Hamilton’s account of the east indies;

429

difgrace, he uled his intereft with the King to have him reftored again to favour, unlefsthey were guilty of atrocious crimes, and, in that cafe, he ufed his endeavours to havethe rigour of the punifhment extenuated.

All the Pegu clergy are mediators in making up cafes of debate and contention thathappen among neighbours. They never leave mediating till there be a reconciliation,and, in token of friendlhip, according to an ancient cuftom there, they eat champockfrom one another’s hand, and that feals the friendlhip. This champock is tea of a veryunfavoury tafte j it grows,, as other tea does, on bulhes, and is in uie on fuch occafionsalt over Pegu.

And now, fince I muff leave Pegu, I mull not omit giving the clergy their duepraifes in another particular practice of their charity. If a ftranger has the misfortuneto be fbipwrecked on their coaft, by the laws of the country, the men are the King’sHaves, but by the mediation of the church, the governors overlook that law; and whenthe unfortunate ftrangers come to their baws, they find a great deal of hofpitality, bothin food and raiment, and have letters of recommendation from the priefts of one con-vent to thofe of another on the road they defign to travel, where they may expertveffels to tranfport them to Syrian ; and if any be ficlc or maimed, the priefts, who arethe Peguer’s chief phyficians, keep them in their convent, till they are cured, andthen furnilh them with letters, as is above obferved, for they never enquire which waya ftranger worlhips God , but if he is human, he is the objett of their charity.

There are fome Chriftians in Syrian of the Portugueze offspring, and fome Arme-nians . The Portugueze have a church, but the fcandalous lives of the priefts andpeople, make them contemptible to all people in general.

I have only to add to my obfervations of Pegu, that, in former times, Martavan wasone of the moft flourilhing towns for trade in the eaft, having the benefit of a nobleriver, which afforded a good harbqur for Ihips of the greateft burden ; but, after theBarmaes conquered it, they funk a number of vefl'els full of ftones, in the mouth ofthe river, fo that now it is unnavigable, except for fmall veffels. They make earthen-ware there ftill, and glaze them with lead-ore.. 1 have feen fome jars made there, thatcould contain two hoglheads of liquor. They have alfo ftill a fmall trade in filh. Theirnrnllet dried is the beft dry filh I ever tailed, either in India or Europe .

The iflandsoff the coal! of Pegu, are the Cocoes, uninhabited, but full of cocoa-nut trees. They lie about 20 leagues weft-fouth-weft from Cape Negrais r and the'Hands Perperies lie 36 leagues fouth of the faid cape. They are high iftands unin-habited, and fo environed with rocks under water, that there is danger in landing onthem. They feem to be overgrown with woods, and that is all that I could obferve ofthem. There is another fmall ifland called Commoda, that lies about 10 leagues off thecoaft of Pegu, but is not inhabited.

Chap. XXXVIII. — Treats of Merjee and Tanacerin, and of theSea-coaftintheKingof Siam ’s Dominions ; of the Mafj'acre there of the Englijh in Anno 1687 ; alfo of Que~dah, and the other maritime Countries and Iflands as far as Malacca .

THE next place on the continent, to the fouthward, is Merjee, a town belonging tothe King of Siam, fituated on the banks of the river of Tanacerin, lying within a greatnumber of fmall uninhabited iftands. The harbour is fafe, and the country producesr jce, timber for building, tin, elephants, elephants’ teeth, and Agala wood. In formertunes a good number of Englilh free merchants were fettled at Merjee, and drove a