tain having promised to return his visit the following day. Accordingly Captains Maxwell and Hall, with the officers, rowed up the harbour in state, and were met at the landing-place by the principal men of the town, each of whom, taking one of the officers by the hand, led him through the crowd of spectators to the gate of a public building, where the old gentleman attended to welcome them into the house. They sat down to a sumptuous entertainment, at which the utmost good humour prevailed, and many loyal and friendly toasts were given in a liquor called chazzi, which Mr. M'Leod says resembled rosolio. The regularity and decorum which prevailed among so many thousands as were collected together was very remarkable; they formed a lane; those in front being generally boys, mostly kneeling; behind these the second row squatted down; then the men, those who were nearest stooping; behind these again, and outside of all, were others, mounted on stones, or any thing which they could find to elevate them; so that all, without bustle or confusion, might have a view of the strangers: a dead silence prevailed, not even a whisper being heard. The women, it was supposed, had been sent out of the way; they contrived, however, to get to the opposite pier-head, and thus snatched an opportunity of gratifying their curiosity as the boats passed towards the ships. From this moment the most perfect confidence was established between the two nations; the garden of a temple was given up for the accomodation of the ships' crews; the dwellings of the priests were surrendered for an hospital for the sick; temporary buildings were erected for the reception of the powder and stores; and the artificers were established on a convenient spot on the beach. Some spars being wanted, the natives immediately set about felling fir-trees, which they floated down the river and towed to the ships, chanting, as they rowed along, a plaintive air, which nevertheless had a pleasing effect. Every day these interesting people gained ground in the estimation of their English visitors. They seemed to be gifted with a sort of natural politeness, so unrestrained, and so unstudied, that there was not a man in the ships that did not consider the people of Lewchew as his friends. A stronger proof of their conciliating manners and kindly dispositions could not possibly be given than is afforded by the following observation of Mr. M'Leod. That proud and haughty feeling of national superiority, so strongly existing among the common class of British seamen, which induces them to hold all foreigners cheap, and to treat them with contempt, often calling them outlandish lubbers, in their own country, was, on this island, completely subdued and tamed, by the gentle manners and kind behaviour of the most pacific people upon earth. Although completely intermixed, and often working together, both on shore and on board, not a single quarrel or complaint took place on either side during the whole of our stay; on the contrary, each succeeding day added to friendship and cordiality.'-p. 98. On the arrival of the ships at Lewchew they had many cases of severe sickness; and to the kindness of the natives Mr. M'Leod thinks may be attributed, in a great measure, their recovery. The invalids were not only comfortably lodged, but the higher class of people daily attended the hospital, inquiring into their wants, bringing eggs and delicacies to those whose cases more particularly required them, and paying a cheerful attention to the whole: theirs,' says Mr. M'Leod, was a substantial, not a cold or ostentatious charity.' A young seaman, whose case had long been hopeless, died in the hospital. While his coffin was making, the natives dug a grave in a small burial ground under some trees near the landing place. To the astonishment of our people they found, next morning, a number of the principal inhabitants clad in deep mourning, (white robes with black or blue sashes,) waiting to attend the funeral. As the ship's company arranged themselves, two and two, immediately after the coffin, next the midshipmen, then the superior officers, and last of all the captains, as is usual in military ceremonies of this kind, these friendly creatures, who had been watching attentively this arrangement, observing the order of precedence to be inverted, with that unassuming modesty and delicacy which characterized all their actions, without the least hint being given, placed themselves in front of the coffin when the procession began to move, and in the same order marched slowly to the grave. They immediately began to erect a tomb over it; and on a stone, placed at the head, they cut, with great neatness, the following epitaph, which was drawn out with Indian ink, and explained to them, and with which they seemed to be highly gratified. Here lies buried, Aged twenty-one years, William Hares, Seaman, This Monument was erected By the King And Inhabitants Of this most hospitable Island. But their friendly attentions did not end here. The day after the interment they repaired to the tomb with their priests, and performed the funeral service according to the rites of their own reli gion. There 'There is not,' says Mr. M'Leod, an act of these excellent and interesting people which the mind has not pleasure in contemplating and recollecting. Not satisfied with having smoothed the path of death, they carried their kind regards even beyond the grave.". They had no warlike instruments of any description; no weapons, offensive or defensive; and when they saw the effect of the English fowling pieces, they entreated that they would not kill the birds, which, they said, they were pleased with seeing about their houses; adding that if they wished to get them merely for the purpose of eating, they would supply them with plenty of fowls: of course, an order was immediately given to desist. Towards the end of their sojourn on the island, it was intimated that a great man, the presumptive heir to the crown, intended to visit the ship. He embarked, in great state, amidst an immense concourse of people. Every possible honour was paid him by saluting, and manning the yards and rigging. He was richly dressed in silk, and in his deportment there was much dignified simplicity; his own people saluted him by kneeling, clapping the hands before the breast, and bowing the head. He examined every thing on board with minute attention, and, on taking leave, invited the captain and officers to an entertainment on shore. The day appointed happened to be the anniversary of our Sovereign's accession to the throne. A royal salute was fired, and the ships were dressed in colours. On landing, the prince received them at the gate aud conducted them into the hall. There were three tables; one for the prince and two