islets. Towards the north they are low and full of shoals. There are comparatively few good harbors. PUBLIC WORKS OF CHINA.-These are very remarkable, and partake more of the useful than of the beautiful. They exhibit, however, in their construction, a lack of science and skill, which we might expect in a semi-enlightened race. The great wall naturally attracts attention first. It is called by the Chinese Wanli-Chang, or Myriad-mile Wall. It was built by Tsin Chi-kwongti, about 220 B. C., in order to protect his dominions from the northern tribes. It begins on the coast of Shanghai-wei, in lat. 40° 4' N. As seen by Lord Jocelyn from the English ships, it appears as "scaling the precipices and topping the craggy hills of the country, which have along the coast a most desolate appearance." Before terminating it runs along the shore several miles, and finally stops on the beach near a long reef. At its gates are garrisons and trading marts. In some parts it is double, a second wall branching off, inclosing a tract of country, and returning to the main wall again. The entire length of the wall, as estimated by McCulloch, is 1,250 miles. The construction is not uniform throughout its whole extent. The east ern part is generally composed of a mound of earth and pebbles, faced with masonry, supported on a coping of stone, the whole being about 25 feet thick at the base, and 15 at the top, and of a height varying from 15 to 30 feet. The top is terraced with tiles, and defended by a slight parapet, the thinness of which has been taken as a proof that cannon were unknown at the time it was erected. There are brick towers at intervals, some of them more than 40 feet high, but generally a little less. They are not built upon the wall, but are independent structures, usually about 40 feet square at the base, diminishing to 30 at the top. At particular spots they are of two stories, and then they are about 50 feet high.* According to M. Gerbillon, the Great Wall beyond the Yellow River to its extremity, is chiefly a mound of earth or gravel about fifteen feet high, with only occasional towers of brick, and gateways of stone. The Chinese wall is carried over the tops of the highest mountains, and down their steep sides into the deepest valleys, * Williams's China, vol. i, pp. 26-27. and continued' by bridges over rivers. The entire wall is said to have been completed in ten years, without the forced labor of the people. The next great public work of China is the Grand Canal, or Chah-ho, as the Chinese call it, that is, River of Floodgates; also Yun-ho, Transit River. Considering by whom and when this great work was constructed, it reflects the highest credit upon the Chinese nation. It connects Peking with Canton, and af fords an easy communication to many other large places, with the great capital. The canal properly commences at Linsing-chan, in Shantung, in lat. 37 N. and long. 116° E., though the northern extremity is usually placed at Tientsinfu, near Peking.† The canal, in many places is only a natural river modified and regulated by sluices and embank ments. There is a current constantly flowing. The canal crosses the Yellow river about 70 miles from its mouth, or rather flows into it; for the artificial level on both sides is much above the natural. The canal runs nearly parallel with the Hoang-ho for more than one hundred miles. The crossing of the Hoang-ho or Yellow River is a matter of some difficulty; for the canal on both sides being higher than the river, its waters rush down into it "like a millrace." To pass from the canal to the river is easy; but to enter the canal again is extremely difficult. The Chinese have no knowledge of the art of con structing locks for canals. The boats entering the canal have to be dragged up the rapid current, at the entrance, by means of ropes attached to immense windlasses worked at the head of the rapids. The crossing of the Hoang-ho is a matter of so much difficulty that it is never undertaken without a certain round of religious ceremonies. Mr. Barrow in his work says that the boatmen in every boat sacrifice a fowl and a pig, or some other animals, and daub the blood and hair upon the principal parts of the vessel. When they arrive at the middle of the stream, the captain pours out upon the waters an oblation of spirits. oil, salt, rice, meats, &c., to the Dragon King, while a man at his side beats a gong violently, and others burn fire-crackers and gilt-paper. On reaching the oppo site side of the stream, the Dragon King + Williams's China, vol. i., p. 27, Crossing of the Hoang-ho-Filthiness of the People. is again addressed in a volley of crackers, as a token of thanks for his propitious aid, and the captain and crew feast on the offerings undoubtedly the most agreeable part of the whole ceremony. The canal between the Yellow and Blue rivers, a distance of 90 miles, is constructed on the top of an artificial embankment kept together by walls of stone, except near the commencement, where an old bed of the Yellow river is used. The canal is thus elevated about 20 feet above the surrounding country, in some parts. It is about 200 feet wide, and has a current of about 3 miles an hour. The route is along the lowest districts so as to drain the country as much as possible. Several large towns and cities are situated along its banks; but being lower than the canal are in constant danger of being submerged. The repair of the embankments annually demands a vast expenditure of the government. The portion