The King is absolute. He can dispose of the goods of his subjects or rather slaves as he pleases. Children have no right of inheritance and whatever the King condescends to leave them is regarded as a personal favour. Although this Kingdom is of large extent it can scarcely put an army of 30,000 men in the field. This petty king is as proud and luxurious as the greatest rulers of Asia and it is this idea of imaginary greatness that frequently renders him insolent towards foreigners.
The country of Champa has a short coast-line with many commodious bays and harbours. Travellers have never penetrated the interior. No other town is known but Feneri, which used to be the royal residence before the country fell under the rule of the Cochin-Chinese, who, flying from Tartar tyranny were welcomed by the people whose rulers they have become. Their weapons are muskets, pikes and sabres in the use of which they show great skill. They are gentle and affable especially to foreigners. They show great respect for law from the King down to the lowest of his subjects. Their code is severe and the slightest faults do not fail to be punished. The people are not allowed to possess silver, and anyone convicted of its possession is severely punished. Gold is an article of trade and copper coin is the only currency. All callings are sold at a price and the consideration they enjoy is proportionate to the price. Whoever has sunk his fortune in the purchase of an office soon recovers his losses by means of exactions which are not punished, so as not to intimidate those who may wish to become office-holders. Liberty of worship is enjoined by the laws but most of the people are either Mahommedans or followers of Confucius; there are also idolators, some of whom worship reptiles and the lowest animals, while others regard the sun and moon as the creative powers.
The Mahomedans of this country do not observe the Koran strictly. They eat pork and are so hospitable that they have no shame in prostituting their wives to their guests. They however make an exception in the case of the principal wife whom they cannot repudiate unless she has been convicted of adultery.
The Chinese come annually to trade in tea, porcelain, silk and various commodities which they barter for scented woods and for gold which is of finer quality than the gold found in China.
No country has had greater commercial intercourse with Siam than Cochin-China, a name signifying Western China given to it by the Portuguese in contradistinction to China proper. The country is easy of access, the harbours are numerous and commodious and a depth of 80 fathoms is common in the bays. The country is densely populated and there are many towns and cities. Its fertility is due to the periodical inundations which leave a fine alluvial deposit on their retreat, and the heat of the sun brings the vegetable products to maturity early and imparts a fine flavour. There is a certain species of tree grown here known as the 'indestructible' as the timber never rots either in water or in the earth. It is used for ship's anchors. The mountains where this tree flourishes also produces various kinds of scented woods and all manner of flowers and perfumes. In this country are quarries of marble of various kinds and numerous gold mines. The inhabitants have learnt the art of smelting metals from the Chinese but they have not divulged the secret to them of casting iron into cannon and mortars. On the mountains are many rhinoceros of a larger size than any others in the Indies. Trade with the interior is considerable, merchants resort to the fairs at which all kinds of merchandize is offered for sale. The silk produced in this land is not of the first quality, but it is so plentiful that it is used for making ropes and sails. The land tortoises furnish oil. A considerable trade is carried on in pepper, sugar, honey and wax. The Chinese and the Japanese have the commercial supremacy. These foreigners are not subject to the laws of the country, they are magistrates who adjudicate all commercial disputes that arise between the traders of their nations. The impressions of the Cochin-Chinese given to us by travellers are partly unfavourable, and partly favourable. The Dutch who have suffered ill usage at their hands accuse them of faithlessness to their promises, of arrogance in their demeanour, and of treachery. Others who have been well received by them praise their kindliness towards foreigners, their commercial rectitude and above all their respect for the duties of hospitality. In spite of these conflicting opinions, all modern travellers concur in the view that their manners are as simple as their customs. Their gentleness of character saves them from acts of violence that in an instant ruin the impressions derived from years of exemplary conduct.
Their diet is simple, the sole articles being rice, fish and vegetables. Their usual beverage is a kind of tea that differs from the Chinese variety. They mingle sugar derived from a certain tree with their drinking water which thus acquires a pleasant taste and odour. They have a few wines, but prefer strong liquors to wine which they nevertheless use in moderation at marriages and other solemn festivals, which are the only occasions of excess. Although dependent on neighbouring nations, they allow their hair to grow long as a sign of their freedom. Their grandees keep up splendid establishments and wear robes embroidered with pearls which they prefer to diamonds. The women are veiled, but uncover their faces in salutation. Their medical men are dressed in black and wear a mitre shaped headdress. They trim neither their beard nor their nails as a sign that they are less desirous to please than to instruct. They know that respectability is well assured by the adaptation of strange habits.
Their houses have no other ornamentations than paintings and gilded sculptures. Marriage ceremonies, funeral rites and festivals are similar to those of the Chinese from whom they are descended, but in this, their new country, they have extinguished the torch of the liberal arts which illumined the land of their origin. It is not that they are without seats of learning, but such as they have are schools of error in which under the pretext of studying astronomy, they devote themselves to all the lies of astrology in order to seek for revelations of the future. They predict eclipses without being able to calculate their exact time, extent and duration and, regarding them as omens of serious evil, employ thousands of weird methods to counteract their supposed malign influence.
The King and all the chief officers of state as well as the learned, follow the doctrines of Confucius, which they have received from their ancestors. They have neither temples nor priests, but all pay deep respect to the great god Tien. The common people, plunged in the depths of the darkest idolatry, give themselves up to the most vulgar superstitions. They have bonzes who are divided into several classes. Some of them live on the produce of the land and waters assigned to them; others, subservient to a chief, live on the alms of the people; a more certain source than the hard won produce of the ground. If we can judge by the filthy state of their temples, most of which are in ruins, it seems that the priests and their devotees are the only persons who are attached to their religion. The foreign missionaries have made great conquests for the faith in these parts and it merely needs a greater number of workers to gather in an abundant harvest.
Those who believe in metempsychosis are loth to kill either the most dangerous animals, or the vilest insects, but by a strange contradiction as is usual in erroneous doctrines, they sacrifice swine to their gods and to the spirits of the departed. They believe that souls which do not pass into other corporeal forms are changed into demons, fairies or goblins. Thus it is that the fear inspired by these malign creatures gives credence to thousands of fables.
The law is no respecter of persons. The King a severe and upright judge passes sentence on the guilty, but his representatives in the provinces are more lenient, as they are amenable to bribery. A woman convicted of adultery is trampled to death by an elephant. A first act of theft is punished by the loss of a finger, the second by the loss of an ear, and the third by death. This graduated system of punishment should be a lesson to those nations generally whose laws inflict the same penalty on one, who by a passing weakness has committed some crime, or on another who is a hardened criminal. False witness is punished according to the nature of the charge brought. When the King pronounces sentence he is mounted on a fine elephant and petitioners may only approach within eighty paces of the royal presence.