from different nations, and trained to different habitsthe want of religion so prevalent among seamenthe unrestrained licentiousness of the mass-the triumphant detail of disgraceful conduct on shore, embellished by their own wit, and set off by the most pithy vulgarisms and blasphemies they have ever heard -usually prove as fatal to every correct moral sentiment, as do the tar and grease, and dirt, the element of the forecastle, to all ideas of refinement and delicacy.

To these general facts, it is pleasing to know there are exceptions. Wealth and piety have been acquired at sea, and the latter is occasionally found among sailors; but alas ! the want of each is too common to encourage the hazardous experiment.

A few days after leaving China, we made the coast of Cochin-China, and saw as its most prominent object, something in appearance like a pagoda, towering on the summit of a high hill. The distance was too great to define the object, but we have since learned that it is a rock of this curious formation.

Cochin-China is a kingdom of considerable importance. Including Tonquin, and a part of Cambojia, which are now annexed to it, it covers a large extent of country, and contains a hardy, energetic, and intelligent population. The Chinese language is well understood by the inhabitants of Annam—the native appellation of their own country-although they employ another character, in common intercourse, which bears affinity to the ancient Chinese, or seal character. The Roman Catholics have long had a footing in this kingdom. They reckon about three hundred thou

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sand converts, the great majority being in Tonquin. Formerly they were high in favor at the court, but upon the death of the king, whom bishop Adran brought over to France for education, their influence diminished, and recently they have suffered severe persecution. Those who have visited Cochin-China for trade, give no favorable account of the honesty or liberality of the natives. They are represented as rather cruel and intolerant, disposed to take advantage of strangers, and unfriendly to the admittance and residence of foreigners among them. How far the latter may be the policy of government, as in China, we can only conjecture--but that many of those traits of character, which render them peculiarly offensive to Protestant strangers, are produced, at least strengthened, by the intolerant spirit of Catholicism, there is strong reason to believe. The nation may be influenced and approached through Siam or Cambojia ; or it might be benefited by more direct means. The possibility of the latter can be ascertained only through the visit of a trading ship.

We spent two days in procuring water and fuel, on the coast of Sumatra. During this time the passengers and officers amused themselves on shore, in walking, shooting, picking shells, &c.

With the exception of a few temporary huts, without inhabitant, there was not a human vestige to be seen. Traces of elephants and deer, with an abundance of snipe and quails, proclaimed the wildness of the region; while swarms of most voracious and adhesive insects furnished a sufficient reason for the absence of man. It was remarkable that though nothing which indicated the presence of human beings could be discovered, yet

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the last boat had scarcely put off from the shore, before smoke began to ascend, and fires to glow, in the very place we had left. Near this very spot, a young midshipman, belonging to the Company's service, was murdered a few years ago.

He had wandered a short distance from his party, and in a moment was attacked by a number of natives, and transfixed with a volley of arrows. The next morning we were visited by two or three small canoes, manned by half-naked, puny natives, bringing a few fowls to sell or barter.

A few hours after leaving Sumatra, the ship was again riding at anchor abreast of Angier. As soon as she was descried, boats were sent from the neighboring islands, with poultry, yams, fruit, birds, monkeys, &c., all in great abundance, and at the most reduced prices.

The most striking peculiarity of the natives, is the artificial shape and color of their teeth. They conceive it a mark of beauty, some say of distinction from the brute creation, to pass a file horizontally over the center of the front teeth, giving to them the form of a crescent, and then to stain them with a vegetable preparation, which often renders them as black as jet. The appearance is rather disgusting to a stranger, and the disagreeable effect is not diminished by the general custom among both sexes, of crammig their mouths with betel, cere, and tobacco--the latter of which is left to protrude beyond the lips. This mixture, as might be supposed, produces an action of the salivary glands, and the vicinity of their persons shows that they are regardless of the delicacy of any who may be near them.

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CHAPTER VIII.

JAVA.

Angier is the point of Java where ships in the favorable monsooris pass, and generally call for supplies of water and provisions. It is situated on a large plain, adorned with extensive groves of cocoanut trees, and flanked by an amphitheater of the most diversified and picturesque hills. The luxuriance of the verdure mantling every part of the plain, and decking the sloping sides and the summits of the highlands--with a charming variety of lofty forests, and spreading fields, produced the most favorable impression of the fertility and beauty, for which the island is famed.* A small fort, a Bungalo or two, and a native village stand in close vicinity, near the shore. As there is no hotel in the place, I went immediately to the residence of one of the Dutch gentlemen, to whom I had letters, and who received me with much kindness.

Supposing that I was anxious to proceed to Batavia without delay, and being unable to provide a carriage immediately, arrangements were made to have

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me transported on the shoulders of the natives, for the first twenty miles. The idea of being carried such a distance, in a confined chair, over bad roads, and through almost incessant showers, would not have been agreeable, even had I known the native language, been familiar with the way, and acquainted with the persons on whose hospitality I was obliged to trespass, for the night. As my kind host had made every preparation, under the evident impression that I could not delay, and there appeared to be no alternative to a speedy departure, at least without violating all the rules of politeness, I was on the point of taking my position in the vehicle---which, from its structure must have been recumbent, when the crack of a whip and the rattling of wheels, announced the approach of a more comfortable conveyance. It proved to be a government coach, which was hired to travelers, and which would be ready the next day to convey me to Batavia.

I was struck with the timely interposition of Providence, and the more so, as I had scarcely dismissed from my mind the recollection of similar circumstances, when the most seasonable and unexpected relief was experienced, and when comfort rather than necessity, appeared to be consulted. It is but one favorable incident of a series, which connect the hours of earliest remembrance with the present moment, many of which have been too special ever to be forgotten.

January 20, Batavia.---As the arrangements were not made as early as was first expected, I remained at Angier until yesterday morning. About seven, A. M, we started with the expectation of proceeding forty

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