the proyince of the same name; and here the Chinese ships put in and are in safety. Having watered at this last place, they begin to enter the sea of Harkand; and having sailed through it, they touch at a place called Lajabalus, where the inhabitants understand not the Arabesque, or any other language in use with merchants. From this place ships steer towards Calabar, the name of a place and a kingdom on the coast, to the right hand beyond India. In ten days after this, ships reach a place called Betuma, where they may water. It is worth the notice, that in all the islands and peninsulas of the Indies, they find water when they dig for it. '
'In ten days from the last mentioned place, they arrive at Senef, here is fresh water, and hence comes the aromatic wood. Having watered at this place, it is ten days passage to Sandarfulat, an island where is fresh water. Then they steer upon the sea of Sanji, and so to the Gates of China; for so they call certain rocks and shoals in the sea, between which is a narrow strait, through which ships pass. It requires a month to sail from Sandarfulat to China, and it takes up eight whole days to steer clear of these rocks. When a ship has got through these Gates, she, with a tide of flood, goes into a fresh water gulph, and drops anchor in the chief port of China, which is that of Canfu; and here they have fresh water, both from springs and rivers, as they have also in most of the other ports of China.
It does not appear, from any thing related by either of the travellers, whether these voyages were made with or without the compass. The origin of this instrument in China, may come under consideration at another time; we can now only remark in passing, that the Chinese, at the present time, 'coast it along' after the same old custom, seldom, if ever, intentionally, going out of sight of land, though always furnished with the compass. Of the situation of foreign residents in China, the first traveller says;
"When merchants enter China by sea, the Chinese seize on their cargo, and convey it to ware-houses; and so put a stop to their business for six months, till the last Merchantman be arrived. Then they take three in ten, or thirty per cent, of each commodity, and return the rest to the merchant. If the Emperor wants any particular thing, his officers have a right to take it preferably to any other person whatsoever; and paying for it to the utmost penny it is valued at, they despatch this business immediately, and without the least injustice.
"If a man would travel from one place to another, he must take two passes with him, the one from the governor, the other from the eunuch or lieutenant. The governor's pass permits him to set out on his journey, and takes notice of the name of the traveller, and those also of his company, the age and family of the one and the other; for every body in China, whether a native, or an Arab, or any other foreigner, is obliged to declare all he knows of himself, nor can he possibly be excused the so doing. The eunuch's or lieutenant's pass specifies the quantities of money, or goods, which the traveller and those wiht him, take along with them. And this is done for the information of the frontier places, where these two passes are examined: for whenever a traveller arrives at any of them, it is regis
