N E G 
NEGLIGENTLY, adv. Csrelefsly; heedlefsly; with¬ 
out exaftnefs.—I^Tefts have voluntary motion, and there¬ 
fore imagination ; and, whereas fome of the ancients have 
faid that their motion is indeterminate, and their imagi¬ 
nation indefinite, it is negligently obferved ; for ants go 
right forwards to their hills, and bees know the way to 
their hives. Bacon's Nat. Hifi. 
■Of all our elder plays, 
This and Philafler have the loudell fame; 
Great are their faults, and glorious is their flame. 
In both our Englifh genius is ex'preft. 
Lofty and bold, but negligently drefl. Waller. 
With fcornful inattention. 
NEGO'CE, f. [French, from negotium, Lat.] Bufinefs; 
trade; management of affairs. Scott. 
NEGOTIABLE, See. See Negotiable, &c. 
NEGOM'BO, or Nigumbo, the largeft village in the 
ifland of Ceylon, and containing, for its fize, the greateft 
number of inhabitants ; built by the Portuguefe, and 
taken from them by the Dutch. It is fituated on the 
lea-coaft in a liighly-pifturefque fpot, accounted one of 
the healthieft in the ifland ; twenty-four miles north of 
Columbo. Many Dutch refide in this place, on account 
of the pleafantnefs and falubrity of its fituation ; and 
warehoufes arid gardens are fcattered up and down in 
delightful groves of cocoa-nut and other trees. The 
Dutch built a fort here for the protection of the cinna¬ 
mon-cutters, as a confiderable quantity of that fpice 
grows in the adjacent diftriC. Store-houfes are alfo 
eredled in the fort, where the cinnamon, after being dried, 
is lodged, till an opportunity is offered for conveying it 
to Columbo. This cinnamon is reckoned equal in qua¬ 
lity to any in the ifland. The fort is not ftrong, but is 
well defended ; and wfithin it are three long rows of build¬ 
ings, which ferve for barracks to the troops, and for flore- 
houfes to the cinnamon. The command is given to a 
field-officer, who a< 5 ts as prefident of the Landraed, or 
civil court, appointed to hear and determine differences 
among the natives, and take cognizance of the crimes 
cornmitted within this diflridt. Thefe civil courts exifted 
under the Dutch, and have been eflabliflied by governor 
North at all the military polls and commands round the 
ifland. 
Negombo is very advantageoufly fituated for carrying 
on inland trade, particularly with Columbo and its neigh¬ 
bourhood, as a branch of the Mulivaddy here runs into 
the lea. At the mouth cf it is a fmall harbour, where 
Hoops and other fmall veffels often put in and land their 
cargoes, which are afterwards conveyed up the Mulivaddy, 
and then, by canals which communicate with it, to the 
lake which fkircs the town of Columbo. One of the prin¬ 
cipal articles exported by the inland communications 
conlifts of fiflt: this trade is confidered as the property of 
government, and is annually farmed out for feveral thou- 
fand rupees. A Moor, or Malabar, is ufually the farmer, 
wdio is allowed to difpofe of the fifti caught here; and he 
employs all the boats belonging to the place. The peo¬ 
ple employed are compelled, by the authority of govern¬ 
ment, to fifh every day, when the weather permits, Sun¬ 
days and particular feftivals excepted. The fiflt, as foon 
as caught, are put into boats, conveyed by the rivers and 
canals during the night, and fold in the bazaars next 
morning. The fifltermen go into the water up to the 
middle of the thighs, carrying in their hands a round 
bafket, of a conical form, refentbling our wire rat-traps 
without the bottom. This they plunge dowm into the 
water as far as the mud. They foon find whether they 
have caught a fifli by its beating againll the fides of the 
balket; and, when this is the cafe, they thruft down 
their arm through the hole at the top and take hold of it. 
They firing the fifh, as they catch them, on a piece of 
rattan or bamboo, which is faflened round their waifl. 
While the operation of plunging the baficet is continued, 
other perfons" are employed in- fplafhing the water all 
N E G 
around, in order to make the fiflt go towards the bafket. 
Befides the produce of the fifheries, other forts of traffic 
are carried on at Negombo to a confiderable amount. 
