84 PANAX QUINQUEFOLIUM. 
thousand ‘Tartars engaged in scouring the woods 
m pursuit of the plant. Each man so employed 
was obligated to present his majesty two ounces 
of the best he should collect, and to sell him the 
rest for its weight in pure silver. At this rate it 
was computed that the emperor would get in a 
year, about 20,000 Chinese pounds, which would 
cost him not above one quarter of its value, at the 
common rate of selling it. 
~The collectors of the Ginseng carry with them 
neither tents nor beds, every one being sufficient- 
ly loaded with his provision, which is only parch- 
ed millet, on which he is obliged to subsist during 
the whole journey. The mandarins send them 
from time to time some pieces of beef, with such 
game as they happen to take, which they eat very 
greedily, and almost raw. ‘They are accustomed 
to sleep on the ground, and notwithstanding six 
months are passed in this way, they continue lus- . 
* and in perfect health. vd | 
The army of sendin in eden to scour the 
country effectually, divide themselves into compa- 
_ nies of one hundred each, which proceed forward 
in direct line, every ten of them keeping at a dis 
tance from the rest. In this way they overrun an 
extensive wilderness in a short space of time. © 
