DETAILS RESPECTING COCHIN CHINA, tff 
The Cochin Chinese, in general are possessed of good reason¬ 
ing powers and a judicious mind; it is this which makes them ve¬ 
ry susceptible of instruction. We meet very many amongst them 
who are endowed with a very happy memory, such as vve rarelv 
see amongst Europeans. I have met many who could recite long 
pieces of verse which they had only read one or two times; but 
in general they are indolent and lazy in spirit; they do not make a' 
step, without being, as it w r ere led and conducted by the hand. 
Moreover, they only possess the talent of imitation in an imperfect 
degree. They invent nothing, and improve nothing. They are not 
strangers to feelings of friendship, gratitude and affection; however, 
in general they require to be led and kept to their duty by fear. 
Their mandarins know them well, and, in consequence, they do not 
spare the blows of the rafan. 
Among no pagan people can we expect to find models of chasti¬ 
ty, modesty or morality. The idea of evil is much obscured in them 
by the passions, custom, and the absence of instruction. The Co¬ 
chin Chinese are given to vices, but less than many other heathen 
people. They have less pride and less immorality than the Chinese, 
(ramblers aud drunkards are very numerous amongst them, and 
they have many other faults; but they have also estimable qualities. 
They are generous, not in regard to strangers whom they dread, 
but amongst themselves and in respect of those who exercise any 
authority over them; avarice is a rare fault with them. They are 
Pot at all hasty or vindictive; I have often admired how easily pa¬ 
gans forget injuries which Our Christians of Europe, instructed in 
the sublime maxims of the Gospel, would resent all their fives. 
The Cochin Chinese have an erect carriage. They are in genera! 
of feeble health; strong men form rare exceptions: a very great 
number of children die before the age of reason: old person of 60, 
70 and 75 years are less common amongst them than in Europe, 
but those of 80 and upwards are found in very great numbers. In 
these hot countries the breath of life which sustains the aged, is 
more tardily extinguished. 
The heat and the uncleanness produce many infirmities in them,—* 
sores in all parts of the body and all kinds of skin diseases. The 
average number of children in each family is six or seven, and it 
very frequently rises to 10 or 12; which multiplies the population 
