Chap. II. through the great eft Part of the EAST-INDIES. 793 
fence of their Friends, who make merry again with Feaft- 
ing and Dancing. 
They have fcarce any Religion ; for as they can neither 
write nor read, whatever they have of this kind is found- 
ed merely upon Tradition; hence it is that they believe 
the Eternity of the World, and the Immortality of the 
Soul, which they affirm fliall find Good or Evil in the 
other Life, according to their Merits in this. What Actions 
are accounted amongft us the moil criminal, are taken for 
{lender Trefpaffes among them, viz. Murder, Theft, and 
Adultery ; for as for Fornication, it is not fo much as 
looked upon as a Sin ; and if a young Man can get a Fa- 
vour of his Neighbour’s Wife, it is confidered but as a ve- 
ry flight Offence, becaufe they are not permitted to mar- 
ry till they are twenty, or twenty-one Years of Age. The 
greateft Crimes among them, and of which the Magif- 
trates take Notice, are to cover their privy Parts, at cer- 
tain Times of the Year, when they fliould not; to wear 
at certain Times filk Garments, when only Calicoe are al- 
lowed them, and not to deftroy the Fruit in the Mother’s 
Womb, before fhe arrives to the Age of thirty-five. A- 
mong feveral Deities, they have two that have the Prehe- 
minency over the reft, viz. one Tamigafanbach , and the other 
called Sariahfingh. The firft, whole Refidence they place 
in the South, is the Giver of all good and profitable things 
to Mankind ; the other, unto whom they aflign the North, 
they fay, deftroys all what the former is plealed to beftow 
on Man ; for which Reafon they worftnp both, one for 
doing them Good, the other, that he may do them no 
Harm. 
They have amongft others two Gods named Talafulas 
and Tapuliape , who, as they are accounted the Patrons 
of Warriors, are adored only by thofe Men. They have 
this Peculiar, that their religious Ceremonies are perform- 
ed by Women, which they call Juibs. Their Worfhip 
confifts in Prayers and Sacrifices of Hogs, Areca, Deer 
and Wild-Boars Heads, as alfo fome of their Liquors. Af- 
ter they have feafted very well, the Priefteffes rife, and 
muttering certain Prayers, turn up their Eyes, and at laft 
fall to the Ground, with dreadful Cries. Sometime after 
they lie immoveable, like one in a Trance, for an Hour ; 
during which Time they fay, they have an Interview with 
their Gods. This beirtg over, they climb up to the Top of 
the Temple, walk from one End to the other, and after 
they have faid their Prayers again, ftrip themfelves ftark- 
naked, expofe their naked Bodies, and wafh them in the 
Prefence of all the Standers-by, of both Sexes, tho’ but 
few Men affift at this kind of Devotion, and the Women have 
generally taken fo much ftrong Liquor, that they fcarce 
perceive what paffes. Thefe Juibs alfo pretend to foretel 
things to come, and to banilh the evil Spirits. For the 
reft, each Houfe has a peculiar Place for the private De- 
votions of the Family, which are performed for the molt 
Part by Women, who make Offerings to their Gods of 
what is fpent every Day in the Houle, as they do upon 
certain Altars, erected for that Purpofe upon the great 
Roads. 
17. The Chinefe Empire being of fo vaft an Extent, 
that a moderate Account of it would take up a large Vo- 
lume, we will content ourielves to give only a Scheme of 
it here, leaving a more ample Defcription to thofe who 
of late Years have had the Opportunity of taking a full 
View of it. It is certain, that this vaft Kingdom of Chi- 
na (called Cathay by the Tartars , and Chingloou , or Chun- 
que , i. e. middle Kingdom, by the Chinefe ) is the utmoft 
Province of all Afia to the Eaft, having beyond it no 
other Borders but the Sea, for this Reafon called by the 
Chinefe Tung, i. e. of the Eaft. To the North its Fron- 
tiers extend all along the Great Tartary , from which it is 
divided by a Ridge of great Mountains ; and where that 
fails, by the famous Chinefe Wall, which begins upon the 
Confines of the Province of Leautung , and extends to the 
yellow River upon the Frontiers of the Kingdom of Tibet , 
300 German Leagues in Length to the Welt. It borders 
upon the Kingdoms of Kiang and Bengal , and to the S. 
and S. W. upon Cochin-china , and the Sea, comprehend- 
ing in its Length all the fouthern Parts betwixt the 130° 
and the 160°, making 1800 Spanijh Leagues in Length, 
and three thoufand in Compafs, 
It is divided into fifteen great Provinces, among which, 
fix, viz. thofe of Peking , Xancung , Kiangnan , or Nan- 
king , Chekian , Tokien , and Quangtung , extend along the 
Sea-fide, the other nine being inland Provinces, five of which, 
viz. thofe of Quangfi, Kiang.fi , Huquang, Honan , lie to the 
Eaft, Xamfi , Suchuan , Eftuechan, and Juanan, to tire Weft. 
