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porcelain, rice, ginger, amber, pepper, cinnamon, a great variety of me dicinal drugs, and fugar *.

Government.] The Great Mogul is an abfolute monarch; but there are fome princes in his dominions, called Rajahs, who maintain their independency. The other kings and princes of India are likewife abfolute, but fome of them tributary, the weaker to the more powerful.

Religion.] The Moors or Moguls, who are a Mixture of Tartars, Perfians, Arabs, &c. are Mahometans; but the natives of India, who are by far the moft numerous, are chiefly Pagans, worshipping idols of various fhapes; many chriftians are fettled on the coaft.

Character.] In general the Indians are ingenious in arts, civil to strangers, and pretty juft in their dealings; fome are of a fwarthy complexion, others are black as jet. They marry very young, the males before 14. females at 10 or 11. A man is in the decline of life at 30, and the beauty of the woman is on the decay at 18; at 25 they have all the marks of old age.

Hiftory. The first conqueror of the whole of this country was Jenghis Khan, a Tartarian prince, who died A. D. 1226. In 1399, Timur Bek, by conqueft, became Great Mogul. The Dynafty continued in his family till the conqueft of Tamerlane in the 15th century, whofe defcendents have poffeffed the throne from that time; but Kouli Khan, the famous Sophi of Perfia, confiderably diminished the power of the Moguls, carried away immenfe treasures from Delhi; and fince that event many of the Rajahs and Nabobs, have made themselves independent.

PERS I A.

OUNDED north, by the Cafpian Sea; eaft, by India; fouth, by the
Perfian Gulf and Indian Ocean; weft, by Afiatic Turkey. Its

length 1450 miles; its breadth 1250.

Capital.] The chief city and refidence of the fovereign is Ifpahan, a fine fpacious town.

Air, foil, and productions.] The north and eaft parts of Perfia are mountainous and cold; the provinces to the fouth-eait are fandy and defart ; thofe on the fouth and weft are very fertile. The air in the fouth is extremely hot in fummer, and very unwholefome. There is fcarcely any country that has more mountains and fewer rivers. The productions of Perfia are fimilar to thofe of India.

Character of the Inhabitants.] The Perfians are a brave, polite, and ingenious people; honeft in their dealings, and civil to ftrangers. Their great foible feems to be oftentation in their equipages.

* For the Conftitution, Government, and the rifing Advantages of the Eaft Indies to Great Britain we must beg leave to refer our Readers to a new Work, intituled, A Sketch of the late Arrangements, and a Review of the rifing Refources of Bengal; by Thomas Law, Efq. late a Member of the Council of Revenue in Fort William. Printed for J. Stockdale. 1792.

9

Religion.]

Religion.] The Perfians, in general, are ftrict followers of Mahomet's doctrine, but differ confiderably from the Turks. There are many Chrif tians in Perfia, and a fect who worship fire, the followers of Zoroafter.

Government. Perfia is governed by an abfolute monarch, called Shah or King, and frequently Sophi. The crown is hereditary, but females are excluded.

Hiftory.] The Perfian empire was founded by Cyrus, after his con queft of Media, 536 years before Chrift. It continued till it was overthrown by Alexander the Great, 331 years before Chrift. A new empire, ftyled the Parthian, was formed by the Perfians under Arbaces, 250 years before Chrift; but in A. D. 229, Artaxerxes reftored it to its ancient title; and in 651, the Saracens put an end to that empire. From this time Perfia was a prey to the Tartars, and a province of Indoftan, till Thomas Kouli Khan, once more raised it to a powerful kingdom. He was affaffinated in 1747.

BOUNDE

ARABIA.

OUNDED north, by Turkey; eaft, by the Gulphs of Persia and Ormus; fouth, by the Straits of Babel-mandel and the Indian Ocean; weft, by the Red Sea; length 1300, breadth 1200.

In that part of Arabia, called the Holy Land, the inhabitants enjoy a pure and healthful air, and a fertile foil. The middle, called Arabia Deferta, is overfpread with barren mountains, rocks, and fandy deferts. But the fouthern parts, defervedly called the Happy, although the air is hot and unwholefome, is bleffed with an excellent, and very fertile foil, producing balm of Gilead, manna, myrrh, caffia, aloes, frankincense, spikenard, and other valuable gums;-cinnamon, pepper, oranges, lemons, &c.

