which separates it from Asiatic Russia; east by the channel of Tartary and sea of Japan; south by Corea and the Gulf of Pe-che-le; south-west by the Great Wall; west by Mongolia and the Sialkoi mountains; and northwest by the Kerlon river and Daourian mountains. The area of this vast region is probably 700,000 square miles.

Most of this territory is a wilderness. Manchuria is comprised mostly in the valleys of the Songari and Sagalien rivers and their tributaries in the north, and the Liau River in the south. There are three principal mountain chains the Sih-hih-tih mountains extend from Corea along the sea-coast, eastward to the mouth of the Sagalien, rising on an average 4,500 feet, and covered with forests. The eastern declivities are so near the ocean that only a narrow strip of arable land is left. The valley of the Sagalien divides this range from the Yablonoi-Khrebet and its spurs. The Sialkoi range extends over a great part of Mongolia, and forms in Manchuria three sides of the extensive valley of the Nonni, ending between the Sagalien and Songari at their junction. Most of these ranges are covered with forests, but of their height, productions and climate, little is known.

The whole country north of the desert is drained by the Sagalien or Amour, and its mighty branches. There are three considerable lakes in Manchuria the Hurun and Pir on the west of the Sialkoi, and the Hinkainor in the valley of the Usuri. The region between the Songari and the sea of Japan is as much unknown as the centre of Africa. The country south-east of the desert and north of the Great Wall is drained and fertilized by the Sira-muren or Liau river, the largest branch of which, the Hwang-ho, flows through Chabar in a south-easterly course, and joins the Liau in Shing-King. The greatest part of Manchuria is covered with forests, the abode of wild animals, whose capture affords employment, clothing and food to their hunters. The rivers and coasts abound in fish, and pearls are procured at the mouth of the Sagalien. The argali and jiggetai are two species of deer peculiar to this part of Asia. The condor is the largest bird of prey, and for size and fierceness rivals its congener of the Andes. The greatest part of Shing-King and the south of Kirin is cultivated, and ginseng and rhubarb collected in large quantities. These portions support large herds. of domestic animals.

Manchuria is divided into three provinces, viz: Shing-King, Kirin and Tsi-tsi-har.

SHING-KING is bounded north by Mongolia, north-east and east by Kirin, south by Corea, and west by Chabar in Chihli, including within its limits. the ancient Liau-tung. It contains two departments, viz: Fungtien-fu and Kinchau-fu, subdivided into 15 districts.

KIRIN comprises all the country north-east of Shing-King. This extensive region is thinly inhabited by Manchus, settled in garrisons along the bottoms of the rivers, and by tribes having affinities with them, who subsist principally by hunting and fishing, and acknowledge their fealty to the emperor by a tribute of peltry, but who have no officers of government placed over them. In winter they nestle together in kraals like the bushmen, and subsist upon their summer's fishing. Kirin is divided into three departments or commandaries, viz; Kirin-ula or the garrison of Kirin, Petune, and Changchun-ting. The island of Tarakai or Sagalien lies off the coast, from which it is divided only by a narrow strait. The island seems to be in a kind of joint occupation, the southern half being inhabited by Japanese.

TSI-TSI-HAR Comprises the north-west of Manchuria, extending about 400

miles from east to west, and 1,200 from north to south. The greatest part of it is occupied by the valley of the Nonni, and its area of about 200,000 square miles is mostly an uninhabited, mountainous wilderness. It is divided into six commanderies, viz: Tsitsihar, Hulau, Putek, Merguen, Sagalien-ula and Hurun-pir, whose officers have control over the tribes within their limits. Of these, Sagalien-ula is the chief town in the north-east districts, and is used by the government of Pe-king as a penal settlement.

The climate of Manchuria is such as to prevent the country from being thickly settled. It is described as more severe than that of Moscow. "Of all savage regions," says a resident," this takes a distinguished rank for the aridity of the soil and rigor of the climate. On his entrance the traveller remarks the barren aspect of most of the hills and the nakedness of the plains, where not a tree nor a thicket, and hardly a slip of herb is to be seen. The natives are superior to any Europeans I have seen for their powers of eating; beef and pork abound on their tables, and I think dogs and horses too, under some other name; rich people eat rice, the poor are content with boiled millet or with another grain called hac-bam, about thrice the size of millet and tasting like wheat, which I never saw elsewhere. The vine is cultivated, but must be covered from October to April; the grapes are so watery that a hundred litres of juice produce by distillation only forty of poor spirit. The mulberry does not grow here, but the leaves of a tree resembling an oak tree are used to rear wild silk-worms, and this is a considerable branch of industry. The people relish the worms as food after the cocoons have been boiled, drawing them out with a pin, and sucking the whole until nothing but the pellicle is left.”

