CHINA. 



press view of Gxing the degree of the population. We 

 consider hi* opinion . , int ; and sub- 



mit to our readers tl. ^ extract lu>:u h' . work. 



* Io our i .1* we ascended the river from 



Canton to Nan-hioog fuu, the Us; city of tlu- province, 

 in the wh- '. , which is !().' leagues, we 



. dutant from each otlui 17, 1 



and 28 league*. The population iu th country was ex- 



tremc ' : appeared to us a hitle more crowd- 



rd. in . But tlie circumstance of our passing had 



.tude upon the route; and when, upon our 



vl tin- same places at our leisure, il.c in- 



lubita iti did not appear in greater numbers than in other 



The same was the case in Kiang-sce. Except in two 

 or three cities, to which our arrival had attracted the in- 

 habitants of the surrounding country, the number of in- 

 dividual* was no way surprising. In traversing by water 

 the jrrcatcr part of thij pn.vn.o-, ue iuunJ the cities at 

 the distauce of 12, l~>. and 25 leagues, and afterwards of 

 11,9, and 1 leagues from each utlier. There was only 

 oae A live, and another at three leagues interval. In 

 short, we saw only twtlv- cities in a space of 1 16 leagues. 

 . we quitted our barks, and travelled by land in 

 Kiang-sec and Hoo-ltooang, in an interval of 4-0 leagues, 

 we passed through four cities; and, a* the route lay 

 through the midst of fields, villages, and towns, it would 

 have been ca -y for us to have satisfied ourselves, whether 

 the inhabitant* were very numerous ; but nothing pre- 

 sented any proof of such a fact. 



" In Kiang-naB, within the space of 113 leagues, we 

 found only eight cities, at a distance from each other if 

 1 1, \'l, 1 i, is, and 21 leagues ; and two of them at an 

 interval of 5 and -t leagues. With respect to this west- 

 ern part of Kiang-nan, there cannot be a moment's doubt 

 respecting the degree of population : it is very mode- 

 rate. 



" Shan-tong presented us successively, in a space of 

 80 leagues, only with 10 cities, at distances of 22, 11,1.', 



,;ues. 



"In Pe-tchelee, we found as many, a little nearer to 

 each other, indeed, as we travelled only 63 leagues ; but 

 uch cities ! and above all, such villages ! The greater 

 part presented the afflicting spectacle of absolute devas- 

 tation, while Pekio, in the midst of so many miserable 

 objects, surrounded with vast walls, adorned with superb 

 pavilions and magnificent palaces, seemed, if the expres- 

 sion may be allowed, to have sucked up and absorbed in 

 itself the whole surrounding country. 



" Upon leaving the capital upon our return, we pur- 

 the same route a> far as the city of Te-tcheoo, 

 where we altered our course, in order to follow the east- 

 ern coast. In this new tract, we travelled 83 leagues in 

 Siian-tong, and passed S cities, of which the three iir.it, 

 :u Pe-tchelee, were at the distance of 

 .1 and of 4 leagues from t ach other ; and the rest at a 

 ili.tar.ce of IS, 1 i, 18, and 20 leagues, and only one at 

 . ii interval of 7 leagues. The soil in this part of Shan- 

 long it not so bad as in the wesieru part of tbe same pro- 

 vince, and presented a more numerous, but still not a ve- 



.pulatiun." 



" Having arrived at tbe eastern part of Kiang-see, the 



kest portion of China, and which is always shewn by the 



tc to' foreigners in preference to any other part, we 



.1, in the vicinity of the dike which is raised along 



he banks of the Yellow river, towns which appeared to 



xtremely populous. It was from this population, 



that the English formed their opinion ; and it was thus 



that they were led into ai error. In passing through Population, 

 the same places as these travellers. I could have believed """"Y"*' 

 with them, that the number of inhabitants was cons'dera- 

 t>le ; but I discovered, that I would have been deceived, 

 had I trusted to the first appearance. The advantage 

 which we enjoyed of setting out at our own pleasure, af- 

 forded us the means of proving, that this population did 

 not wholly belong to the places where we halted, but 

 that a great proportion had been attracted thither from 

 the neighbouring country. These towns, so populous 

 at our arrival, presented almost a complete desert at the 

 time when we took our departure ; and we perceived, in 

 the country, numerous bands of the inhabitants, who 

 were returning to their villa;; 



" Though the part of Kiang-nan, which lies to the 

 north of Hoang-ho, is good, yet in the space of 4<) 

 leagues we saw only two cities, at a di-tance of 21 and 

 l.'j L-agues; and then three more, after having crot 

 that river, before coming to Tsin-kiang-foo, on the north 

 of the Kiang, that is to say, in a course of ;. 



The portion of Kiang-nan, after crossing the river Kiang, 

 is beautiful and well peopled ; the towns are closer to 

 each other ; and, in a space of 4-2 leagues, we found five 

 cities at the distance of !, 5, 7, S, and 9 leagues from, 

 each other. 



" Entering the province of Tchc-kiang, we passed 

 over 'J- leagues without seeing one city j but, as the ca- 

 nal* take a winding direction, we left upon one ude a 

 city of the first class, and another of the third ; but still, 

 reckoning these two cities, we only passed twelve in the 

 95 leagues which we travelled in this province, that is to 

 say, one city at the distance of ! leagues, two at 5, two 

 a'. 7, one at 8, one at 9, two at 10, two at 1 1, and one 

 at 12. The cantons of Tche-kian.r, which border upon 

 the province of Kiang-nan, and those which surround the 

 city of Hang-tcheoo-foo, are well peopled ; but, in 

 ascending the river as far as the extremity i>f the pro- 

 vince, the population is moderate, and the cities have no- 

 thing extraordinary, although, of th;- ei ( rht cities which 

 we jaw in this part of Tche-kiaiiT, and which are at the 

 distance of 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, and 4 leagues from each other, 

 there are two of the first rank. 



" We met few people on the ro;u!, which separates 

 Tche-kiang from Kiang-iee. Yi.-shan-hirn, the first 

 city of this latter province, and which we had fall time- 

 to examine, had only a population proportioned to its 

 small extent. In descending the river to Nan-tchang-foo, 

 the capital of Kiang-see, which was a route of 74 leagues, 

 we passed by six cities, of which two were situated at 

 a distance of 8 leagues, one at 10, one at 12, one at 16, 

 and Nan-tchang-foo at 20. This capital where we h:,lt- 

 eil is large, but its population did not appear to us ex. 

 tr.i'.rdinary. We have thus had an opportunity, during 

 a journey of u'ear 1()00 leagues, of judging whether the 

 provinces of China were as populous as the Knpjiish have 

 advanced. I have made, in going to Pekin, pretty 1 .fig 

 journies without meeting a single person ; and if, in my 

 return, I saw a great number of people in certain placer, 

 still there was nothing to excite astonishment. In a 

 word, nothing can induce me to bcheve, that the popu- 

 lation in general is immense. I shall say only one w rd 

 more. It is an error to suppose, thiit there exists in L 

 na a second population upon the rivers. Except the 

 principal and commercial cities, iu the neighbourhood of 

 which a pretty large number of boats are found, there is 

 only seen upon the rivers such a number of pe <ple as is 

 suitable to a vast and extended country, the whole of 

 whose commerce is carried on by water." * 



a Fcki*, $<. pr M. DC Guigncs, torn. iii. p. 80. 