of the canal between the Yellow and Blue rivers was constructed in the 7th century by the princes of the Tang dynasty; all that part north of the Yellow river was made by the Mongols in the 13th century; and the extreme southern portion, that is, from the Blue river to the southern terminus at Hang-chou-fu, was completed by the Chinese under the Ming dynasty, in the 14th century. The entire length of the Imperial Canal of China is 650 miles, or nearly twice the length of the Erie Canal, but its great width cannot be compared with that of any other canal. In some places the excavations to obtain a level are 70 feet; and the embankments are 100 feet thick. There is much rudeness exhibited in the construction, but still the object of the canal is fully attained. There are several other canals in China, but there is little known concerning them. Many of them were made less for commercial than for draining purposes. One, for carrying off the waters of the Yellow river, is 100 miles long. The public roads of China are not entirely neglected. M. De Guignes, who traveled 600 leagues in China, says, that he found many good roads, most of them wide and planted with trees, though not generally paved. In some parts he found paved roads in good condition. The roads about Peking are paved with stone slabs, and kept in good order. "Generally speaking, however," says he, "as 343 is the case with most things in China, the roads are not well repaired."* Passes through the mountains have been cut in many parts of China to facilitate transit. Three mountain passes traverse the Nan-ling mountain; one, north of Canton, according to Sir Geo. Staunton, rises 8,000 feet above the sea yet vast quantities of goods are conveyed over this pass from Canton to the interior by coolies or porters. The Pe-ling and Ta-pa-ling ranges of mountains are overcome by an artificial road, sometimes conducting over yawning cliffs, by means of arches, and sometimes deeply cut through high mountains, the length of the whole road being 150 miles. In short, whenever intercourse is found expedient between any two parts of China, no natural impediments have been suffered to obstruct communication. The Chinese have found no labor, expense, or impediments, too gigantic to be undertaken. GENERAL APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY.-The districts on the sea-coast, says Mr. Gutzlaff, are generally the best inhabited and richest; the tracts along the Blue river the most fertile. Large and flourishing cities are found only where a ready water communication with other parts of the empire can be carried on. The greatest sameness exists. In the larger ones are a few well-paved streets, lined with shops; but the greater part of the streets are very narrow, usually about eight feet wide, extremely filthy, and planted with mere hovels. The suburbs of many cities are much larger than the cities themselves; and it is by no means extraordinary to see an immense walled space, with no houses, where formerly a city stood. Villages and hamlets have a beautiful appearance at a distance, usually embowered among trees, between which the whitewashed houses look prettily, but on entering them, one sees nothing but a heap of houses irregularly thrown together, the outside fair to behold, but the inside without furniture or comforts, and more filthy even than a stable. This, says Mr. Gutzlaff, does not apply to one district only, but it is common to most. Every thing in the villages presents an appearance of general decay, for a Chinaman seldom repairs his house before it is dilapidated. Elegance or ornament, orderly arrangement, or grandeur of de છે. Voyages à Peking, vol. ii., p. 214. + China Opened, vol. i., pp. 57-8. sign, cleanliness or comfort, is almost seen from the hill-tops in China; nor unknown* in Chinese houses, cities, or gardens. are coaches, steamers, or rail-road cars seen crossing the landscapes.‡ The general aspect of the country, POPULATION. The subject of the popsays Mr. Williams, is perhaps as much ulation of China is one upon which great modified by labor of man in China as in difference of opinion exists. China has England, but the appearance of a land- long been generally believed to be the scape in the two countries is unlike. most densely peopled country of any of Whenever water is available canals and considerable extent on the globe, and streams are dug or led upon the rice this opinion, most probably correct, is fields, and this kind of grain allows few the result of the impression made upon or no trees to grow. The fields are di- the minds of all who have visited that vided by raised banks, which serve for celebrated country. The Jesuit Semedo, pathways, and assist in confining the who resided in China 22 years, remarks water when let in upon the growing that the vast numbers of people to be crop. The bounds of other fields are met with constantly, not only in the denoted by heaps of stones or other land- towns and cities, but on the highways, marks. There are no walls, fences, or is very surprising. "On the highways," hedgerows. Although the fields and says he, "there is at all times as large a gardens are beautifully laid out, yet there crowd as is usually to be met with on appears in them little attention to ele- some great festival or public occasion." gance or pleasure. The gardens are few, All travelers are struck with the im and a Chinese grandee delights more mense population of China; and though in artificial landscapes, laid out in a small estimates