in China. The imperial palace occupies a vast extent; and is indeed, a considerable town of itself. The houses in general are low and mean, but the residences of the numerous princes and great officers are splendid, according to the style of the country.

Miaco, near the centre of the same island, the spiritual capital, is the second city in size, but the first for commerce, and the seat of many manufactures. Its population is reckoned at above 400000. Nagasaki, in the island of Kiusiu, is the port allotted for foreign commerce. It is a large city, at the mouth of a broad, but shallow river, which surrounds it. Opposite to it is the small island of Desima, on which the Dutch have their factory. They are kept there in a state of imprisonment, being allowed no access to the country, except at the time of an annual visit, which their chief, with some attendants, is obliged to make to the court at Jedo. These journeys, though conducted under strict guard, have been the only modern sources of our knowledge of the interior state of this empire.

JESSO. To the north of Nipon lies a large island called Jesso or Chicha; by the natives Insu. This is inhabited by an uncivilized but harmless people, tributary to the Japanese, some of whom reside in the island, and with great vigilance prevent any intercourse between the inhabitants and foreigners. The country appears to be pleasant and fertile, and adapted to all the productions of the temperate zone; yet it is little cultivated, and fish is the principal sustenance of the natives. If Japan be really overpeopled, it seems extraordinary that more of the Japanese do not colonize this island; but narrow suspicion has apparently taken place of all liberal and enlarged principles of policy in this empire.

SAGALIEN, or TCHOKA, a large island due north from Jesso, extending from the 46th to the 54th degree of N. latitude, but with a disproportionate breadth, called by the natives Tchoka, was unexplored till the voyage of the late unfortunate navigator Perouse. The Russians were acquainted with the northern part of it, which they named Sagalien, as lying opposite to

the mouth of the great river of that name, or the Amur. The Japanese are conversant with the southern part, which they call Oku Jesso. A long narrow channel runs between this island and the coast of Tatary, which grows shallower on proceeding northwards, so as to prevent the passage of large vessels; and it may possibly be here joined by sand-banks to the continent. The country is mountainous towards the centre, and overgrown with wood, The shores are level, and well fitted for cultiva, tion. The inhabitants are a mild and intelligent race, different in feature from the Tatars and Chinese, and live nearly in what is termed the savage state. In the south they possess articles which appear to be procured by traffic from Japan,

EAST INDIAN ISLANDS.

TO the south of all the countries of eastern Asia above described lies a numerous range of islands, some of them among the largest on the globe, and all filled with the richest and rarest products of the tropical regions. On a general survey they appear like the wrecks of some former continent, equalling in mass some of the large portions into which the main land of Asia is divided, and torn by the sea into a great variety of irregular shapes. Amidst this irregularity there may, however, be distinguished a grand outline, formed by the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bally, Sumbava, Floris, Timor, and some smaller, which, stretching from the peninsula of Malacca to New Guinea, presents a crescent-like front to the waters of the Indian ocean, and embraces within its shelter the great group of islands extending northwards into the sea of China.

SUMATRA. This great island, running nearly parallel to the Malayan coast, from which it is separated by a narrow strait, is cut into nearly two equal parts by the equator. It extends, in a direction from north-west to south-east, to the length of 950 miles, by a breadth of about 200. The face of country is in general uneven, a chain of mountains pervading its whole length, consisting in many parts of a double or triple range, and approaching nearest to the western coast. One of the highest points, named mount Ophir, situated directly under the equator, has been found by mensuration not greatly inferior in height to Mont Blanc in Savoy. Between the ridges are elevated plains, with lakes, the sources of rivers. Many streams fall to the western side, whose channels are too shallow and broken to serve the purposes of navigation.

The soil, for the most part, is a stiff clay covered with a fertile black mould. In the lower parts, between the mountains and the sea, are large swamps. The internal country, especially towards the south, is overrun with impenetrable forests. The heat is more moderate in this and the other tropical islands than on the continent, even much more remote from the equator. The seasons are divided into the rainy and dry; the former comprehending the months from November to March, the latter, those from May to September: the intermediate months have variable weather.

Of the vegetable products, rice is cultivated for common food; and sagó, a farinaceous substance formed in the stem of a species of palm, is also much used. Other articles, either wild or cultivated, are pepper, camphor, gum-benzoin, cassiacinnamon, cotton, coffee, the rattan and bamboo canes, and various kinds of timber and dying wood.

Of domestic animals, there are the horse, cow, and sheep, all of small breeds, and the buffalo, which is principally employed in labour. The wild animals are the elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, and the tiger, which is no where more formidable or frequent. The number of people devoured by tigers on their journeys, or when engaged in their domestic occupations, surpasses belief; and instances are related of whole villages depopulated by them. By an unfortunate superstition the natives are withheld from using means for the destruction of these ravagers, which multiply in security in the woods and thickets. A similar prejudice prevails with respect to the alligators, with which the rivers abound, and which carry off many people while bathing. A very beautiful species of the pheasant, called the Argus, and the common poultry in a wild state, called jungle-fowl, enliven the Sumatran prospects.

Among mineral products, gold is frequently met with, but of inferior purity; tin is an article of exportation, and there are ores of excellent iron.

Of the inhabitants of Sumatra, those on the coast are chiefly Malays, and have the language, manners, and religion of that people, as in their original peninsula. In the interior are dif

ferent tribes of natives, of whom those called Rejangs seem to be the purest race. They are described as being rather short and slender, with yellow complexions, of simple manners, and singularly modest, grave, and temperate, but servile, indolent, improvident, and uncleanly. Their civilization is of a low degree, and their arts are few. They live in villages, governed by a kind of patriarchal chief, and over all a prince presides with a vague authority. They have no religious worship, but believe in the existence of spiritual beings, whom they regard with superstitious dread. Their reverence for tigers and alligators seems to imply a notion of the transmigration of souls.

Another native sovereignty is that of Batta. These people, from their custom of eating prisoners taken in war, appear to be in a more savage state. The languages of these. two are different, and, what is remarkable, are written in totally distinct characters. In the north-western extremity of the island is the kingdom of Acheen, frequently mentioned in the commercial history of the East-Indies. Its natives are stouter and of a darker complexion than those of the other parts. They carry on a considerable trade with the Coromondel coast.

The principal Malayan state is called Menang Cabul. Its people excel in filigree work in gold and silver, and in the manufacture of silk and cotton stuffs. It is affirmed that there are savage races in the mountains of the interior covered with hair, and nearly approaching to orang-outangs. The English East-India company has established the settlement of Bencoolen on the western part of Sumatra, chiefly on account of the pepper trade. It is one of the most unhealthy of the European factories.

The island of BANCA, lying off the south-eastern coast of Sumatra, is noted for its abundant produce of tin, of which the Dutch have long exported great quantities without exhausting the mines.

JAVA. Separated from the south-eastern point of Sumatra by a narrow channel called the Strait of Sunda, lies the island