CHINA. 



213 



Topogra 

 phy- 



of a tower, close by a pagoda, and surrounded by build- 

 ings, pavilions, and gardens. The tower is described by 

 """Tr"" )e Guignes as one of the finest that he observed in 

 China. It consists of five stories, with a covered gal- 

 lery around the outside of each, and with sixteen win- 

 dows in each story. It has eight sides, and eight gates, 

 while walls, and the wood-work painted red, a large tree 

 on the top, surrounded by a spiral of iron, and sur- 

 mounted by a gilded ball terminating in a point. Hoei- 

 tcheoo-foo, the most southern city of the province, and 

 one of the richest in the empire, has mines of gold, sil- 

 yer, and copper, in its adjacent mountains ; and its inha- 

 bitants, who are temperate, frugal, and enterprising, are 

 fanv-d tor preparing superior tea, varnish, and engravings. 

 Fong-yang foo, is situated on a mountain, which over- 

 hang-t the Yellow river ; and incloses several fertile little 

 hills within its walls. It was the birth-place of the Em- 

 peror Hong-voo, the chief of a dynasty, who designed 

 to have made it the seat of his court, and gave it its pre- 

 sent name, which signifies " the place of the Eagle's 

 splendour ;" but finding that the inequality of the ground, 

 and the scarcity of fresh water, would prove insuperable 

 inconveniences, he changed his purpose, stopped his in- 

 tended improvements, and removed his residence to Nan- 

 kin. Three monuments of great extent and grandeur 

 still remain, viz. the tomb of the Emperor's rather, a 

 magnificent temple of the god Fo, and a tower in the 

 centre of the city, of an oblong form, and about 100 feet 

 TUand of high. To this province belongs the island of Tsong- 

 Twri- ming, which is separated from the continent by an arm 

 """5- of the sea, about six leagues broad, and which was for- 



merly a mere s-andy desart, to which criminals wtre ba- 

 nished, and left to their own resources. By the exertions 

 of those persons, and the assistance of a few poor Chi- 

 nese families, it was at first brought into some degree of 

 cultivation, and is now a populous and tolerably fruitful 

 spot. Its principal production is salt, which is extract- 

 ed from a kind of gray earih in the following manner ; 

 the earth is first smoothed and raised in a sloping form, 

 that the water may not settle upon it ; and when the sun 

 has dried its surface, it is removed and laid in heaps, 

 which are carefully beaten on every side. It is then 

 spread on largf tables, a little inclined, and fresh water 

 is poured upon it, which, as it runs off, carries along 

 with it the particles of salt into a small canal, by which 

 it is conveyed to a large earthen vessel. The earth, 

 which has thus been freed from its salt, is thrown apart 

 till it becomes dry, when it is again pulverized, and 

 spivad over the soil from which it wai taken, when in a 

 short time it is again impregnated with saline particles, 

 which aie again extracted as before. The salt-water, 

 thus procured, is then boiled by the worn -n and chil- 

 dren, and put into large iron basons, which they con- 

 tinue to stir with an iron spatula, till the aqueous parts 

 be evaporated. The extent >f this island is about twenty 

 leagues in length and five or six in breadth. It has only 

 one city, which is of the third rank ; but it is covered 

 with villages, and intersected with canals. 



This province extends from 31 to 34^ north lati- 

 tude ; and its mean temperature, from the 30th of Oc- 

 r to the 9th of November, was found to be 54 at 

 sun rise, and (ib' at noon : The sky at the same time was 

 uniformly clear. The country is in general level, except 

 i;i the neighbourhood of the river Hoang-ho. ;'he 

 . in the western part of the province, in a dry red- 

 dish clay ; the banks of the rivt r are a yellowish clay, 

 and the eastern division is chiefly light and M:dv, but 

 Kith-east there is more of a good clay, and 

 often a black tat earth. It it much interoccteci by 'rivers 

 2 



Shan- 

 tong. 



