kingdom of Asia, 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. M. le Poivre, a French traveller, informs us, that 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 Tonquineese, 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 in to 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 the above 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 on 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 insupportable 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 near 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 fort 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 grasp 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 eagle-wood, are everybody's property, which make 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 high 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 of these parts, especially in grand entertainments, is a ragout made of the eatable birds-necks, which some say are found only in Cochin-China, and others in four islands that lie south of its coast. See Birds-Necks.

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 favored 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, shirts, 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.

The people of this country have a great affinity with those of Tonquin, with whom they have a common origin, and from whom they differ very little in their manner of living, as well as their manners and customs, all of which they have in a great measure borrowed from the Chinese. The principal exports of the country are silk, sugar, ebony, and calambac wood; gold in dust or in bars, which is sold for only ten times its weight in silver; and copper and porcelain brought from China and Japan. From this country also are exported the birds-nests esteemed such a delicacy at the table. They are found in four islands situated near the coasts of Cochin-China, to the eastward of which are five other smaller ones, where are found prodigious numbers of turtles, the flesh of which is so delicate that the Tonquinese and people of Cochin-China frequently fight desperate battles, in order to take them from one another. The commodities which sell most readily in this country are, saltpetre, sulphur, lead, fine cloth, and barred or flowered chintz. Pearls, amber, and coral, were formerly in great request, but at present only the two last are saleable; and even these will not answer unless the beads of coral be round, well polished, and of a beautiful red colour; the amber must also be extremely clear, the beads of an equal size, and not larger than a hazel nut.

The only money current in Cochin-China is that of Japan, which is paid and received by weight. The money of the country is of copper and as large as our countries; of a round figure, and having a hole in the middle by which the pieces may be strung like beads. Three hundred of these are put on one side, and as many on the other, which in Cochin-China pass for a thousand; because in 600 are found ten times 60, which make a century among almost all the people of the east. There is, however, scarce any country in which merchants are more apt to be deceived with regard to the value of money than Cochin-China, owing to the pieces being unequal in figure and quality, and the difficulty of determining their value, which is regulated only by a few characters stamped upon them. The dealers must therefore be at pains to have honest and skilful people to ascertain the value of the pieces they receive, otherwise they run a great risk of being deceived in their value, as the Cochin-Chinese make a great merit of being able to cheat an European.

European merchants complain, according to M. Grolier, unjustly of the demands made in Cochin-China for entrance, clearance, and anchorage. The duties, indeed, are very trifling, amounting only, even those of the customhouse, to 4 per cent.; but nothing can be removed from a ship which arrives there until she has first been inspected, when the customhouse officers unload her, weigh and count the smallest pieces, and generally take what they look upon to be most valuable, in order to send it to the king. The monarch takes what he thinks proper, and returns the value; but the grandees are said to keep part of the goods also, without paying anything for them. Thus the ordinary goods, which had they been accompanied with the more valuable part of the cargo, would have found a ready market, can now scarcely be disposed of; though our author is of opinion, that the matter is not altogether without remedy. When the Dutch sent to this country vessels loaded with cloths, lead, and saltpetre, their cargoes were suffered to remain entire, because they had taken the precaution to pay every year a certain sum for each vessel that entered. Other nations, by endeavouring to avoid the payment of this duty, entirely destroyed their commerce: the people of Cochin-China, however, for some years past, have been much more moderate in their demands; and whatever their exactions may be, they are far less exorbitant than those of the Tonquinese.

M. Grolier observes, that a false report has gained ground in Europe, that when a trading vessel happens to run aground in Cochin-China, or to be driven into any of its harbours by storms of weather, the king seizes the cargo if the rudder be broken. He affirms us, however, that, so far from this being the case, a vessel in distress is much safer on the coasts of Cochin-China than almost anywhere else. Barks are immediately sent to the relief of the crew, and people employed to drag the sea with nets in order to recover the goods that are lost; and, in short, neither labour nor expenses are spared to put the ships in the best condition possible. Only two things can hurt the trade of foreigners at Cochin-China, one of which may be easily avoided. This regards the clearing out of vessels. Thus, while the matter is waiting on the evening before his departure, or on the day fixed for failing, in order to receive his dispatches, it often happens that he loses his voyage, which may prove the ruin of a trader. For this reason, care must be taken to solicit a clearance a month before; by which means one is always certain of obtaining it, and departing on the day appointed. The other difficulty is occasioned by the necessity of selling goods on credit, which are seldom paid at the stipulated time. This, however, is contrary to the inclination of the prince; for every merchant who can convey to him an account of these unjust delays, is sure to be paid, and sometimes even with interest.