opper
is also found here, of which they make very good cannon. There are
likewise found several sorts of precious stones. There is a burning
mountain on the island, which continually throws forth flame and
smoke, like Etna in Sicily; and there is said to be a fountain of
balsam, or petroleum. This island abounds also in spice and silk; but
the air is not very wholesome, especially to strangers, owing to the
great numbers of rivers, standing waters, and thick forests, which
every where abound. It produces no wheat, nor any other of the grains
which grow in Europe; but has plenty of rice, millet, and fruits,
which afford good and sufficient nourishment for the inhabitants. It
produces also, in great abundance, honey, bees-wax, ginger, camphor,
cassia, pepper, and many Other valuable articles. It is of great
extent, being 310 leagues long from N.W. to S.E. and about 50 leagues
across at an average. The greatest sovereign in the island is the king
of _Acheen, Atcheen_, or Achem, who resides in a city of that name
at the N.W. end of the island. It was formerly always governed by a
woman, and it is not above forty years ago since the government fell
into the hands of a man, since which several attempts have been made
to restore the old constitution. Acheen is a free port, to which the
English, Dutch, Portuguese, and Chinese resort, and in short all the
trading nations of Europe and Asia. The goods brought there are rich
brocades, silks of all kinds, muslins of all sorts, raw silk, fish,
butter, oil, and ammunition, for which the payments are mostly made in
gold, the great commodity of the country, and remarkably fine.

During the western monsoon, the rains fall here with prodigious
violence, attended with terrible storms of thunder and lightning, and
frequent earthquakes; but the people, being used to them, are not much
alarmed. The nations are, generally speaking, Mahometans, and are very
expert in making all sorts of plate and ornaments in gold, with very
few tools, yet with such inimitable dexterity, that their workmanship
sells at a high rate all over India. The company sends a great number
of slaves to this island every year to work in their gold-mines; but
the kings in that part of the country are seldom on good terms with
the Dutch, with whom they often quarrel. The principal places where
gold is found are _Trion_ and _Manicabo_, and the way in which they
procure the gold is as follows:--They dig trenches at the bottom