or Loo-Choo, the name of certain islands of Asia, subject to China; but hitherto little known to geographers, who have been satisfied with marking their existence and latitude in their charts. They, however, form a considerable empire, the inhabitants of which are civilized, and ought not to be confounded with other savage nations dispersed throughout the islands of Asia. Father Gabil, a Jesuit, has furnished us with some interesting details respecting these islanders; and the journals of the officers who visited Loo-Choo in 1817, in the Alceste and Lyra, have made us well acquainted with their manners and situation. Father Gabil informs us, that the emperor Kang-hi having resolved, in 1719, to send an ambassador to the king of Lieou-kieou, chose for this purpose one of the great doctors of the empire, named Supao-Koang. This learned man departed from China in 1719, and returned to Peking in 1720, where, in the year following, he caused a relation of his voyage to be published in two volumes. It is in the first of these that he gives an accurate and particular description of the isles of Loo-Choo; and of the history, religion, manners, and customs, of the people who inhabit them.

These isles, situated between Corca, Formosa, and Japan, are in number 36. The principal and largest is called Loo-Choo; the rest have each a particular denomination. The largest island extends from south-west to north-east about 56 miles, with a breadth of 11 miles. According to the Chinese account, the southeast part of the island, where the court resides, is called Cheou-li; and it is there that Kin-tching, the capital city, is situated. The king's palace, which is reckoned to be four leagues in circumference, is built on a neighbouring mountain. The existence of these islands was not known in China before the year 625 of the Christian era. It was in the course of that year that one of the emperors of the dynasty of Soui, having heard of these isles, was desirous of knowing their situation. This prince at first sent some Chinese thither; but their expedition proved fruitless, as the want of interpreters prevented them from acquiring that knowledge which was the object of their voyage. They only brought some of the islanders with them to Sigan-fou, the capital of the province of Chen-si, which was the usual residence of the emperors of the dynasty of Soui. It fortunately happened, that an ambassador of the king of Japan was then at court. This ambassador and his attendants immediately knew the strangers to be natives of Loo-Choo: but they spoke of these isles as of a miserable and wretched country, the inhabitants of which had never been civilized. The emperor of China afterwards learned, that the principal island lay to the east of a city called at present Fou-tehou-fou, which is the capital of the province of Fokien; and that, in a passage of five days, one might reach the large island where the king kept his court.

On this information, the emperor Yang-ti sent skilful men, accompanied by interpreters, to summon the prince to do homage to the emperor of China, and to pay him tribute. This proposal was very ill received. The king of Lieou-kieou sent back the Chineses, telling them sternly, that he acknowledged no prince to be his superior. This answer irritated the emperor, who, to obtain revenge, caused a fleet to be immediately equipped in Fokien, in which he embarked 10,000 men. This fleet set sail, and arrived in safety at the port of Napa-kiang. The army, in spite of every effort made by the natives, landed on the island; and the king, who had put himself at the head of his troops to oppose the enemy, having fallen in battle, the Chinese pillaged, sacked, and burnt the royal city, made more than 5000 slaves, and returned to China.

It was only in 1372, under the reign of Hong-vou, founder of the dynasty of Ming, that these islands submitted voluntarily to the Chinese government. Hong-vou had sent one of the grandees of his court to Tsay-tou, who was then reigning at Lieou-kieou, to inform him of his accession to the throne. The Chinese nobleman had received particular instructions respecting this commission, and he acquitted himself of it with all the prudence and address of an able minister. In a private audience which he had with Tsay-tou, he exhorted this prince to declare himself a tributary of the empire, and laid before him the advantages he would derive from this step. His reasoning, supported by the power of his natural eloquence, made so much impression on the mind of Tsay-tou, that he embraced the proposal made him, and sent immediately to the emperor to demand the investiture of his states.

Hong-vou received his envoys in a magnificent manner, and loaded them with presents. He solemnly declared Tsay-tou a vassal of the empire; and, after having received his first tribute (which consisted in valuable horses, aromatic wood, sulphur, copper, tin, &c.) he sent to this prince a golden seal, and confirmed the choice he had made of one of his sons for successor. The emperor afterwards sent 36 families, almost all from the province of Fokien, to Loo-Choo. Tsay-tou received them, assigned them lands near the port of Napa-kiang, and appointed certain revenues for their use, at the same time that Hong-vou made them considerable remittances. These families first introduced into Loo-Choo the learned language of the Chinese, the use of their characters, and the ceremonies practised in China in honour of Confucius. On the other hand, the sons of several of the grandees of the court of Tsay-tou were sent to Nan-king, to study Chinese in the imperial college, where they were treated with distinction, and maintained at the emperor's expense.

The isles of Lieou-kieou had neither iron nor porcelain. Hong-vou supplied this want; he caused a great number of utensils of iron and instruments to be made, which he sent thither, together with a quantity of porcelain vessels. Commerce, navigation, and the arts soon began to flourish. These islanders learned to cast bells for their temples, to manufacture paper and the finest stuffs, and to make porcelain, with which they had been supplied before from Japan.

The celebrated revolution which placed the Tartars on the imperial throne of China, produced no change in the conduct of the kings of Licou-kicou. Chang-tché, who was then reigning, sent ambassadors to acknowledge Chun-tchi, and received a seal from him, on which were engraven some Tartar characters. It was then settled, that the king of Loo-Choo should pay his tribute only every two years, and that the number of persons in the train of his envoys should not exceed 150.