The Provinces of Leatung, and Corea , which are on the 
Eaft-fide, don’t properly belong to China ; all which com 
tain one hundred and forty-five great Cities, and 1263 
others, which would pafs for confiderable Cities ellc where. 
Their Cities are for the moft Part built after the lame Fa- 
ftiion, fquare, with two large Streets, dividing the whole 
into four Quarters, like a perfect Crofs ; fo that from the 
Centre of each Place you may view the four Gates of it. 
They are fortified with broad brick Walls, and flanked 
with Towers, after the ancient Roman Fafliion, plaiftered 
over with the fame Earth they make their Porcelain of, 
which in Time grows as hard as Stone, and preferves the 
Walls againft the Injury of the Air. It has been com- 
puted, that fome of them have flood 2000 Years, without 
any confiderable Change. Their Houfes are very neatly 
and conveniently built, with Gardens, Orchards, Groves, 
Fountains, and all other Conveniencies and Ornaments, 
their Architecture exceeding that ©f the bell Mailers of 
Europe. They are of all Nations of the World the moft 
careful in Paving, and keeping their Highways, and pro- 
viding all Neceffaries for the Accommodation of Travel- 
lers throughout. 
The whole Empire, is of fo vaft an Extent, that the 
Inhabitants of the Province of ^uangtung lying on the 
torrid Zone, are as black as the African Moors , whereas 
thofe of the Province of Poking , which is moft northerly, 
are as white as the Germans ; which Difference is alfo obfer* 
vable in their Fruits, the fouthern Provinces producing all 
fuch Fruits as the Indies afford, whereas the more norther- 
ly Parts have plenty of European Fruits. Befides this, 
China abounds in Gold, Silver, precious Stones, Mufk, 
Silk, Salt, rich Gums, and Drugs, Rice, and Corn, for 
moft ol which they are beholden to Nature ; yet muft it 
be withal confeffed, that the Induftry of the Inhabitants, 
and the eafy Government they live under, is a vaft Addi- 
tion to what they are obliged to Nature for, there being 
not a Fen, Marfh, nay, not a Mountain, but what is plant- 
ed, cultivated, or put to fome ufe or other, no Crime be-^ 
ing more heinous in China than Idlenefs. The Country 
of China does not only produce all forts of living Crea- 
tures, but alfo all the Fruits and Simples we have in Eu- 
rope, but much better, and in greater Plenty, and are 
confequently fold at a very cheap Rate ; nay, even Spices 
are fo cheap here, that you may buy four hundred Nut- 
megs for a Crown, and two Pounds of Cloves for Half-a- 
Crown ; and the vaft Quantities of Silk it produces, may 
be gueffed at from what is exported thence into foreign 
Countries. As the Country is full of Rivers, fo they 
abound in Fifh, which they catch by the Help of Cormo- 
rants, of which they have vaft Numbers here. They tie 
a String round their Necks, above their Stomachs, fo that 
after they have filled their Bags, which hang under their 
Throats, with Filh, they are forced to difgorge what 
they have taken, into the Boat, unto which they are 
fattened. 
They have alfo a peculiar Way of breeding Ducks, in 
prodigious Quantities; of thefe they keep three or four 
thoufand in Cages of Canes, fet at the Sterns of great 
Boats, and let them out every Day to go affiore, and pick 
the Weeds from amongft the Rice, and towards Evening,, 
call them to their Cages by a Whittle, the Sound of which 
brings them back to the very Boat unto which they be- 
long. Their Duck Eggs they hatch in Dung, and after- 
wards put the young ones under the Wings of the old 
Duck in the Cages: This Way of Breeding makes them 
fo cheap, that they fell five or fix for Two Pence. 
The Chinefe Women are generally well-fliaped, and of 
a good Size 5 but the Men are fiat-nofed, with large Fa- 
ces, fmall Eyes, and very little or no Beard. They cut 
not either their Hair, or their Nails, on the left Side. 
Their Cloathing is altogether of the fame Fafliion, with 
this Difference only, that in the northern Provinces they 
pie Furs, whereas in the fouthern , Parts they- commonly 
Wear' 
