VOYAGE TO THE 
Supao-Koang, that arms were manufactured in the island. I am, there- 
fore, disposed to believe that the Loo Chooans have weapons, and that 
they are similar to those in use in China. And with regard to the 
objection which none of them having ever been seen in Loo Choo would 
offer, I can only say, that while I was in China, with the exception of 
the cannon in the forts, I did not see a weapon of any kind, though 
that people is well known to possess them. 
It was also thought that the Loo Choo people were ignorant of the 
use of money. But this point has now been satisfactorily determined by 
our having seen it in circulation in the island, and having some of it 
in our own possession. The coin was similar to the cash of China. 
An-yah declared that there were no gold or silver coins in the country, 
not even ingots, which are in use in China ; but this will hereafter, 
perhaps, prove to be untrue, as he even denied the use of the cash 
until it was found in circulation. There is very little doubt that 
money has been long known to, if not in use among, the Loo Chooans. 
About the year A. D. 1454, in the reign of Chang-tai-keiou, we are 
told that so large a quantity of silver and brass coin was taken from 
China to Loo Choo, that the provinces of Tche-Kiang and of Fochien 
complained to the emperor of the scarcity it had occasioned in those 
places*; and Pere Gaubil, quoting Supao-Koang f, after enumerating 
several articles of trade, says, “ tout cela se vende et s’achete, ou par 
echange ou en deniers de cuivres de la Chine."’ 
Our countrymen were further led to believe, from what they saw 
of the mild and gentle conduct of the superior orders in Loo Choo 
towards their inferiors, that the heaviest penalty attached to the com- 
mission of a crime was a gentle tap of a fan. Our friend with his 
bamboo cane, who was put on board to preserve order among his coun- 
trymen, afforded the first and most satisfactory evidence we could have 
had of this being an error, and had we possessed no other means of 
information, his conduct would have favoured the presumption of more 
severe chastisement being occasionally inflicted. It happened, how- 
ever, fortunately, that I had purchased in China a book of the punish- 
* Recueil de Pere Gaubil. 
f Ibid. p. 402, Lettres Edifiantes. 