The administration of Manchuria consists of a supreme civil government at Moukden, and three provincial military ones; but in Shing-king the government is both civil and military. There are four boards, each under a president, whose duties are analogous to those of Pe-king, but on a greatly reduced scale. The three provinces are under as many marshals, whose subordinates rule the commanderies, and these last have garrison officers subject to them. These delegate part of their power to assistant directors or residents, who are stationed in every town. On the frontier posts the officers have a higher grade, and report directly to the marshals or their lieutenants. All the officers, both civil and military, are Manchus, and a great portion of them belong to the imperial clan, or are intimately connected with it. The Manchus are somewhat civilized; they possess even a spoken and written language, essentially different from that of the Chinese or any other nation of Central Asia, and have many radical sounds which bear a close affinity to those of the languages of Europe. They belong to the Tongoose race, and are divided into several tribes, differing slightly in degree of civilization. They are more robust in their figures, but have less expressive countenances than the Chinese, and their women have not their feet cramped or distorted. The Daourians or Ducheri, who possess a large portion of the banks of the Amour, consist of Manchus mixed with Mongols. The Manchus generally, however, appear to be a rude, half civilized people, and their conquest of China has greatly injured their native country, as the leading families and ambitious individuals have naturally followed the court. They have neither temples nor idols, but worship one Supreme Being, whom they style the emperor of heaven; yet their religion appears to have some affinity to Shamanism.

MOUKDEN is the seat of the supreme government. As the metropolis of Manchuria it is also known as Shing-King (the affluent capital.) It lies in latitude 41° 50′ 30′′ N., and longitude 123° 37′ E. The town is surrounded by a wall ten miles in circuit, enclosing another wall which separates the imperial residence from the town-this part of the city is three miles in circuit. The palace and the buildings connected with it, the government offices and courts, and the grounds within it, are all arranged on a plan similar to those of Pe-king. It was called Moukden, which signifies flourishing, by the Manchu monarchs, in 1631, when they made it the seat of their government, and the emperors have since done everything in their power to enlarge and beautify it, but only with partial success. Hinking, 60 miles east, is one of the favored places, from its having been the family residence of the Manchu monarchs, and the burial place of their ancestors. The circuit of the walls is about three miles. Kin-chau is the port of Moukden, and carries on a considerable trade in cattle, pulse and drugs. The harbor is shallow and exposed to the south gales. Kaichan, another port on the gulf, possesses a better harbor, but is not so much frequented. Most of the other towns have no claim to any other appellation than garrisons or hamlets. Kirin-ula-hotun is the capital of the province of Kirin; and Tsitsihar-hotun the capital of that of Tsitsihar. The first is a paltry place, but contains some tombs of the emperor's ancestors, and has long been a place of occasional pilgrimage.

CHINESE COLONIES.

THE Colonies of China, or those portions of the empire under the immediate control of the Li-fan-Yuen, or Foreign Office, are Mongolia, Ilí, and Tibet.

MONGOLIA.

According to the statistics of the empire, Mongolia comprises a region lying between 350 and 52° N. latitude, from longitude 82° to 123° E. It is bounded on the north by the Russian Provinces; north-east and east by Manchuria; south by China Proper; and west by Cobdo and Ilí. Its length from east to west is 1,700 miles, and its greatest breadth 1.000, inclosing an area of 1,400,000 square miles, and supporting an estimated population of 2,000,000.

Mongolia is described as an elevated plain, almost destitute of wood or water. The central part is occupied by the great sandy desert of Gobi, which stretches in a north-east direction about 1,200 miles, with a breadth ranging from 500 to 700 miles, a barren steppe, having comparatively few fertile tracts, and stunted trees, and destitute for the most part of water. The chief mountains in this region are the Altai, and its various subordinate branches, the Ala-shan and the In-shan. The rivers of Mongolia are numerous, chiefly in the north, belonging to the basins either of the Irtish or the Sagalien. Connected with the former are the Selenga, Orkhon, and Tola, which unite their streams and flow into Lake Baikal. The Kerlon and Onon are tributaries of the Sagalien, and flow in a north-east direction. In the south are the Sira-muren and its branches, which unite with the Liau river, and several rivers in the region of Koko nor, some pouring their waters into isolated lakes, and others bearing their tribute to

the Hwang-ho. The chief lakes south of the desert are Koko-nor, or Azure Sea, and the Oling and Dzaring, near the sources of the Hwang-ho. Inner Mongolia has no lakes of importance; but Cobdo, in the north-west, is a country of lakes, the principal being the Upsa-nor and Altai-nor, in the east, Alak-nor on the south, and the Iki-aral, near which lies the town of Cobdo.

The climate of Mongolia is excessively cold. In the parts bordering on Chihli the people make their houses underground to avoid the inclemency of the season. The soil in and upon the confines of the high land is poor, and unfit for cultivation; but millet, barley, and wheat might be raised north and south, if it were not that the people are adverse to an agricultural life. The space between Gobi and Russia, about 150 miles wide, is warmer than the desert itself, and supports a larger population than the south sides. Cattle are numerous in the hilly tracts. but in the desert wild animals and birds hold undisputed sway.

The principal divisions of Mongolia are, Inner Mongolia, lying between the Wall and south of the desert; Outer Mongolia, between the desert and the Altai Mountains, and reaching from the Inner Hingan to the Tienshan; the country about Koko-nor, between Kansuh, Sz'-chuen, and Tibet, and the dependencies of Uliasutai, lying north-westward of the Kalkas Khanates. The whole of this region has been included under the comprehensive name of Chinese Tartary.

