122 



CHINA. 



and the money it borrows for such purposes is 

 secured by national and private bonds. 



An excellent sign of the times for Chili is 

 the general tendency manifested by the people 

 to abandon mining, and devote their attention 

 to agriculture. 



Spite of very unfavorable weather, the 

 crops were, in most of the provinces, very 

 abundant; but the general health has been un- 

 usually bad. A treaty of limits has been en- 

 tered into by the representatives of Chili and 

 Bolivia, by the terms of which the boundary 

 fixed between the two states is the 24th par- 

 allel of south latitude ; with an understanding 

 that, should any question arise as to the exact 

 position of Caracoles, or any other mining re- 

 gion, it shall be determined by a commission 

 of surveyors appointed by both Governments. 

 It is further stipulated that Chili shall receive 

 indemnification for any loss sustained by this 

 arrangement, the amount of which to be de- 

 termined by arbitration. As respects the in- 

 terest of Chili, jointly with Bolivia, in the 

 customs up to the date of the contract, it is to 

 be determined in the same manner, the arbi- 

 trator being the Emperor of Brazil. Bolivia 

 renounces, for its part, all claims to the pos- 

 session of mines lying to the south of lati- 

 tude 24, and undertakes not to increase its 

 export duties, but to allow the free entry of 

 Chilian products. Chili will, further, be en- 

 titled to half of the proceeds derived from the 

 sale of Mejillones guano. 



These are, briefly, the principal stipulations 

 of the treaty, and it will be seen that they are 

 clearly of the nature of a compromise. Neither 

 party has insisted on theoretical rights, but has 

 sensibly arrived at a settlement in view . of 

 substantial and practical considerations, an ex- 

 ample worthy of imitation by the other repub- 

 lics, in the solution of similar boundary diffi- 

 culties, and it may reasonably be hoped that, in 

 the case of Chili- and the Argentine Republic, 

 the same spirit of cordiality will be manifested 

 with reference to the conflicting claims to sov- 

 ereign jurisdiction in Patagonia. 



The railway had worked a wonderful change 

 in the city of Concepcion. New buildings 

 were springing up in all directions, and a new 

 face was being put upon old ones. Extraordi- 

 nary activity, in comparison to that of pre- 

 railway times, was everywhere observable. 



CHINA, an empire in Asia ; reigning Em- 

 peror, T'onng-che, formerly called Ki-tsiang, 

 "High Prosperity," born April 27, 1856, the 

 eldest son of the Emperor Hieng-fun, " Perfect 

 Bliss ; " succeeded to the throne at the death 

 of his father, August 21, 1861 ; became of age, 

 and assumed the government in 1873. He 

 was married on October 16, 1872, to Alootay, 

 daughter of the Vice-rector of the Peking 

 Academy,. Churigchi. 



The area and the population of China cannot 

 at present be accurately stated, as parts of the 

 western dependencies have successfully estab- 

 lished their independence, while other portions, 



especially the district of Kooltsha, have been 

 incorporated with Russia. Although the new 

 frontiers cannot, as yet, be accurately defined, 

 it is assumed that at least 500,000 square miles 

 of the former possessions of China were, in 

 1873, entirely lost to the imperial Government. 

 Another large tract of land, in the southwest- 

 ern part of China proper, which for many 

 years had been in the hands of the Mohamme- 

 dan Panthays, was, in the latter months of the 

 year 1872, and in the beginning of 1873, en- 

 tirely recovered. The total area of China is 

 now roughly estimated at 3,970,000 square 

 miles, of which 1,553,000 belong to China 

 proper, and the remainder to the several de- 

 pendencies. China proper is very densely peo- 

 pled, the population amounting in 1812, ac- 

 cording to an official census, to 367,000,000 ; 

 in 1842, to 414,000,000; and in 1852, to 450,- 

 000,000, or 347 inhabitants per square mile. 

 Since 1852, the population is believed to have 

 somewhat decreased in consequence of the 

 bloody civil wars and famines; and in 1874 it 

 was estimated (Behm and Wagner, "Bevol- 

 kerung der Erde," II., 1874) at 404,000,000. 

 The dependencies of China, embracing Man- 

 tchooria, Mongolia, Thibet, and Corea, though 

 their area largely exceeds that of China proper, 

 have a population of only about 20,200,000. 



The population of the ports which, in virtue 

 of the treaties concluded with foreign nations, 

 were opened to the foreign trade, were, ac- 

 cording to the latest dates, as follows : 



According to the official reports of the Chi- 

 nese Government in 1872, the number of for- 

 eigners in the several treaty-ports was as fol- 

 lows: 



British ' 1,771 



Americans 541 



Germans 481 



French 239 



Spaniards 59 



Dutch 



Russians 



Danes 



The two highest boards of state officers are 

 the Board of Secretaries of State, and the 

 Council of State. The former has six mem- 

 bers, four of whom have the title of Actual 

 Secretaries of Stato, and two of Under-Secre- 

 taries. One-half of each class are Mantchoos 

 and one-half Chinese. It is the duty of this 

 board to consult on the administration of the 

 country, to proclaim the imperial Avill, to reg- 