The Arabians, like most of the Afiatics, are of a middling ftature, thin, and of a fwarthy complexion, with black hair and black eyes. They are much addicted to thieving. In 1750, a body of 50,000 Arabians attacked a caravan of merchants and pilgrims, returning from Mecca, killed 60,000 perfons, and plundered them of every thing valuable, though ef corted by a Turkish army.-The Arabians in general are Mahometans, though there are fome Pagans.-They have many princes, fome tributary to the Turks, others independent.-The Arabs are defcended from Ifhmael, of whofe pofterity it was foretold, that they should be invincible, and have their hands against every man, aud every man's hands against them. The famous impofter Mahomet was born at Mecca, in the fixth century. He fled to Medina, A. D. 622. This is called the Hegira or Flight; from whence the Mahometans compute their time. He died 629, having propagated his doctrines through Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and Perfia, leav ing two branches of his race, both efteemed divine by their fubjects.

TURKEY

TURKEY

IN

ASIA.

OUNDED north, by the Black Sea and Circaffia; eaft, by Perfia; fouth, by Arabia and the Levant Sea; weft, by the Archipelago, the Hellefpont, and Propontis; length 1000 miles, breadth 800.

The air is naturally delightful, ferene, and falubrious, yet the inhabitants are frequently vifited with the plague. The foil is calculated to produce all the neceffaries, agreeables, and even luxuries of life.-The Grand Seignior is abfolute fovereign of the Turkish empire, who appoints Bafhaws or Beglerbegs to govern the feveral provinces.-Mahometanifm is the established religion of the Turkish dominions.-The Turks, when young, are well made and robust. Their eyes and hair are black. The women look old at 30.-Turkey in Afia contains many large provinces, particularly Syria, Judea, or Palestine, Phoenicia, &c. which are fubject to the Turks. In Palestine, or the Holy Land, and the Countries adjacent, were Babylon, Damafcus, Nineveh, Tyre, Sidon, Samaria, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Jerufalem the capital, which was taken, pillaged, burnt, and entirely razed to the ground by Titus, the Roman general, under Domitian, in the year 70, and is now a very inconfiderable place, and only famous for what it has been; for there Jefus Chrif preached the chriftian religion, and was crucified by the Jews upon mount Calvary. Ephefus is in the leffer Afia, famous for the temple of Diana, which Eroftratus burnt, in order to immortalize his memory. Near Jerufalem is the lake Afphaltites, or the Dead Sea, being the place where Sodom and Gomorrah ftood. In Mefopotamia, between the Euphrates and the Tigris, is supposed to have been the Garden of Eden. There are now no remains of the tower of Babel, or the city of Babylon, nor is the place where they stood exactly known. Owls now dwell there, and wild beafts and dragons in their pleasant places (Isaiah xiii. 20, &c.) Nineveh too, once the capital of the Affyrian empire, is now known only by its ruins.

THE

ASIATIC IS LE S.

'HE Japan Inlands, forming an empire governed by a most defpotic king, lie about 150 miles eaft of China. The foil and productions of these islands are much the fame as thofe of China. The Japanese are the groffeft idolaters, and irreconcileable to Chriftianity. They are of a yellow complexion, narrow eyes, fhort nofes, black hair. A famenefs of drefs prevails through the whole empire, from the emperor to the peafant. The first compliment offered to a stranger in their houses, is a difh of tea, and a pipe of tobacco. Obedience to parents, and refpect to fuperiors, characterize the nation. Their penal laws are very fevere, but punishment

punishment is feldom inflicted. The inhabitants have made great progrefs in commerce and agriculture.

Formofa is a fine ifland east of China, abounding in all the neceffaries of life.

The Philippines, 1100 in number, lying 200 miles fouth-east of China, belonging to Spain, are fruitful in all the neceffaries of life, and beautifut to the eye. They are, however, fubject to earthquakes, thunder, and lightning, venomous beafts, and noxious herbs, whofe poifon kills inftantaneously. They are fubject to the Spanish government. The Sultan of Mindanao is a Mahometan.

Borneo, 800 miles long, and 700 broad, is thought to be the largest ifland in the world. It lies on the equator, and is famous for being the native country of the Ouran Outang, which, of all irrational animals, resembles a man the most.

