kingdom of Alfa, bounded on the north by Tonquin; on the east, by the sea of China; on the south, by the Indian ocean; and on the west, by Cambodia, and a ridge of mountains inhabited by a savage people called Kemois, who live independent of any government. Little of the history of this kingdom is known; what follows depends entirely on the credit of M. le Poivre, a French traveller.—About half a century before the French first arrived in these distant regions, a prince of Tonquin, as he fled from his sovereign, by whom he was pursued as a rebel, had, with his followers and adherents crossed the river, which serves as a barrier between Tonquin and Cochin-China. The fugitives who were warlike and civilized men, soon expelled the scattered inhabitants, who wandered about without any society or form of government, and founded a new kingdom, which soon grew rich and populous. During the reigns of the first five kings, no nation could be happier than the Cochin-Chinese. Their monarchs governed them as a father does his family, establishing no laws but those of nature, to which they themselves were the first to pay obedience. They honoured and encouraged agriculture, as the most useful employment of mankind; and required from their subjects only a small annual free-gift to defray the expense of their defensive war against the Tonquinese, who were their enemies. This imposition was regulated by way of poll-tax, with the greatest equity. Every man, able to till the ground, paid into the prince a small sum proportioned to the strength of his constitution, and the vigour of his arm: and nothing more.

Cochin-China continued happy under these princes for more than a century; but the discovery of gold-mines put a stop to these mild regulations. Luxury immediately took place. The prince began to despise the simple habitation of his ancestors, and caused a superb palace to be built, a league in circumference, surrounded with a wall of brick in the model of that of Pekin, and defended by 1600 pieces of cannon. Not content with this, he would needs have a winter palace, an autumn palace, and a summer palace. The old taxes were by no means sufficient to defray these expenses; new ones were devised; and oppression and tyranny everywhere took place. His courtiers, to flatter their prince, gave him the title of the king of Heaven, which he still continues to assume. When speaking of his subjects, he styles them his children, but by no means behaves as if he was their father: for our author informs us, that he has seen whole villages newly abandoned by their inhabitants, who were harassed with toil and intolerable vexations; the necessary consequence of which was, that their lands returned to their former uncultivated state.

M. le Poivre represents the Cochin-Chinese as gentle, hospitable, frugal, and industrious. There is not a beggar in the country; and robbery and murder are absolutely unknown. A stranger may wander over the kingdom from one end to the other, (the capital excepted), without meeting with the slightest insult. He will be everywhere received with the most eager curiosity, but at the same time with the greatest benevolence. A Cochin-Chinese traveller, who has not money sufficient to defray his expenses at an inn, enters the first house of the town or village he arrives at, and waiting the hour of dinner, takes part with the family, and goes away when he thinks proper, without speaking a word, or any person's putting to him a single question.

The country of Cochin-China is much of the same temperature with that of Tonquin; though rather milder, as lying nearer the sea. Like Tonquin, it is annually overflowed, and consequently fruitful in rice, which requires no other manure than the mud left by the inundations. They have sugar-canes, and the same kinds of fruits common to other parts of India. The country produces no grapes, and therefore they drink a liquor brewed from rice. They have vast woods of mulberry-trees, which run up as fast as our hemp. Their silk is stronger than that of China, but not so fine. They have the best timber in the world, particularly a sort which abounds in the mountains, and is called the incorruptible tree; because it never rots under earth or water, and is so solid that it serves for anchors. There are two kinds, black and red. The trees are very tall, straight, and so big that two men can scarce fathom them. They have also on the mountains of the Kemois a tree of the most fragrant scent, which is supposed to be the same with lignum aloes. This, being reckoned the best product of the country, is engrossed by the king, and is sold from five to 16 ducats per pound. It is highly valued both in China and Japan, where the logs of it are sold for 200 ducats a pound, to make pillows for the king and nobility; and among those Indians which continue to burn their dead, great quantities of it are used in the funeral piles. The young trees called aquila, or eaglewood, are every one's property, which makes the old ones called calamba so scarce and dear. They have oak, and large pines, for the building of ships; so that this country is of the same use to China, that Norway is to Britain. In general, they have the same kind of trees and plants that are to be met with in Tonquin. They have mines of gold, as well as diamonds; but the last they do not value so highly as pearl. They also esteem their coral and amber very much. In all the provinces there are great granaries filled with rice, in some of which that grain is kept upwards of 30 years. One of the greatest rarities in these parts, especially in grand entertainments, is a ragout made of the edible birds nests, which some say are found only in Cochin-China, and others in four islands that lie south of its coast. See Birds-Nests.

The merchants of Cambodia, Tonquin, China, Macao, Manila, Japan and Malacca, trade to Cochin-China with plate, which they exchange for the commodities of the country. The Portuguese are the most favoured here of any Europeans. The Cochin-Chinese themselves, not being inclined to travel, seldom fail out of sight of their own shore, but purchase many trifles from foreigners at great rates, particularly combs, needles, bracelets, glass pendants, &c. They are very fond of our hats, caps, girdles, flints, and other clothes; and, above all, set a great value on coral. The country is said to have 700 miles of coast, with many large inlets of the sea, and above 60 convenient landing places; which, however, according to Captain Hamilton, are but seldom visited by strangers.