Note 102 — BOOK SECOND.

Tung king and Cochin-China now form one empire, under the name of Annam or Annan. The king of this country acknowledges the supremacy of the Chinese emperor, and sends every year a tribute to Pekin. The time of the reign of every king is known by an honorary title, like that of the emperors of China. The honorary title of the period of the reigning king, to whom the message was sent, was Kea lung (good fortune), the younger brother of King ching, called by his proper name Făh ying (according to the Chinese Mandarin pronunciation): he is often mentioned in the beginning of the first book of our History of the Pirates. The king, commonly called Kea lung, died Feb. 1820, in the 19th year of his reign. His son, who still reigns, mounted the throne on the third day after his father's death, assuming the words Ming ming (Illustrious fortune), as the designation of his reign. See the "Indo-Chinese Gleaner," vol. i. p. 360. It was falsely reported that Ming ming was murdered some days after his succession to the throne (Indo-Chinese Gleaner, l. c. p. 416), and this report is stated as a fact in the generally very accurate work, Hamilton's East-India Gazetteer, vol. i. p. 430. The reader may find some interesting particulars concerning the present state of Cochin-China, in the Canton Register 1829, No. 13. Chinese influence seems to be now predominating in that country.