The inhabitants confifl of Moors, Malabars, and Indian- 
Portuguefe. The Englifh landed at Negombo in Fe¬ 
bruary 1796, and made themfelves mailers of it without 
oppofition ; and the whole ifland of Ceylon was confirmed 
to us by the peace of Amiens. Lat. 7.1a. N. Ion. 79, 4.8. E. 
NEGOTIABLE, adj. [negotium, Lat.] Capable of 
being negotiated. 
NEGOTIANT, f. [from negotiate.] A negotiator; 
one employed to treat with others.—Ambaffadours, ne¬ 
gotiants, and generally all other miniflers of mean for¬ 
tune, in converfation with princes and fuperiours muff 
ufe great refpeft. Raleigh's Arts of Emp. 
To NEGOTIATE, v. n. [negocier , Fr. from negotium, 
Lat.] To have intercourfe or bufinefs ; to traffic; to treat; 
whether of public affairs, or private matters.—-Have you 
any commilfion from your lord to negotiate with my face ? 
ShakcJ'peare's Twelfth Night. —-She was a bufy negotiating 
woman, and in her withdrawing-chamber had the fortu¬ 
nate confpiracy for the xing againll king Richard been 
hatched. Bacon's Hen. VII.—They that received the ta¬ 
lents to negotiate with, did all of them, except one, make 
profit of them. Hammond. —A fleward to embezzle thofe 
goods he undertakes to manage; an embaflador to betray 
his prince for whom he lhould negotiate ; are crimes that 
double their malignity from the quality of the aCors. 
Decay of Chr. Piety. 
To NEGOTIATE, v. a. To manage; to conclude by- 
treaty or agreement.—Lady-is gone into the coun¬ 
try with her lord, to negotiate, at leilure, their intended 
feparation. Ld. Chefterfield. 
NEGOTIATING, f The a£l of treating about public 
affairs.—It is a common error in negotiating ; that, whereas 
men have many reafons to perfuade, they llrive to ufe 
them all at once, which weakeneth them. Bacon. 
NEGOTIATION,^/l Treaty of bufinefs, whelherpub- 
lic or private.—Oil is flow, linooth, and folid; fo are Spa¬ 
niards obferved to be in their motion ; though it be a 
queltion yet'unrefolved,Whether their affected gravity 
and flownefs in their negotiations have tended more to 
their prejudice or advantage. Howard. 
NEGOTIATOR, /! One employed to treat with others. 
—Thofe who have defended the proceedings of our nego¬ 
tiators at Gertruydenberg, dwell much upon their zeal in 
endeavouring to work the French up to their demands; 
but fay nothing tojuftify thofe demands. Swift. 
NEGO'TIATORY, adj. Ufed in bufinefs; appertain¬ 
ing to trade. 
NEGO'TIATRIX, A female manager; a female 
who treats upon any bufinefs. AJh. 
NEGO'TIOUS, adj. Full of bufinefs. Bailey. 
NEGRAI'S, an ifland near the foath-eall coaft of Ava, 
in the mouth of the river- Perfaim, belonging to the Bir¬ 
man empire, which includes the kingdoms of Ava and 
Pegu. The Englifh had a faftory in this ifland, chiefly 
for the purchafe of teak-timber. This ifland was taken 
poffeflion of by the Englilh, and a furvey made of it by a 
perfon named Weldon, in the year 1687 ; and in this 
ifland the government of Fort St. George eflabliflied a 
fettlement. But it does not appear that much benefit 
was derived from the acquifition. At a much later pe¬ 
riod, viz. about the year 1751, the Englifh again took 
poffeflion of the Negrais; but their affairs were not con¬ 
duced with prudence, and the fettlement continued in a 
Hate of wavering ferment. The truth is, that the Eng¬ 
lifh fettlers repeatedly took part againll the Birmans in 
their contefl with the rebellious Peguers. In 1757, Ne¬ 
grais .was negleCed, though not abandoned. An Englifh 
deputy from this ifland was admitted into the royal pre¬ 
fence'; and, though the Birman monarch upbraided this 
deputy with the conduft of his countrymen in giving 
encouragement arid protection to the difaffeCed Peguers, 
he referred him to the Portuguefe interpreter and the 
4 Birman 