A very interesting account of the manners of the inhabitants is given by Captain Hall. 'Their manners,' he says, 'are remarkably gentle and unassuming. They are observant, and not without curiosity; but they require encouragement to induce them to come forward, being restrained, it would seem, by a genteel self-denial, from gratifying curiosity, lest it might be thought obtrusive. Their dress is singularly graceful; it consists of a loose flowing robe, with very wide sleeves, tied round the middle by a broad rich belt or girdle of wrought silk, a yellow cylindrical cap, and a neat straw sandal, over a short cotton boot or stocking. Two of the chiefs wore light yellow robes, the other dark blue, streaked with white, all of cotton. The cap is flat at top. They all carry fans, which they stick in their girdles when not in use; and each person has a short tobacco-pipe in a small bag, hanging, along with the pouch, at the girdle. Many wear printed cottons, others have cotton dresses with the pattern drawn on it by hand, instead of being stamped; but blue, in all its shades, is the prevalent colour, though there were many dresses resembling in every respect Highland tartans. The children, in general, wear more showy dresses than the men; and of the dress of the women we can say nothing, as none have yet been seen. Every person has one of the girdles before described, which is always of a different colour from the dress, and is, in general, richly ornamented with flowers in embossed silk, and sometimes with gold and silver threads. This dress is naturally so graceful, that even the lowest boatmen have a picturesque appearance. Their hair, which is of a glossy black, is shaved off the crown; but the bare place is concealed by their mode of dressing the hair in a close knot over it. Their beards and moustachios are allowed to grow, and are kept neat and smooth. They are rather low in stature, but are well formed, and have an easy graceful carriage, which suits well with their flowing dress. Their colour is not good, some being very dark and others nearly white; but in most instances they are of a deep copper. This is fully compensated for by the sweetness and intelligence of their countenance. Their eyes, which are black, have a placid expression, and their teeth are regular and beautifully white. In deportment they are modest, polite, timid, and respectful; and, in short, appear to be a most interesting and amiable people. The sick were accommodated in the gardens of a temple or place of worship, of which the natives appeared to make very little use, and where they were treated with the kindest and most unwearied attention by all classes of the inhabitants. Milk, eggs, meat, and vegetables, were brought to them every day; and whenever they felt disposed to walk, they were accompanied by one or two of the natives, who took their arms on coming to rough ground, and often helped them up the steep side of the hill behind the hospital, to a pleasant grassy spot on the summit, where the natives lighted pipes for them.'

The rest of the crew, however, and even the officers, were a good deal restricted in their communications with the interior, being specially interdicted from entering the town or large village near the landing place, and generally confined, indeed, either to a walk along the beach, or to the top of a small eminence in the neighbourhood.

'Every person of rank,' says Captain Hall, 'is attended by a lad, generally his son, whose business it is to carry a little square box, in which there are several small drawers, divided into compartments, filled with rice, sliced eggs, small squares of smoked pork, cakes, and fish: and in one corner a small metal pot of sackee, besides cups and chopsticks. By having this always with them, they can dine when and where they choose. They frequently invite us to dine with them; and, if we agree to the proposal, they generally ask any other of the chiefs whom they meet to be of the party, and join dinners. The place selected for these pie-nies is commonly under the trees, in a cool spot, where a mat is spread on the grass; and every thing being laid out in great order, the party lies down in a circle, and seldom breaks up till the sackee pot is empty.'

But it is not only their manners and tempers that are thus singularly agreeable;—their dispositions seem to be thoroughly amiable and gentle, and their honesty and integrity without blemish. During six weeks continual intimacy, the British officers never saw anything approaching to a quarrel or affray, nor any punishment inflicted beyond an angry look, or the tap of a fan; and not an article of any kind was stolen, or suspected to be stolen, though every thing was exposed in a way that might have tempted persons, in whose eyes most of them must have been less rare and precious. To complete this picture of the golden age, it is stated, that the chiefs never once appeared to treat the inferior people with harshness or severity; that there was nothing like poverty or distress of any kind to be seen—no deformed persons—and very little appearance of disease; and finally, that they have no arms of any sort for offence or defence, and positively denied having any knowledge of war, either by experience or tradition. It is at least equally certain, that they have no knowledge of, or regard for money; as, they appeared to set no value whatever either on the dollars or gold pieces that were offered them by the navigators.

As to their knowledge and attainments, they manufacture salt—build stone arches—cultivate their fields, both for rice, millet, sugar, and other crops, with great neatness—weave and stain their cotton cloths with singular taste—and embroider their girdles and pouches with a great deal of fancy and elegance. Their silks and woolens are said to be brought from China; and the latter, Captain Hall conceives, from their appearance, to have come originally from England. The most remarkable person that appeared, was a chief of the name of Madera, who for several weeks dissembled his high rank, and, in the habit of the lower orders, attracted the notice of every one by his singular curiosity and intelligence, and ingratiated himself with every one by his extreme good humour, kindness, and habits of accommodation. In less than a month, he had acquired so much English as to be able to converse very intelligibly, and, on many occasions, to perform the part of an interpreter; and, in a far shorter time, he had so perfectly familiarized himself with our usages, as to have no appearance whatever of awkwardness or embarrassment in the society of the travellers. He and the other chiefs cried bitterly at parting with their English friends.

Their religion, it seems, is that of Buddha or Fo; but it seems to occupy scarcely any share of their regard, and the priests are universally regarded as the lowest and least respected class in the community. These unhappy men are condemned to celibacy, and seemed to have no occupation but to sweep the temple, and keep the walks in the garden in order.