preserve their records, engraven upon plates of copper in the Hebrew language; and when any of the characters decay, they are cut anew, so that they still possess their history down from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar to the present day.  About the year 1695, Mynheer van Reede had an abstract of this history translated from Hebrew into the Dutch language.  They assert themselves to be of the tribe of Manasseh, a part of which was sent by Nebuchadnezzar to the most easterly province of his large empire, which is alleged to have reached Cape Comorin.  Twenty thousand of them travelled from Babylon to this place in three years, and were civilly and hospitably treated by the inhabitants of Malabar, who allowed them liberty of conscience in religion, and the free exercise of their reason and industry in the management of their secular affairs.  Having increased in numbers and riches, they at length, by policy or wealth, became masters of the small kingdom of Cranganore:  And a particular family among them being much esteemed for wisdom and riches, two of that family were chosen by their elders and senators to govern the commonwealth, and to reign jointly over them.  At length one of the brothers invited his colleague to a feast, at which he basely killed him, thinking to reign alone; but a son of the deceased slew the fratricide, after which the state fell into a democracy, which still continues among the Jews here.  Their lands have, however, reverted for many years into the hands of the Malabars, and poverty and oppression have occasioned many of them to apostatise.

Between Cranganore and Cochin there is an island called Baypin, [Vaypen] four leagues long, but in no part above two miles broad.  The Dutch do not allow any vessels or boats to enter or go out at Cranganore, obliging all to use the river of Cochin, which is a quarter of a mile broad, and very deep, but has a bar on which there is no more than fourteen feet water at spring-tides.  The inhabitants of this country are mostly idolaters, over whom the bramins or priests exercise great authority, which they much abuse, of which the following abominable custom is a strong instance.  When any man marries, he is prohibited from bedding with his wife the first night, which function is performed in his stead by one of the bramins, or, if none of these be at hand, by some other man.  Foreigners used formerly to be often employed on these occasions, as the Malabars made choice of them instead of their own countrymen, often making large presents to the substitutes, sometimes to the value of forty or fifty pounds.  But of late the bramins have become so very religious, that they never fail to execute this duty themselves.  Besides this, the bramins frequent the company of the women so much, that no one of their religion can pretend to know his own father with any certainty.  For which reason, by the laws of this country, sons or daughters never inherit from the husbands of their mothers, but the heritage always goes, to nephews and nieces, by sisters of the deceased born of the same mother, as certainly of his blood.  This rule is observed also in the order of succession in their royal families, and is a glaring proof of the strange effects of boundless superstition.[4]