and rash an attempt; but the king afterwards proposed the same exploit to the other officers of his court.  Intelligence of this project was conveyed to the Mehrage, who was a wise and active prince, of consummate experience, and in the flower of his age; and who immediately ordered a thousand small ships to be fitted out, with all necessary arms and provisions, and manned with as many of his best troops as they were able to transport; carefully concealing the purpose of this armament, but giving out that he meant to visit the different islands under his authority, and even caused letters to be written to the tributary kings of these islands to prepare for his reception.  When every thing was in readiness, he sailed over to the kingdom of Komar, the king of which, and all his courtiers, were a set of effeminate creatures, who did nothing all day long but view their faces in mirrors, and pick their teeth.  The Mehrage landed his troops without delay, and immediately invested the palace, in which the king was made prisoner, all his attendants having fled without fighting.  Then the Mehrage caused proclamation to be made, granting entire security of life and property to all the inhabitants of the country; and seating himself on the throne, caused the captive king and the prime minister to be brought into his presence.  Addressing himself to the fallen monarch, he demanded his reasons for entertaining a project so unjust, and beyond his power to execute, and what were his ultimate intentions if he had succeeded.  To this the king of Komar made no answer; and the Mehrage ordered his head to be struck off.  To the minister, the Mehrage made many compliments, for the good advice he had given his master, and ordered him to place the person who best deserved to succeed upon the vacant throne; and then departed to his own dominions, without doing the smallest violence or injury to the kingdom of Komar.  The news of this action being reported to the kings of China and the Indies, added greatly to their respect for the Mehrage; and from that time, it has been the custom for the kings of Komar to prostrate themselves every morning towards the country of Zapage, in honour of the Mehrage[7].

All the kings of China and the Indies believe in the metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls, as an article of their religion, of which the following story, related by a person of credibility, is a singular instance.  One of these princes having viewed himself in a mirror, after recovering from the small-pox, and noticing how dreadfully his face was disfigured, observed, that no person had ever remained in his body after such a change, and as the soul passes instantly into another body, he was determined to separate Ha soul from its present frightful body, that he might pass into another.  Wherefore he commanded his nephew to mount the throne, and calling for a sharp and keen scymitar, ordered his own head to be cut off, that his soul might be set free, to inhabit a new body.  His orders were complied with, and his body was burnt, according to the custom of the country.