captains; one for the superior officers, and the third for the young gentlemen. It was a day of jubilee at Napafoo. The mutual healths of the two sovereigns were toasted, and the Lewchews, never,' says Mr. M'Leod, deficient in politeness, toasted the wives and children of the Engelees.' The prince reconducted them to the landing place: on their reaching the vessel, they found that a great number of coloured paper lanterns had been sent on board to illuminate the ship at night, in honour of the King of England. Being placed in various parts of the rigging, they produced a beautiful and brilliant effect; and thousands of the natives collected along the shore to view the scene. At length the period of their departure arrived. On the morning of that day the Lewchews, arrayed in their best apparel, proceeded to the temple, where a solemn sacrifice was offered to their gods, invoking them to protect the Engelees, to avert every danger, and to restore them in safety to their native land. In the manner of this adieu,' observes our author, of sublimity and benevolence combined, by far more there was an air touching to the heart heart than the most refined compliment of a more civilized people. It was the genuine benignity of artless nature, and of primitive innocence,' After this, those who had been most intimate with them crowded on board to shake hands and say 'Farewell,' whilst the tears which many of them shed evinced the sincerity of their attachment; as the ships got under weigh they lingered alongside in their canoes, displaying every sign of affectionate regard. 'We stood out to seaward, and, the breeze being favourable, this happy island soon sunk from the view; but it will long be remembered by all the officers and men of the Alceste and Lyra; for the kindness and hospitality of its inhabitants have fixed, upon every mind, a deep and lasting impression of gratitude and esteem.' We could have dwelt with pleasure much longer on these interesting islanders if our limits would permit; but we must content ourselves with referring the reader to Mr. M'Leod; he will not be disappointed of his amusement; and, we are confident, will join with us in thanking the writer for making known an amiable people, of whom the only information we previously had was from Chinese authority, very rarely to be trusted.* According to this, the Lewchews date their fabulous history many thousand years before the creation; and their probable one, a few centuries before the Christian era they became known to the Chinese about the year 600, received their written character and literature in 1187, and were made tributary to them in 1378. They send ambassadors every two years to the court of Pekin. The great island is about 50 miles long and 12 broad; not, as Mr. McLeod says, 60 by 20; it is the principal one of a group of thirty-six, all subject to the same sovereign. The part visited by the ships is called Napa-kiang or Napafoo, and is only five miles from Kin-tching, the capital and residence of the king. Towards the northern extremity of the island is one of the finest harbours in the world, somewhat similar, but far superior, to Port Mahon. It was surveyed by Captain Hall, and named by him Port Melville. Captain Maxwell, we believe, used every means that prudence would allow to obtain an interview with the king, but this could not be granted, as he did not come in any official character. The king however wrote a letter to the Prince Regent in the Chinese character, which was unfortunately lost when the Alceste was wrecked. It was written in a tone of great humility; hoping that the attentions which had been shewn to the shipsthe great ship and her little child'—would be satisfactory to the king of the Engelees. This account is given in the 24th volume of the Lettres Edifiantes, from the report of a Chinese ambassador, who was sent thither in 1719, and the substance of it is also to be found in Grozier. The The Lewchews are a small race of people, the average height of the men not exceeding five feet two inches; but though small, they are sturdy, well-built, and athletic. They are as fair as the southern Europeans, and have no trace either of Indian or Chinese features. All the animal race is diminutive, but all excellent in their kind; the bullocks were plump and well conditioned, but they seldom exceeded in weight 350 pounds : goats and hogs were in the same proportion; the poultry forming the only exception. The visit of our ships it is to be hoped may not prove wholly useless to these worthy people. Captain Hall had fortunately some English potatoes, which they were instructed how to plant; and Captain Maxwell left them a young bull and a cow of English breed; to these was added some wheat, which they promised to cultivate. Their fields were ploughed with much neatness and regularity, and their rice grounds irrigated with great ingenuity. The climate is so delightful, that productions of the vegetable kingdom, distinct in their nature and generally found in regions far distant from each other, grow here side by side. It is not merely,' says M‘Leod, “ the country of the orange and the lime; but the banyan of India and the Norwegian fir, the tea-plant and the sugar-cane, all flourish together.' The ships standing across to the south westward, soon reached Canton, and the Alceste having received on board the ambassador and suite, proceeded to Manilla; and thence homewards: but, in passing through the straits of Gaspar, she struck on a sunken rock, and was totally wrecked; fortunately however all on board escaped to an uninhabited island in the middle of the strait. Very little provisions and scarcely any part of the baggage were saved. The good humour, the calm and manly fortitude, which marked the conduct of Lord Amherst on this trying occasion, afforded an example which never fails, in such cases, to have a powerful and beneficial effect. When Captain Maxwell, who was the last person that left the ship, got on shore, it was settled that Lord Amherst, with about forty of his suite, should go, in the barge and cutter, to Batavia, as the most probable way of ensuring their own safety, and that of their companions on the desolate island, by sending shipping from thence to take them off. Mr. M'Leod gives a circumstantial and interesting narrative of the dangers, the anxieties, and privations of the party left behind. The blockade of the island, by the Malay pirates, whose proas ultimately accumulated to the number of sixty, added not a little to their distressed situation. These ferocious beings, Mr. M'Leod describes as a people of a most unprepossessing aspect: 'their bodies of a deep bronze colour, their black teeth and reddened lips, their gaping nostrils, and lank clotted hair hanging about their shoulders, |