INNER MONGOLIA, or Nui-Mungku, is divided into six corps and twentyfour tribes, which are again placed under forty-nine standards, or khochoun, each of which generally includes 2,000 families, commanded by hereditary princes, or dzassaks. The principal tribes are the Kortchin and Ortous, The whole of Inner Mongolia is gradually improving under the industry of Chinese settlers and exiles, and the fostering care of the imperial govern

ment.

OUTER MONGOLIA, or Wai-Mungku, is an extensive tract lying north of Inner Mongolia, as far as Russia. The desert of Gobi occupies the southern half of the region. It is divided into four lu, or circuits, each of which is governed by a Khan or prince. The four Khanates constitute one "aimak," or tribe, subdivided into 86 standards, each of which is restricted to a certain territory where they wander about at pleasure. They are devoted to Buddhism, and the lamas have great power in their hands. Most of the real power over the Kalkas, one of the most conspicuous of these Khanates, indeed, is in the hands of a high priest, called "Kutuktu,” living at Kurun, the largest town in Mongolia. They render an annual tribute to the Emperor, of horses, camels, sheep, and other animals, or their skins, and receive presents in return of many times its value, so that they are kept in subjection by constant bribing. An energetic government, however, is not wanting. The supreme tribunal is at Urga; it is called the "yamoun," and has civil and military jurisdiction, and administers justice. Letters are encouraged among them by the Manchus, but with little success. These tribes produce nothing but for their own immediate wants, and most of their cloths, utensils, and arms are procured of the Chinese. Their livelihood depends chiefly on their herds and hunting. The trade with Russia is carried on at Kiakhta, close to the border, and is superintended by Manchu officers, appointed from Pe-king to collect the duties. The exports consist of Russian habit-cloths, velveteens, camlets, linen, leather, skins, firs; fire-arms, cutlery, mirrors, watches, and

other fancy articles. These goods are always exchanged at a fixed valuation, for tea and preserves, lacquered-ware, nankeens, and silks, and opium in small quantities.

ULIASUTAI, in the western portion of Mongolia, comprises the two divisions of Cobdo and Ulianghai. Cobdo lies to the north-west and Ulianghai to the north-east, both adjoining the Russian frontier. The first is divided into 11 tribes and 31 standards, and in the second, the tribes are arranged into 21tso-ling. These are under military officers, but manage their own internal affairs. The Chinese rule over these tribes is conducted on the same priniples as that over the other Mongols, and they all render fealty to the Emperor through the chief resident at Uliasutai. The tribes resemble the American Indians in their habits, disputes, and modes of life.

KOKO-NOR, Or Tsing-hai, though not included by Chinese geographers in Mongolia, is mostly inhabited by Mongols, and its plan of government is the same as that over the other Mongol tribes. It is a country of lakes. The Azure Sea is the largest, and Chinese maps delineate it as 190 miles long by 60 wide, and its borders level and settled. The province is situated immediately north and west of Shen-si and Sz'-chuen. It is occupied by Tourgouths, Hoshoits, Kalkas, and other tribes, who are arranged under 20 standards, and governed by a Manchu general residing at Siningfu, in Kansuh. The productions consist of grain and other vegetables raised along the river-bottoms, and margins of the lakes; sheep, cattle, horses, camels, &c. The yak is used extensively for carrying burdens. The trade at Sining-fu is large. The Province of KANSUH, in respect of government, &c., may also be considered as forming part of Mongolia. Its principal towns are Yuh-mun-hien, Ngansi, Barkoul, Oroumtsi, &c. These towns have been built to facilitate communication, and some of them have risen to importance as trading posts.

ILI.

That part of the empire called Ilí is a vast region, lying on each side of the Tien-shan, or Celestial Mountains, and including a tract nearly as large as Mongolia, and not much more susceptible of cultivation. The limits extend from 36° to 49° N, and from longitude 71° to 96° E. It is divided by the Tien-shan into two parts called "lu," or circuits, viz.: Tien-shanpeh-lu and Tien-shan-nan-lu, or north and south of the Celestial Mountains. The former is commonly denominated Songaria, from the Songares its former rulers, and the latter is known as Little Bokara, or Eastern Turkestan. Ili, taken as a whole, may be regarded as an inland isthmus, extending south-west from the south of Siberia, off between the Gobi and Caspian deserts, till it reaches the Hindoo-Kush, leading down to the valley of the Indus. The former of these deserts encloses it on the east and south, and the other on the west and north-west, separated from each other by the Belûr-tag and the Muz-tag ranges, which join with the Celestial Mountains that divide the isthmus itself into two parts. These deserts united are equal to the extent of Sahara, but are not as arid and tenantless. Little is known of the topography, productions, or civilization of the tribes, but the efforts of the Chinese have been systematically directed to developing the agricultural resources of the country, by stationing troops in every part, who cultivate the soil, and by banishing criminals thereto, who are obliged to work for, and assist the soldiers. The productions are numerous. Wheat, barley, rice, and millet are the chief grains; tobacco, cotton, and