PACIFIC AND BEERING’S STRAIT. 
455 
peror of China ; and that ships of our nation had frequent intercourse 
with the town of Canton. The secretary, who read these sentences aloud, 
immediately wrote in elegant Chinese characters* “What is your reason May, 
for coming to this place ? How many men are there on board your ship 
and was both sorry and surprised to find I could not understand what 
he had written. Indeed he appeared to doubt my sincerity, particularly 
after I had shown him the next sentence, which happened to be an 
answer to his question, but which naturally followed the first, stating 
that we were in want of water and fresh provisions, and that the sick 
required to be landed to recover their health, and concluding by speci- 
fying our desire to be allowed to pay for every thing that was supplied 
to us. An-yah received this information with satisfaction, and replied, 
“ I speakee mandarin ; Doo Chooman no want pay. 
These sentences were kindly furnished me by Dr. Morrison at my 
own request, in case circumstances should render it necessary to put 
into Loo Choo, and they were written in Chinese characters, which Dr. 
Morrison was well aware would be quite intelligible to the literati of 
Loo Choo, who express themselves in the same character as the Chinese, 
though their language is totally different. They contained many in- 
teresting inquiries, and afforded the means of asking questions without 
the chance of misinterpretation. To several of them the negative or 
affirmative was all that was required, and these are expressions under- 
stood by most people. It happened, however, that An-yah had learned 
enough of the English language to say something more than these mo- 
nosyllables; so that what with his proficiency, and the help of these sen- 
tences, besides a dictionary, vocabulary, and dialogues in both languages, 
which Dr. Morrison had also very generously given me, we had the means 
of gaining a good deal of information ; more, probably, than we could 
have done through an indifferent interpreter. As, however, opinions vary 
concerning the written character of China being in general use in Loo 
Choo, I shall hereafter offer some observations on the subject. 
* This, as well as several other papers written by the Loo Chooans, was afterwards in- 
terpreted by Mr. Hultmann of the Asiatic Society, to whom, and also to Sir William Ousely, 
I beg permission to be allowed to express my thanks. 
