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VOYAGE TO THE 
CHAP, said to be few in number, and speaking generally there appears to be 
very little vice in the people. 
May. I assured by An-yah that marriages in Loo Choo were con- 
tracted as they are in China, by the parents or by a friend of the 
parties, without the principals seeing each other. Only one wife, I 
believe, is allowed in Loo Choo, though to the question whether a plu- 
rality of wives was permitted ? both An-yah and Shtafacoo said that the 
mandarin had five, and that the king had several*. They, however, 
afterwards declared that in their country it was customary to have 
only one wife. Perhaps it is the same in Loo Choo as in China, where 
a man may have only one lawful wife ; but with her permission he may 
marry as many more as he can provide for. These wives are as much 
respected as the first wife, but they do not inherit their husbands’ 
property. 
In Loo Choo, as in China, there is no religion of the state, and 
every man is allowed freely to enjoy his own opinion, though here, 
also, a distinction is made between the sects, one being considered 
superior to the other. The sects in Loo Choo are Joo, Taou, and 
Foo, orBudh; but the disciples of the latter consist almost entirely 
of persons of the lowest order, and An-yah appeared to think very 
lightly of its votaries, saying they were “ no good.” It is upon record 
that it is 1011 years since this sect passed from China to Loo Choo. 
For several centuries its doctrines appear to have been advocated by 
the court as well as by the common people : but with the latter classes 
they have since been supplanted by those of Confucius. We are told 
that in the year 1372 several families from Fochien settled near Napa- 
kiang, and introduced ceremonies in honour of the great Chinese phi- 
losopher, whose memory was further honoured by a temple being erected 
to him in Loo Choo, in 1663, by the Manshur 'I’artar, Emperor I\ang-hi. 
Confucius is now honoured and revered by all classes in Loo Choo. 
The sectl'aou, which is equally corrupt with that of Foo, has but few 
advocates among the better classes of society. 
Like the Chinese, the Loo Chooans are extremely superstitious, 
and invoke their deities upon every occasion, sometimes praying to the 
* Supao-Koang says a plurality of wives is permitted. 
