importance that China attaches to the maintenance and 

 extension of friendly relations and intercourse. 



This is the sixth great International Exhibition in which 

 China has taken an official part, viz., Vienna, 1873 ; Phila- 

 delphia, 1876; Paris, 1878; Berlin, 1880; Amsterdam, 

 1883; and London, 1883. On each of these occasions 

 (excepting Amsterdam) the work has been entrusted by 

 the Chinese Government to Sir Robert Hart, as the 

 Inspector-General of Customs, and it has been executed 

 under his directions by this important department of the 

 Chinese Government, which employs about five hundred 

 foreig-ners of various nationalities besides two thousand 

 Chinese. 



The Introductory Note to the Official Catalogue of the 

 Chinese exhibits [China : Imperial Maritime Customs, 

 Miscellaneous Series, No. 11] explains that the invitation 

 to take part in the present Exhibition arrived too late for 

 any extensive collection to be possible, but that steps were 

 taken to procure specimens from Swatow, Ningpo, South 

 Formosa, and Ichang, which is a river port in the centre 

 of China and about one thousand miles from the mouth of 

 the Yangtsze. The gentlemen in the Customs Service who 

 assisted in the preparation of the collection were Mr. 

 Neumann (German), who had the general management 

 and brought the collection to London as Secretary to the 

 Chinese Commission ; Mr. Morgan (English), Acting Com- 

 missioner of Customs at Ichang ; Mr. Drew (American), 

 Statistical Secretary of the Inspectorate-General ; and Mr. 

 Novion (French), Commissioner of Customs at South 

 Formosa — thus showing the international interest taken by 

 the Chinese Customs Service in furthering the objects of 

 the Exhibition. 



The distance of China from the scene of exhibition, the 