and canals ; and, being thus capable of being flooded in Topogra. 



dry seasons, it is extremely valuable and fertile. Every -/^ 



part of it, also, has easy communication with the Yel- 

 low Sea, by means of the two great rivers Hoang-ho and 

 Yang tse-kiang ; and it is thus considered as the central 

 point of the home trade of China. Its cities are large, 

 populous, and flourishing ; and it is one of the most ex- 

 tensive, commercial, and wealthy provinces in the em- 

 pire. Its silk stuffs, japanned ware, ink, and paper, 

 are greatly valued ; and in one village alone, with its de- 

 pendencies, it is reckoned that 200,000 persons are em- 

 ployed in weaving cotton cloths. There are numerous 

 salt-pits on the coast, which yield an immense revenue to 

 government. The inhabitants are civil, ingenious, and 

 apt in the acquisition of learning ; and many of them 

 have become eminent in the literature of the nation. 



XI. SHAN TOXG, Chan tong, or Xan long, contains 

 6 cities of the first class, and 114> of the second and 

 third. Tsee-nan-foo, the capital, situated on the south 

 of the river Tsce, is large and populous, and is much 

 honoured by the Chinese, on account of its having been 

 the residence of a long succession of sovereigns, whose 

 tombs on a neighbouring mountain present a very striking 

 view from the city. Kio-feoo is celebrated chiefly as 

 having been the birth-place of the celebrated Confucius, 

 or Kong-foo-tse. Lin tchin-tcheoo, situated on the 

 great canal, is a place of much trade, and contains a re- 

 markable octagonal tower, eight stories high, covered 

 on the outside with neatly painted pjrcelaia, and en- 

 crusted in the inside with variegated marble. All its 

 cornices and projections are furnished with small beils, 

 which, when moved by the wind, yield a pleasing sound ; 

 and in the highest story is placed an idol, of gilt copper, 

 to which the tower is consecrated. Tt-in-tcheoo-foo is 

 celebrated for its immense traffic in fish, of which so 

 great a quantity is caught in its vicinity, that the sale 

 of their skins is said to yield a very considerable profit ; 

 and also for a yellow stone, produced in the belly of the 

 cows in its district, which is as large as a jjoose's egg, 

 brittle as crayon, and used in medicine. To this pro- 

 vince belong several small islands, the greater part of 

 which are provided with good harbours, which afford a 

 convenient shelter to the Chinese junks that sail to Corea 

 and Leao-tong. 



This province extends from 34-^ to 38 J north lati- 

 tude ; and its mean temperature, trom the 19th to the 

 29th ..f October, was found t,. be about 52 at s^n-rise, 

 and 70 at noon, with a constant clear and cloudless 

 sky. The country is in general level ; but towards the 

 south it is full of mountains and swamps. The oil is a 

 dry sand, of the colour of ashes, or rather a collection 

 of mud and slime deposited by the river-,, and scarcely 

 containing a single pebble ; and there are large tracks of 

 marsh and moss, which are inhabited only by a few mi- 

 serable looking Haher-tribes. Very little ram falls in the 

 province ; but, besides its many lakes and rivers, which 

 are highly useful in fertilizing its plains, it is traversed 

 by the great imperial canal, which adoS greatly ;u its 

 wealth ; as all the vessels, which transport such immense 

 quantities of provisions and merc'ianditif to Pckin, must 

 thus pas, through its ttniu.ry. Besides the common 

 silk worm, (here is found in th s province an-xhi-r insect, 

 res* milling the caterpillar of Europe, which produces a 

 coarser kind . f silk, of which hcww.r are lude very 

 strong jnd Hurabli: stuffs, whiih arc 'n gr .it ipqr.est 

 throughout China. It abounds als k. grai if all 

 kinds, v.",p; c ly wheat, nc and mil'et. Th- inhabi- 

 tants an- accounted the keenest oport mei: in :heje"n 

 pire, and are very strong aud hardy It '() /intly 