Sumatra, weft of Borneo, produces fo much gold that it is thought to be the Ophir mentioned in the Scriptures.

Ceylon belongs to the Dutch, and is faid to be by nature the richest and finest island in the world. The natives call it, with fome fhew of reason, the terreftrial paradife. They are a fober inoffenfive people; but idolaters. This island is noted for the cinnamon tree.

A

FRI C A.

FRICA is fituated fouth of Europe, and furrounded on all fides the Ifthmus of Suez, which joins it to Afia at the north end of the Red Sea. Africa is about 4300 miles in length, and 3500 in breadth; and lies chiefly in the torrid zone, the equator running through the middle of it. Here once dwelt the queen of Sheba, who, on paying a vifit to the magnificent king Solomon, ftood amazed at his wifdom and the glory of his court. Here we find a race of people quite black, supposed to be defcendants of Ham.

Africa will be confidered under the

1 Egypt,

2 Barbary,

3 Zaara or the Defert,

4 Negroland,

7 following divifions:

5 Guinea,

6 Ethiopia,

7 The African Islands.

E G Y P T.

Boundaries.] BOUNDED eaft, by the Red fea and the Ifthmus of Suez;

weft, by Barca; north, by the Mediterranean; fouth, by Nubia and Abyffinia; 600 miles in length, and 350 in breadth, including the Deferts.

Capital Grand Cairo, one of the most populous cities in the world, and a place of great trade and riches.

Air, Soil and Productions.] The air of Egypt is for the most part very hot and unwholefome; but the foil is exceedingly fruitful, occafioned by the annual overflowing of the Nile, which leaves a fattening flime behind it. Those parts not overflowed by the Nile are uncultivated, fandy and barren. Egypt produces corn, rice, fugar, flax, linen, falt, fal ammoniac, balfam, and various forts of fruits and drugs.

Religion and Government.] Egypt is governed by a Bafhaw fent from Conftantinople, being a province of the Turkish empire. The Turks and Arabs are Mahometans. Mahometanism is the established religion of Egypt; but there are many Chriftians called Copts, and the Jews are

very numerous.

Égypt is famous for its pyramids, thofe ftupendous works of folly. The Egyptians were the only people who were acquainted with the art of embalming or preferving dead bodies from putrefaction. Here is the river Nile celebrated for its fertilizing inundations, and for the fubtle, voracious crocodiles which inhabit its fhores. This was the theatre of thofe remarkable tranfactions, which make up the beautiful and affecting hiory of Jofeph. Here Pharaoh exhibited fcenes of cruelty, tyranny, and oppreflion towards the Ifraelites, in the courfe of their 400 years bondage to the Egyptians. Here too Mofes was born, and was preferved in the little ark, among the flags on the banks of the Nile. Here, through the inftrumentality of this great man, the Egyptians were afflicted with many grievous plagues, which induced them at laft to let Ifrael go. Here Mofes, with his rod, divided the Red fea, and Ifrael paffed it on dry land; which the Egyptians attempting to do, were overwhelmed by the returning of the waters. To this fcene, fucceeded the Ifraelites memorable 40 years march through the deferts of Arabia, before they reached the land of Canaan.

BARBARY.

ARBARY (including Bildulgerid) is bounded fouth, by Zaara s caft, by Egypt; north, by the Mediterranean; weft, by the Atlantic Ocean; length 2300 miles, breadth 7c0.

Air, Soil and Productions.] The ftates, under the Roman empire, were justly denominated the garden of the world. The air is temperate, and generally healthful. The foil is rich, producing plenty of corn, fruits and pafture. But fome parts are fandy and barren, and others are overrun with woods and mountains.

Character.] The Moors, who are the original inhabitants of Barbary, dwell chiefly in Morocco, and are faid to be a covetous, inhofpitable, treacherous people. The Arabs, who are difperfed all over this country, follow their common trade of robbing travellers.

The women of Tunis are exceffively handfome, and very delicate. They improve the beauty of their eyes, by the ufe of the powder of leadore, fuppofed to be the fame pigment that Jezebel made ufe of (II Kings ix. 30. to paint her face; the words in the original fignifying, that the fet off her eyes with the powder of lead-ore.

The

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