Hamilton’s account of the east indies.

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it threw off the yoke. Its produdt is tin, pepper, elephants, and elephants teeth, canes,and damar, a gum that is ufed for making pitch and tar for the ufe of Ihipping. TheKing is poor, proud, and beggarly, he never fails of vifiting ftranger merchants at theircoming to his port, and then, according to cuftom, he muft have a prefent. When theftranger returns the vifit, or has any bufinefs with him, he muft make him a prefent,otherwife he thinks due refpeft is not paid to him, and in return of thefe prefents, HisMajefty will honour the ftranger with a feat near his facred perfon, and will chew alittle betel, and put it out of his royal mouth on a little gold faucer, and fends it by hispage to the ftranger, who muft: take it with all the ftgns of. humility and fatisfaclion, andchew it after him, and it is very dangerous to refufe the royal morfel.

Some ages ago, Ligore was a kingdom of itfelf, and the Kings of Quedah and Ligorefell at variance. He of Quedah invaded the territories of Ligore, and left his Queenand his fon, an hopeful youth about twenty years of age, to govern in his abfence. Themother and fon grew enamoured of each other, and fhe found herfelf with child by thereciprocal efteem they bore one another. She being juftly afraid of the King’s refent-ment on his return, laid the danger before her fon, that threatened them both, and ad-vifed the dutiful child to prevent their death by killing his father. Whereupon, hewrote to the King for leave to give him a vifit in the camp, which favour he obtained,and proceeded accordingly to the place where his father was with his army. At hisarrival he was received by all with great demonftrations of joy, particularly by hisfather, who made him lodge in his own tent. The villain let his father fall afleep, andthen ftabbed him to the heart, and immediately left the army, and haftened to his lovingmother, to give her an account of his noble action. In the morning the King beingfound dead, and the fon gone, the regicide was foon known; and becaufe the Queenfhould not continue long a widow, the obedient child married her himfelf, becaufe nonein the country had royal blood in their veins but himfelf, and (he could not ftoop tomatch below the dignity of a fovereign prince. Such libidinous marriages are veryfrequent in this country to this prefent time.

Perah is the next country to Quedah. It is properly a part of the kingdom of Johore ,but the people are untradtable and rebellious, and the government anarchical. Theirreligion is heterodox Mahometifm. The country produces more tin than any in India ,but the inhabitants are fo treacherous, faith lefs, and bloody, that no European nationcan keep factories there with fafety. The Dutch tried it once, and the firft year hadtheir factory cut off. They then fettled on Pullodingding, an ifland at the mouth ofthe river Perah, but about the year 1690, that factory was alfo cut off, and I neverheard that any body elfe ever attempted to fettle there fince.

There are feveral other places along that coaft of Malaya, that produce great quan-tities of tin, but Salangore and Parfalore are the mod noted, though little frequented byEuropeans, becaufe they have too many of the Perah qualities, to be trufted with honeftmen’s lives and money. Their religion is alfo a fort of fcoundrel Mahometifm.

Chap. XXXIX • ■— Gives an Account of Malacca, how the Portuguese got footing there,and fortified it, and how the Dutch fupplanted the Portuguese , and made it a Colony oftheirs, with fome Occurrences happening to the Scots Company's Affairs there, and otherPlaces in India .

MALACCA is the next place in courfe along this coaft of Malaya. Before thePortuguese came to India, it had been the place of refidence of the King of Johore ,

VOL. VIII. 3 K . but