CHINA. 



fill 



P h 7- 



Maud of 



Emoy. 



respect of beauty and advantages ; but is particularly 

 remarkable for a fine temple and a singular bridge. 

 The former is adorned with two lofty towers, seven sto- 

 ries high, built of stone and marble, and having a gal- 

 lery at each story, around which a person may walk, 

 and view the beauties of the city and country. The 

 latter, which is both of an extraordinary size and sin- 

 gular construction, is built of a blackish coloured stone, 

 and instead of arches, has about three hundred stone 

 pillars, formed with acute angles on their sides, to break 

 the force of the stream. Five stones, of equal size, laid 

 transversely from one pillar to another, form the breadth 

 of the bridge, and each of these stones is said to be about 

 IS yards in length. Of these there are 1000, all of the 

 same size and figure. On each side of this bridge are 

 buttresses of the same stone, with figures of lions, &c. 

 on the tops, and in the middle of the bridge is built the 

 castle of the city. Kien-ming-foo is mentioned in the 

 Chinese history as having sustained two sieges at the 

 conquest of the country by the Tartars ; and its inha- 

 bitants, obstinately refusing to submit to the victors, 

 were all put to the sword. Yen ping-foo is built on 

 the side of a mountain, and defended by the high hills 

 in its vicinity, and so situated, that all the boats of the 

 province must pass close by the foot of its walls, upon 

 the river Min-ho. Tchan-tcheoo-foo, a place where 

 the missionaries pretend that they found some vestiges 

 of the Christian religion, and which carries on a very 

 extensive trade with the isles of Emoy, Pong-hoo, and 

 Formosa. It is situated upon a fine river, over which 

 there is a large bridge of 36 arches, and so broad as to 

 admit of shops on each side, which are stored with the 

 richest merchandize of China and India. The small is- 

 land of Emoy, or A-mwy, or Hia-men, is in the pro- 

 vince of Fo-kien, contains a magnificent pagoda, sacred 

 to the god Fo, and has an excellent harbour, capable of 

 containing some thousands of vessels, with so great depth 

 of water, that the largest ship* may anchor close to the 

 shore without danger. It was much frequented by Euro- 

 pean traders at the beginning of the last century, and the 

 Chinese emperor kept in it a garrison of six or seven thou- 

 sand troops. The isles of Pong-hoo, which are also in 

 this province, form a kind of Archipelago between Emoy 

 and Formosa, but they are little better than mere rocks 

 or sand banks, and the inhabitants must import every 

 necessary of life. They furnish, however, convenient 

 harbours to the ships visiting Formosa; as that island 

 possesses no port, which u capable of admitting any ves- 

 sel that draws above eight feet of water. 



The province of Fo kien, though not of great ex- 

 tent, is very rich and flourishing. Its climate is warm, 

 and its air healthful. Its mountains are numerous, but 

 covered with forests, or cut into terraces, and carefully 

 cultivated. Its productions are cupper, tin, mercury, 

 steel, iron, musk, crystal, silk, black-teas, linen and 

 cotton stuffs, suearcandy, a variety of wood, excellent 

 paper, and pencils. It contains precious stones, and gold 

 and silver mines, but these are not allowed to be opened. 

 It carries on a vtry extensive trade with Japan, Formosa, 

 Java, Siam, Camboya, and the Philippines ; and its ves- 

 sels of all descriptions are exceedingly numerous. It was 

 formerly a separate kingdom, and its inhabitants still 

 speak a great variety of dialects. 



IX. TCIIK-KIANO, or Tse-kian, contains 11 cities of 

 the first class, 7ii of the third, and 18 fortresses, which 

 may be accounted aa towns. Hang-tcheoo-foo, the ca- 

 pital of the province, is regarded by the Chinese as an 

 earthly paradise, and is one of the largest, richest, and 

 best situated cities in the empire. It is said to be four 



leagues in circumference, exclusive of its suburbs ; and Topogra- 

 its inhabitants are computed at one million, of which one v P*' v - 

 thousand are employed in the manufacture of silk. Its ^"Y" 

 streets are narrow, but well paved with broad flag-stones. 

 They are full of very large shops and warehouses, stored 

 with English broad cloths and peltry, in some of which 

 not less than ten or twelve persons are serving behind 

 the counter. The shops of the apothecaries and per- 

 fumers were particularly noticed by M. De Guignes, as 

 finely ornamented ; and he observed also numerous tri- 

 umphal arches, adorned with figures, which had the ap- 

 pearance of being cut in stone, but which he concluded, 

 from one that was broken, to be formed of some com- 

 position. A small lake, called See-hoo, washes its walls i.ake See- 

 on the western side, and adds greatly to the beauty of hoo. 

 the place. The water of this lake is clear as crystal, 

 full of eels and other kinds of fish, and its banks co- 

 vered with flowers. Open galleries, supported by pil- 

 lars, and paved with large flag-stones, are erected along 

 its sides for the convenience of walking ; and causeways, 

 cased with cut stones, traverse the lake in various direc- 

 tions, having numerous openings, covered with hand- 

 some bridges for the passage of the boats. In the mid- 

 dle of the lake are two islands, in which a temple and 

 other houses of entertainment are erected for the recep- 

 tion of those who amuse themselves in the place. " Its 

 natural and artificial beauties," says Mr Barrow, " ex- 

 ceeded every thing we had hitherto an opportunity of 

 seeing in China." The surrounding mountains are lofty 

 and picturesque ; the vallies clothed with trees, especi- 

 ally the camphor-tree, tallow-tree, and arbor vitas, (the 

 first a bright green, the second purple, and the third a 

 deep green colour), and varied and romantic sepulchres 

 are seen in avenues among the trees, surrounded with 

 cypress. Parties of pleasure in barges are frequently 

 formed on the lake, but few females, except those of 

 loose character, join in those excursions. Kia-king-foo, 

 is remarkable for its fine streets, which are furnished 

 with beautiful piazzas to shelter the passengers from the 

 sun and rain. Hoo tchcoo-foo, is situated on a lake of 

 the same name, and is celebrated for the immense quan- 

 tity of silk, manufactured within its walls. Ning-po-foo, 

 called by the Portuguese Li-ang-po, or Liampo, is an 

 excellent sea-port, on the east coast of the province, 

 opposite to Japan ; and about 20 leagues from the town, 

 is the island of Tcheoo chan, where the English landed 

 upon their first arrival in China, in the year 1700, as 

 they were not able to find their way through the nume- 

 rous islands on the coast to the port of Ning-po. The 

 town is famed for its silks, of which it sends great quan- 

 tities to Batavia, Siam, and particularly to Japan. Chao- 

 hing-foo, is situated in an extensive plain, and in its vi- 

 cinity is a very ancient sepulchral monument, which the 

 Chinese consider as the tomb of the Great Yu. The 

 inhabitants of this town and its district are said to 

 be superior to most of the Chinese in their acqusintance 

 with all the chicanery of the laws, and are generally 

 preferred aa secretaries to the higher mandarins. Tchu- 

 tcheoo foo, may be mentioned on account of the pine- 

 trees, which grows upon a mountain in its neighbour- 

 hood to. so extraordinary a size, that one of them will 

 contain 4O men in the hollow of its trunk. 



The province of Tche kiang, extends from 28 to 

 34 north latitude; and its mean temperature in the 

 middle of November, was found to be from 56 at sun- 

 rise to 6'2 at noon. In the space of fifty leagues to the 

 north of Hang-tcheoo-foo, the soil is clay upon a bot- 

 tom of potters earth, the country level, and the moun- 

 tains commence only in the environs of the city. For 



