Hence it is evident, that the sea surrounds all the country of China and Sila or Cila, the uttermost parts of Turkestan, and the country of the Chozars, and that it communicates by the strait with that which washes the coast of Syria. This is proved by the structure of the wreck; of which the planks were not nailed or bolted, like all those built in the Mediterranean, or on the coast of Syria, but joined together in an extraordinary manner, as if sewed, and none but the ships of Siraff are so fastened. We have also heard it reported, that ambergris has been found on the coast of Syria, which seems hard to believe, and was unknown to former times. If this be true, it is impossible that amber should have been thrown up on the sea of Syria, but by the sea of Aden and Kolsum, which has communication with the seas where amber is found. And as God has put a separation between these seas, it must have necessarily been, that this amber was driven from the Indian Seas into the others, in the same direction with the vessel of Siraff[6].
[6] There is a vast deal of error in this long paragraph. It certainly was impossible to ascertain the route or voyage of the wreck, which was said to have been cast away on the coast of Syria. If it could have been ascertained to have come from the sea of the Chozars, or the Euxine, by the canal of Constantinople, and the Egean, into the gulf of Syria, and actually was utterly different from the build of the Mediterranean, it may or must have been Russian. If it certainly was built at Siraff, some adventurous Arabian crew must have doubled the south of Africa from the east, and perished when they had well nigh immortalized their fame, by opening up the passage by sea from Europe to India: And as the Arabian Moslems very soon navigated to Zanguebar, Hinzuan, and Madagascar, where their colonies still remain, this list is not impossible, though very unlikely. The ambergris may have proceeded from a sick cachalot that had wandered into the Mediterranean.
The north-east passage around the north of Asia and Europe, which is adduced by the commentator, in Harris's Collection, is now thoroughly known to be impracticable.--E.
The province of Zapage is opposite to China, and distant from thence a month's sail or less, if the wind be fair. The king of this country is styled Mehrage, and his dominions are said to be 900 leagues in circumference, besides which, he commands over many islands which lie around; so that, altogether, this kingdom is above 1000 leagues in extent. One of these islands is called Serbeza, which is said to be 400 leagues in compass; another is called Rhami, which is 800 leagues round, and produces red-wood, camphor, and many other commodities. In the same kingdom is the island of Cala, which is the mid passage between China and the country of the Arabs. This island is 80 leagues in circumference, and to it they bring all sorts of merchandize, as aloes wood of several kinds, camphor, sandal wood, ivory, the wood called cabahi, ebony, red-wood, all sorts of spice, and many others; and at present the trade is carried on between this island and that of Oman. The Mehrage is sovereign over all these islands; and that of Zapage, in which he resides, is extremely fertile, and so populous, that the towns almost touch each other, no part of the land being uncultivated. The palace of the king or Mehrage, stands on a river as broad as the Tigris at Bagdat or Bassora; but the sea intercepts its course, and drives its waters back with the tide; yet during the ebb the fresh water flows out a good way into the sea. The river water is let into a small pond, close to the king's palace, and every morning the master of the household brings an ingot of gold, wrought in a particular manner, and throws it into the pond, in presence of the king. When the king dies, his successor causes all these ingots, which have been accumulating during the reign of his predecessor, to be taken out; and the sums arising from this great quantity of gold are distributed among the royal household, in certain proportions, according to their respective ranks, and the surplus is given to the poor.
Komar is the country whence the aloes wood, which we call Hud al Komari, is brought; and it is a very populous kingdom, of which the inhabitants are very courageous. In this country, the boundless commerce with women is forbidden, and indeed it has no wine. The kingdoms of Zapage and Komar are about ten or twenty days easy sail from each other, and the kingdoms were in peace with other when the following event is said, in their ancient histories, to have occurred. The young and high-spirited king of Komar was one day in his palace, which looks upon a river much like the Euphrates, at the entrance, and is only a day's journey from the sea. One day, in a discourse with his prime minister, the conversation turned upon the glory and population of the kingdom of the Mehrage, and the multitude of its dependent islands, when the king of Komar expressed a wish to see the head of the Mehrage of Zapage on a dish before him. The minister endeavoured to dissuade him from so unjust and rash an attempt; but the king afterwards proposed the same exploit to the other officers of his court. Intelligence of this project was conveyed to the Mehrage, who was a wise and active prince, of consummate experience, and in the flower of his age; and who immediately ordered a thousand small ships to be fitted out, with all necessary arms and provisions, and manned with as many of his best troops as they were able to transport; carefully concealing the purpose of this armament, but giving out that he meant to visit the different islands under his authority, and even caused letters to be written to the tributary kings of these islands to prepare for his reception. When every thing was in readiness, he sailed over to the kingdom of Komar, the king of which, and all his courtiers, were a set of effeminate creatures, who did nothing all day long but view their faces in mirrors, and pick their teeth. The Mehrage landed his troops without delay, and immediately invested the palace, in which the king was made prisoner, all his attendants having fled without fighting. Then the Mehrage caused proclamation to be made, granting entire security of life and property to all the inhabitants of the country; and seating himself on the throne, caused the captive king and the prime minister to be brought into his presence. Addressing himself to the fallen monarch, he demanded his reasons for entertaining a project so unjust, and beyond his power to execute, and what were his ultimate intentions if he had succeeded. To this the king of Komar made no answer; and the Mehrage ordered his head to be struck off. To the minister, the Mehrage made many compliments, for the good advice he had given his master, and ordered him to place the person who best deserved to succeed upon the vacant throne; and then departed to his own dominions, without doing the smallest violence or injury to the kingdom of Komar. The news of this action being reported to the kings of China and the Indies, added greatly to their respect for the Mehrage; and from that time, it has been the custom for the kings of Komar to prostrate themselves every morning towards the country of Zapage, in honour of the Mehrage[7].
[7] It is difficult to say anything certain of the countries to which this story relates; which may have been some of the islands now called Philipines, or perhaps some of the islands in the straits of Sunda. --Harris.
Such is the opinion of the editor of Harris's Collection. But I am disposed, especially from the rivers mentioned, to consider Zapage as Pegu; and that Malacca, Sumatra, and Java, were the dependent islands; and particularly, that Malacca, as the great mart of early trade, though actually no island, was the Cala of Abu Zeid. Siam, or Cambodia may have been the kingdom of Komar.--E.
All the kings of China and the Indies believe in the metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls, as an article of their religion, of which the following story, related by a person of credibility, is a singular instance. One of these princes having viewed himself in a mirror, after recovering from the small-pox, and noticing how dreadfully his face was disfigured, observed, that no person had ever remained in his body after such a change, and as the soul passes instantly into another body, he was determined to separate Ha soul from its present frightful body, that he might pass into another. Wherefore he commanded his nephew to mount the throne, and calling for a sharp and keen scymitar, ordered his own head to be cut off, that his soul might be set free, to inhabit a new body. His orders were complied with, and his body was burnt, according to the custom of the country.
Until the late revolution had reduced them to their present state of anarchy, the Chinese were wonderfully regular and exact in every thing relative to government; of which the following incident affords a striking example. A merchant of Chorassan, who had dealt largely in Irak, and who embarked from thence for China, with a quantity of goods, had a dispute at Canfu with an eunuch, who was sent to purchase some ivory, and other goods for the emperor, and at length the dispute ran so high, that the merchant refused to sell him his goods. This eunuch
