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 Voyages à Peking, vol. ii., p. 214. + China Opened, vol. i., pp. 57-8. sign, cleanliness or comfort, is almost unknown* in Chinese houses, cities, or gardens. seen from the hill-tops in China; nor 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 imand 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 forsituations are chosen for temples and eigners :" 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 Houan.. halls have little to recommend them. Kiangsu. The Chinese were never great architects; Kiongsi..... Ngonhwui.. they can erect dwellings, not palaces.† Chekiang.. A lofty, solitary pagoda, an extensive Fuhkien temple shaded by trees in the opening Hunan.. of a valley or on a hill-side, or boats Shensi. 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 Shingking. people huddle together in hamlets and villages for mutual aid and security. No tapering spires pointing out the rural church, nor towers, pillars, domes or steeples in the cities, indicating buildings of public utility, rise above the low level of dun tiled roofs. No meadows or pastures containing herds and flocks are * Williams, vol. i., p. 35. + Gutzlaff. CENSUS OF THE NINETEEN PROVINCES, OR CHINA Provinces. Shonsi. Hupeh. Konsuh. Kwongtung. Kweichan.. Totals.. 58,949......475 Total Population. 27,990,871 Area in tion to sq. 65,104. .444. 28,958,764 53,268. 252 14,004,210 This table, derived from the highest sources, and confirmed by most travelers in China, presents, nevertheless, some very astonishing, if not incredible results. The first province named is less in size than our State of Michigan; and 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: Date of 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. "con 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 tribution" to be levied on them by the government. Dr. Morrison says: "We Population. know, from several authorities, that the 157,343,975 people are in the habit of diminishing 1753......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, 1762......198,214,553 "is, among others, that the local authori ties may pocket the difference in the 155,249,897 .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 Census. 1736.. 1743. Yih-tung-chi, a Chinese w ork 1760.. 66 Allerstain, Grosier, De Guig nes Chinese Repository, vol. i.. Dr. Morrison.. Lord Macartney 1760.. 1790.. 1792. 1792. 1812... 125,046,245 .203,916,477 Chinese Repository, vol. i., * Williams's China, vol. i., p. 215. "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?"* The three censuses, of those we have given above, deserving of the most credit, are, according to Mr. Williams, those of 1753, 1792, and 1812. From 1753 to 1792, a period of thirty-nine years, there was an increase of 104,636,882, or about two-and-a-half per cent. per annum. During that period China enjoyed uninterrupted peace, under the strong and able government of Kienlung. From 1792 to 1812 there was an increase of 54,126,679, or not quite one per cent. per annum, for the period of twenty 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. 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. ANIMALS OF CHINA.-The denseness of the population has long since entirely driven out all wild quadrupeds; and there are also few domestic ones, such as are found in European countries. Beasts of burden are in a great degree superseded by the means of transport afforded by the numerous rivers and canals, and by the coolies or porters, a class of athletic men, who take the place of animals in carrying burdens and in dragging boats. Animals are excluded, to leave more food for men. 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, goats, 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 destructive 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 Animal and Vegetable Productions-The Tea Plant. 347 fresh-water tortoises are common. Ve- which incloses three kernels all coated nomous serpents are very rare. The in- with tallow, themselves containing an sects of China are numerous. The silk- oil much used for the lamp, while the worm is the most important, affording tallow is converted into candles. There employment and riches to thousands of is also the varnish tree, resembling the the inhabitants. The Chinese excel all ash, exuding a valuable essential oil, other nations in rearing the silkworm. which produces a cutaneous disease if The northern and western provinces are dropped upon the skin. The camphor terribly afflicted by the plague of swarms laurel is another very valuable tree of of locusts. Their voracity is such that China, producing large quantities of it is not uncommon for them to occasion camphor. The tree called by the Chiso much destruction as to reduce thou- nese kwan-lon, contains a pith which sands of the people to starvation. Scor- when ground is an excellent substitute pions and centipedes are abundant. for flour. A species of sycamore is also Spiders are numerous; one species is common, the rind of which affords an very large, and devours small birds after excellent paper. catching them in their webs construct- The great plant of China is the tea ed on the branches of trees. It is pe- shrub, called by the natives, cha. It culiar to China. Butterflies of gigantic grows to the height of 4 or 5 feet, and resize and brilliant colors abound in the sembles the myrtle; the flower is comneighborhood of Canton. There is a kind pared by some writers to the small white of bee, called the white-wax bee, fur- hedge roses. The plant will grow in nishing the whole nation with wax, the most sterile places, but the quality which it deposits on a particular kind of the leaf depends upon the soil and the of tree, furnished by the natives with age of the plant. The best leaves are nests to attract the insect. Fireflies are taken from plants three years old. common. White ants are also numer- The leaves are gathered three times a ous and troublesome. The Chinese eat year, in the early spring, in the beginmany kinds of insects, as locusts, grass- ning and in the end of summer. Eurohoppers, ground-grubs, and silkworms.* pean botanists have been able to disVEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. Many tinguish only two species of the teaspecies of pine, cypress and yew, exist plant, those producing the black and the in China, and furnish a large proportion green tea; but the Chinese enumerate, of timber and fuel. China may, how- in their books, as many hundreds. It is ever, be said to be a very poorly tim- still a matter of dispute whether the difbered country, and is, indeed, remark- ferent sorts are distinct species or mere able for not containing any very large varieties. It is believed by Loureiro, trees. Timber is scarce. The pines are Mr. Williams, and others, that all the small. The larch is common on the hills. differences in the plant are the result of The juniper and thuja are found in gar- difference of culture. Pruning the plants dens. The oak is seldom seen, the fir- to increase the quantity of leaves pretree supplying its place on the hills. The vents it from exceeding 4, 5, or 6 feet willow is common in all parts of China, in height; but in Assam, where it is and grows to a considerable size. The found wild, it grows to the height of 30 chestnut, walnut, and hazlenut, are all feet. The soil most favorable to the found in China, affording tolerable fruit. growth of the plant is a rich sandy earth, The took-fruit (artocarpus) is common at with a large proportion of vegetable Canton. There are many species of the mould; and hill-sides, with a good exbanian or fig-tree. A species of mul- posure, and a supply of water, are the berry furnishes materials for the manu- best situations. There are very few facture of paper. Hemp is cultivated; large tea plantations in China; each litalso the castor-oil plant. Palms, laurel, tle farmer raises a few shrubs, and sells cassia, and caper trees are common, es- the leaves to large dealers in the article. pecially in the south; also the banana, The knowledge of the tea-plant cannot guava, orange, papaw, cocoa, litchi, be traced back, in China, farther than peach, apricot, vine, pomegranate, and A. D. 350; and its general introduction tallow tree, which resembles the birch. does not date prior to about A. D. 800. The fruit of the tallow-tree grows in bunches, inclosed in a brown capsule, * Williams's China., vol. i., pp. 247-275. The camphor tree of China affords both timber and gum for exportation and domestic use. The tree itself is large, |