
intruders should approach the place in which the compass 
box is arranged. In the third place, it may be observed 
that such is the nature of the magnetic needle, that the most 
scrupulous examination could never enable the most in- 
genious mechanic to make another from it, unless he had a 
previous knowledge of communicating the magnetic quality 