are exceedingly various, there compass, than in an extensive park or a is reason to believe that even the highflower garden. The Chinese are decided- est are not improbable. No census of ly utilitarian. The grandeur of natural the entire empire has been taken for 40 scenery is in many parts of China as years, that of 1812 being the latest. We striking as in many parts of the world. condense the following table from one Mountain crags, rivulets, and valleys, given by Mr. Williams, in his work on both picturesque and romantic, are found China, which he says was derived "from in most of the provinces. Commanding the best sources accessible to for situations are chosen for temples and pagodas, the haunts of gross superstition and idolatry; and these are not only inhabited by the priests and idols, but they serve likewise for taverns, theatres, public halls and gambling houses. The Chihli.. building of houses is regulated by law, Shantung. the dimensions being prescribed. Public halls have little to recommend them. The Chinese were never great architects; they can erect dwellings, not palaces. A lofty, solitary pagoda, an extensive temple shaded by trees in the opening of a valley or on a hill-side, or boats moving in every direction through narrow creeks or on broad streams, are some of the peculiar lineaments of Chinese scenery. No imposing mansions are found on the skirts of towns, for the people huddle together in hamlets and villages for mutual aid and security. No tapering spires pointing out the rural This table, derived from the highest church, nor towers, pillars, domes or sources, and confirmed by most travelers steeples in the cities, indicating build- in China, presents, nevertheless, some ings of public utility, rise above the low very astonishing, if not incredible relevel of dun tiled roofs. No meadows or sults. The first province named is less pastures containing herds and flocks are in size than our State of Michigan; and * Williams, vol. i., p. 35. + Gutzlaff. eigners:" CENSUS OF THE NINETEEN PROVINCES, OR CHINA Provinces. Shonsi Av'ge popula Area in sq. miles. tion to sq. Teta! Population 58,949. 475 27.990,871 65,104 444. 28.958,764 53,268 252 14,004.210 65,404 .420. 23.037.171 38,843,501 Ngonhwui. 34,168,059 33.046,999 26,256,784 14,777,410 27.370.098 18,652,507 10,207,256 15.193.125 21.435,678 19.174,030 7,313,895 5.285.219 107,969.... 51.. Totals.......1,297,999......268...... + Williams. General Aspect of the Country-Dense Population. 345 authority. The census of 1812, as given above, was considered by Drs. Morrison and Bridgman, who must be ranked among the highest authorities, as "the most accurate that has yet been given of the population." yet its population is greater than that of of Lord Macartney, who was ambassador the whole United States! If all the peo- to China from England, rests on Chinese ple in the United States, at the present time, were to settle in Michigan, that state would not be as populous, according to the above table, as the single province of Chihli, in China, which province is smaller than Michigan by about 2000 square miles! One comparison more: the province of Kiangsu, which is only about the size of Ohio, has, by the above table, a population of about one and a half times that of the entire United States! Can it be? Those who object to this great population, do so chiefly on the ground that the well-known vanity of the Chinese would naturally induce them to exaggerate their numbers as much as possible before foreigners; but we doubt very much Mr. McCulloch, who never saw Chi- this alleged vanity of the Chinese. We na, is disposed to doubt all the state- doubt whether they are more vain than ments made by the most eminent trav- other nations. They are said to regard elers, and by men who have lived many all other people-all foreigners-as baryears in China. Mr. S. W. Williams, barians. But did not the Romans do the who has lived many years in China, and same? Did not the Greeks regard all has written the latest work on that coun- others as barbarians? Assuredly the try, censures McCulloch, Malte Brun, Greeks must have possessed quite as the compilers of the Encyclopedia Amer- much, if not more, vanity than the Chiicana, and others, for their rejection of nese, to enable them to regard even the the census, as given by the Chinese Romans as barbarians. themselves, and by European residents of China. "It is very easy," says he, "for foreigners to say that they do not believe these censuses-to sit in their studies in Europe and contemptuously reject the researches and investigations of the Chinese and of travelers in China, at the same time that they give no authorities for their assertions. If the Chinese censuses are worth but little compared with those taken in European states, they are better than the guesses of foreigners who have never been in the country, or who have traveled only partially in it."* The following is a statement of some of the most trustworthy censuses of China, taken at different periods, as collected by Mr. Williams: The argument against the Chinese census, then, derived from their national vanity, is a poor one. The Chinese have just as much right to be vain as any other nations-even the French and English. The fact is, that the censuses, as that of 1812, and others taken by the Chinese government, were not intended for the public eye; they were taken, moreover, under circumstances which would greatly tend to render them too small rather than too large; for, the people in China have ever endeavored, as the people now do and have done in all Spanish countries, to cause as small a number to be registered as possible, hoping thereby to escape a heavy "contribution" to be levied on them by the government. Dr. Morrison says: "We know, from several authorities, that the .157,343,975 people are in the habit of diminishing .103,050,060 rather than increasing their numbers in 143,125,225 their reports to government." 