Feb. 13, I860.] MICKIE ON THE GULF OF PE-CHE-LI AND LEO-TUNG. 61 



is a most important article of trade. There has been a discussion of late re- 

 garding the name of the river Peiho. Some say it means the North River. 

 It is not the North River : the Peiho is the White River in the same manner 

 that the Hwang-ho is the Yellow River. It has been well ascertained that 

 the Yellow River now discharges its waters through a new channel into the 

 Gulf of Pe-che-li, but the exact position of its new exit has not been found. 

 The coast of Tartary is of importance, because in the deep bay, on the southern 

 portion x)f the Gulf of Tartary, is a large gold-digging district. When Com- 

 modore Elliott was anchored in this bay, some of the sailors obtained gold from 

 the natives, who were very ready to give a nugget of gold for an empty beer- 

 bottle. From Shen-se, and from the region of the country on the western 

 side of Shen-se, as well as from the province of Yun-nan, a great quantity of 

 gold also came. He thought it desirable to point out these places on the map 

 in the Gulf of Leotung and the Gulf of Tartary, as they would in future be 

 the chief points of our trade in the extreme north of China ; and the new con- 

 sular ports in this great gulf would probably be the future markets for much 

 of our manufactures. He concluded by saying a few words respecting Han- 

 kow, on the Yang-tse-Kiang, as the place of largest trade in China, and as 

 the spot whence we shall obtain the most ready access to the interior of the 

 country. 



Captain Sherard Osbokn, r.n., f.r.g.s., congratulated the Society upon 

 receiving this additional crumb to the small amount of real information which 

 we possessed of that great empire. It was extraordinary how small was the 

 amount of information which we could put into the hands of Admiral Hope to 

 assist him in the navigation of the waters of Northern China. The moment 

 our fleet left the Yang-tse-Kiang it would steer along on an almost un- 

 known coast. Mr. Mickie's paper was doubly important because it treated 

 of the Shangtung promontory, which, in pending war with China, would be 

 the basis of our operations against Pekin. It was a mountainous district, and, 

 beyond that, we knew little about it. Our knowledge was simply confined to 

 the seaboard : and Mr, Mickie's notes confirmed what he had been able to 

 send home about two years ago. He was not quite confident about the safety 

 of this port of Chefow as an anchorage ; for, in 1858, a French frigate anchored 

 in the bay under the impression that it was a good harbour : a gale of wind 

 came on, and this vessel was very nearly lost. The climate of Shangtung, in 

 the spring, reminded one amazingly of that of England, or the southern por- 

 tions of the Crimea. The vegetable productions of that part of the province were 

 famous all over China as being very fine. He did not remember being struck 

 with the gigantic appearance of the inhabitants, alluded to by Mr. Lockhart : 

 they were fine, able-bodied, and healthy-looking men. Of the province of 

 Pecheli, beyond the banks of the Peiho, we know still less ; but it was as 

 well to state that in Pecheli alone, of all the provinces in China, he had been 

 struck with the general appearance of starvation of the masses. The more he 

 (Capt. Osborn) had investigated the subject, the more convinced he was of 

 the fact, that the province of Pecheli did not produce enough food to support 

 its population ; at the same time, after what we knew of victualling an army 

 in the Crimea, where there were no resources, he saw no reason for believing 

 we could not do as much in Pecheli ; and if food and corn were scarce in that 

 province, there was no doubt they were plentiful in Leotung and the Corea — 

 we should merely have to bring the food to the army. A few figures would 

 best prove the vast amount of grain annually required for the support of 

 the province of Pecheli. In times of peace the grain imported into Tientsin 

 for the capital amounted to 430,000 tons, of which 350,000 tons went direct 

 to the capital. In 1854, during the worst period of the rebellion, the internal 

 communications being interrupted, great efforts were made for the first time 

 to carry this grain coastwise to Pekin ; and, in a first experiment, he found 

 that they succeeded in conveying 100,000 tons by sea to Tientsin ; and, as a 



