a considerable island of Asia, situated in between 18° and 22° N. Lat. It is subject to China, and belongs to the province of Quang-ton. It has on the north the province of Quang-si; on the south the channel formed between the bank Paracel and the eastern coast of Cochinchina; on the west, the same kingdom and part of Tong-king; and on the east, the Chinese sea. Its extent from east to west is between 60 and 70 leagues, and from north to south 45; this island therefore is about 160 leagues in circumference. Kiun-tcheou-fou, its capital, stands on a promontory, and ships often anchor at the bottom of its walls. Two different kinds of mandarins command here, as in all the other provinces of China: the first are called literati; the second, mandarins of arms, or military officers. Its jurisdiction extends over three cities of the second class and ten of the third. The greater part of the island is under the dominion of the emperor of China; the rest is independent, and inhabited by a free people, who have never yet been subdued. Compelled to abandon their plains and fields to the Chinese, they have retreated to the mountains in the centre of the island, where they are sheltered from the insults of their neighbours.

These people formerly had a free and open correspondence with the Chinese. Twice a-year they exposed, in an appointed place, the gold which they dug from their mines, with their eagle-wood, and calamba, so much esteemed by the Orientals. A deputy was sent pleasant and temperate, and the soil fruitful: it abounds in rich pastures, corn-fields, woods and forests, coal, iron, lead, beautiful marble, slate, and other useful stones: it is well watered by rivers and lakes, and breeds abundance of black cattle, and sheep whose wool is very fine. Its principal rivers are the Schelde, the Selle, and the Dender. This province is reckoned to contain 24 walled towns, 950 villages, one duchy, and several principalities, earldoms, peerdoms, and baronies. The abbeys in it are 27. For spiritual matters, the greater part of it is subject to the archbishop of Cambry, and the rest to the bishops of Liege and Arras. The states of the province consist of the clergy, nobility, and commoners. The clergy are the abbots, deputies of the chapters, and rural deans; but the chapters of St Wandru and St Germain, in Mons, send no deputies, as they contribute nothing to the public taxes. The nobility consist of the earls and barons, and all those who by their birth have a right to a seat in the assembly of the states. The commoners are composed of the deputies of the towns. The clergy in this county are uncommonly rich. The states meet only when they are summoned by the sovereign; but there is a standing committee at Mons which meets weekly. This county had counts of its own, till the year 1436; when Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, arrived to the possession of it, upon the death of Jaqueline, the heiress, without issue. The French acquired that part of it which they possess, partly by the peace of the Pyrenees, and partly by those of Nimeguen and Ryswick. It was formerly governed by a sovereign council, at the head of which was the high bailiff, who had very great authority; he represented the sovereign, was governor of Mons, and captain-general of the province. By the treaty of Luneville, the whole of the province was ceded to France.