205,293,053 reason for doing so," says Mr. Williams, .198,214,553 “is, among others, that the local authori 155,249,897 may pocket the difference in the .307,467,400 taxes assessed for collection from their .333,000,000 districts." Again, says Mr. Williams: .362,467,183 The distances in miles between places given in Chinese books, correspond very well with the real distances; the number of districts, towns, and villages in the departments and provinces, as stated in their local and general topographical 1812...... Population. .125,046,245 .203,916,477 p. 359..... * Williams's China, vol. i., p. 215. ties "One works, agree with the actual examina- the square mile. But astonishing as tion, so far as it can be made, Why such a dense population may seem, it is should their censuses, then, be charged not entirely without a parallel. Capt. with falsehood and gross error, when, however much we may doubt them, we cannot disprove them, and when the weight of evidence derived from actual observation rather confirms them than otherwise?"* Wilkes, in his "Exploring Expedition," states that the population of one of the Figi islands was over 1,000 per square mile. Lord North's Island, one of the Pelew group, has 400 to the square mile. The three censuses, of those we have ANIMALS OF CHINA.-The denseness given above, deserving of the most credit, of the population has long since entirely are, according to Mr. Williams, those of driven out all wild quadrupeds; and 1753, 1792, and 1812. From 1753 to there are also few domestic ones, such 1792, a period of thirty-nine years, there as are found in European countries. was an increase of 104,636,882, or about Beasts of burden are in a great degree two-and-a-half per cent. per annum. superseded by the means of transport During that period China enjoyed unin- afforded by the numerous rivers and terrupted peace, under the strong and canals, and by the coolies or porters, a able government of Kienlung. From class of athletic men, who take the 1792 to 1812 there was an increase of place of animals in carrying burdens 54,126,679, or not quite one per cent. and in dragging boats. Animals are per annum, for the period of twenty excluded, to leave more food for men. years. If the population has increased at the same rate only since 1812, the present population of China Proper must exceed 450,000,000. What the population of the entire empire is, including Manchuria, Ili, Thibet, and Mongolia, there are no data upon which to rest any thing but a conjecture. One among many reasons for so dense a population in China is, that emigration to foreign countries is forbidden by law, and there is no country in the world where the laws are more rigidly enforced. That the soil of China is capable of supporting so great a population it is easy to show. It is estimated that in China Proper there are 812,000,000 of acres of arable land, or 234 acres to an individual. The lands are very fertile, and in some of the provinces two crops of rice are raised in one year, besides a crop of sweet potatoes, cabbages, turnips, and other vegetables. The Chinese, too, are proverbially industrious. The enormous population of China, as given above, when compared with that of other countries, is truly astonishing, Lucca is the most densely populated state in all Europe, there being 400 to the square mile. Belgium has 321, and Lombardy 260 to the square mile; England, 241, and France 223. But look at the preceding table, and it will be seen that some of the provinces of China have a population of 850, 705, and 671 inhabitants to the square mile, and that the average for the whole country is 268 to Williams's China vol. i., p. 215. There are no meadows for feeding cattle; but the entire soil is used in raising food for the inhabitants. Wild cats are sometimes caught, and are considered a great dainty. Monkeys are found in the southern provinces. What few horses and asses are found in China are small, and very inferior in every respect. The buffalo is sometimes used in plowing. Dromedaries are used between Peking and Tartary. There are also hogs, goals, and sheep. There is but one variety of dogs in the country, an animal about one foot high and two long, resembling a small spaniel. Rats are very abundant, and furnish the common people with meat. They are very large, and destruc tive to crops. Of the birds in China, there are the eagle, the falcon, the magpie, crows, sparrows, cormorants, curlews, quails, larks, pheasants, pigeons, the rice-bird, and many species of aquatic birds. Cormorants are used by the Chinese for catching fish. The falcon is imperial property, and the magpie is sacred to the reigning family, Fish form a very important part of the food of the Chinese, and great care is taken in raising them in artificial fishponds. The gold and silver fishes are kept in glass globes as ornaments. Among the fish eaten are the cod, sturgeon, mullet, carp, perch, sea-bream, &c.; crab-fish and oysters are common on the coast. The larger species of reptiles are unknown in China. Frogs, lizards, and |