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Page 116.—talapoins.
This order, which abounds in Siam, Laos, Pegu, and other countries, consists of different classes, and both sexes, but chiefly of men. Relig. Ceremon. vol. IV. p. 62, &c.
Page 116.—objects of pity were sure to swarm around him.
Ludeke mentions the practice of bringing those who were suffering under any calamity, or had lost the use of their limbs, &c. into public, for the purpose of exciting compassion. On an occasion, therefore, of this sort, when Fakreddin, like a pious Mussulman, was publicly to distribute his alms, and the commander of the faithful to make his appearance, such an assemblage might well be expected. The Eastern custom of regaling a convention of this kind is of great antiquity, as is evident from the parable of the king, in the Gospels, who entertained the maimed, the lame, and the blind; nor was it discontinued when Dr. Pocock visited the East. Vol. I. p. 182.
Page 117.—small plates of abominations.
The Koran hath established several distinctions relative to different kinds of food, in imi-
