CHINA. 



le*e are considered t* (till more decidedly detcended 

 from a Chinese dock. According to the account* of 

 """* th* celebrated Italian traveller, Marco Polo, the Chinwe 

 most have been in the habit of viiiting the island of Ma- 

 <laga*?ar before hi* time j and it it atserted by Mr Bar- 

 row, a* ID obvious matter of fact, that many Of the I lot- 

 tentott strikingly retemble t! - in the form of 



their perton*, in the feature* of their countenance, and 

 in their manner of speaking, 10 as to render it highly 

 probable, that those tribe* on the narrow extremity of 

 Africa, who differ to remarkably from all their neigh- 

 bour*, have derived their origin from a colony of Chi- 

 ete, to whom they bear so close a resemblance. Even 

 admitting, however, these marks of affinity between the 

 native* of these different countries aud the inhabitant* 

 of China, and the probable conclusion that they must 

 have therefore derived their origin from some Chinese 

 colony, there is still no proof of the existence of a regu- 

 lar and extended navigation from China to these quar- 

 ter*. On the contrary, it is affirmed as an acknowledged 

 fact, that the Chinese mariners were not acquainted with 

 the island of Formosa till the year 1 IviO ; nor with the 

 isle* of Pong-boo till 1564 ; and hence it is not at all 

 probable, that they should have been in the practice of 

 frequenting distant coasts at a period when they had 

 not explored the teas which wash their own.shr.ier-. 

 Practical Their whole style of seamanship argues no cstablish- 

 (MvifUion. e( J fkiH or extended practice. They have .no idea of 

 keeping any reckoning at sea, so as to ascertain by esti- 

 mation of the distance sailed, or by observation of the 

 heavenly bodies, the longitude and latitude of particu- 

 lar places. Their system is to keep as near to the 

 shore as possible, and never to lose sight of land. In 

 this way the commerce of the Yellow sea is carried on 

 from port to port ; and the articles of traffic pass 

 through a multitude of hands, before they reach the 

 consumer. When they do attempt more distant voyages 

 to Japan, Batavia, Mai.iila, Cochinchiua, and Borneo, 

 they embrace a favourable monsoon ; and if they know 

 the direction of the port which they wish to make, 

 they endeavour, whatever be the wind, always to keep 

 the prow of the vessel pointing as exactly as possible to 

 Mtrinrr' that particular quarter. They are generally admitted 

 caapau. to have been acquainted with the polar direction of the 

 load-stone, and to have employed it in navigation long 

 before that important invention was known in Europe ; 

 and it is conjectured, that Marco Polo brought from 

 China, about the end of the thirteenth century, this new 

 and valuable use of the magnetic needle. But, however 

 remote their acquaintance with this discovery may have 

 been, and in whatever way they attained the knowledge 

 of it, they have made little progress in its improvement ; 

 and their mariner's compass is to this day an extremely 

 imperfect instrument. The needle i* exceedingly dimi- 

 nutive in *ize, tcldom above three-fourths of an inch 

 in length, and so very fine, as well as short, that it does 

 not require to be loaded at one end more than another 

 to prevent it* dipping towards the horizon. The card 

 is divided into eight principal points, and each of these 

 again is subdivided into three ; while the needle is al- 

 lowed to traverse the fixed points, 'instead of being at- 

 tached to the card. They are utterly ignorant of the 

 variation and inclination of the nerdle ; and the box, in 

 which it i placed, i) extremely small, just sufficient to 

 allow it* vibration. The margin, however, of this box 

 it frequently to large as to contain 90 or 30 concentric 

 circle*, marked with various character*, comprising an 

 abitract of their astronomical science, especially the 

 tames of the 12 hour* of the day, the 28 ligni of the 

 xodiac, the 2-1 lubdiviiien* or icasoni of the year, the 







Trading 



vc si.!-. 



cycle of 60 years, the name* of certain constellations, 

 with their positions in the heaven*, the marks of the 

 five elements, and the rules tor calculating lucky and 

 unlucky days. Behind the compass, is generally ; 

 a small shrino or pagoda, with an altar before it, on 

 which a spiral taper of wax, tallow, or sandal 

 dust is kept continually burning. Tlu'l seems to bo in- 

 tended both as an act of divntiun and a measure of t ; me ; 

 for this taper is divided into 1'J equal parts, an) p 

 tinned in such a manner, that the whole is con.umcd in 

 a complete d.iy. It would appear also, that t! 

 gvd the magnetic needle as a specks of divinity, or at 

 least as under the prelection of some superior ben 

 upon every appearance of a change of weather, tliey 

 b'ini incense before the compass. The box, which 

 conta'ns it, is not suspended, but generally placed in 

 a vessel full of sand ; in which, when they have no 

 shrine, are stuck little candles of scented wood, or mere- 

 ly slips of bamboo, with a little sandal wood dust on 

 one end. 



The construction of their trading vessels, intended for 

 distant sea;, is extremely unfavourable ; and it is consi- 

 dered as a mntter of wonder, how they are able, even 

 with the aid of the compass, to reach the ports of Ba- 

 tavia in such clumsy and immamgealle shipping. These 

 merchantmen are called by the Portuguese, Soma or 

 Somrr.es ; and by the Chinese, Tchuan, which last ap- 

 pellation the British seamen have corrupted into Junkf. 

 The general form of the hull, or body of the ship, as 

 seen above water, is like the appearance of the moon, 

 when four days old, as the two extremities rise to a 

 great height above the deck. The bow or forepart is 

 not rounded, as in the vessels of Europe, but square and 

 flat, like the stern, without any of the projecting wood 

 called cut-water, or any kind of keel. In the front it 

 frequently carved the open mouth of a dragon ; but on 

 each side of the bow, is generally painted also a large 

 circular eye, supposed to be an imitation of that of a 

 Hah. There is no bow-sprit ; but there arc two, three, Masts. 

 and often four masts, each of which consists of a single 

 piece of wood, incapable of being reduced in length, not 

 less in diameter, in the larger traders, than those of a Bri- 

 tish Gl ; and fixed in beds of massive tin, laid across the 

 deck. Each mast has a single sail of bamboo matting, 

 stretched by means cf bamboo poles, running across at 

 the distance of two feet from each other ; and construct- 

 ed in such a manner, that the sail can be folded together 

 like a screen, or furled like a fan. These sails arc ex- 

 tremely heavy, and difficult to be extended or lowered ; 

 and in the former operation, a kind of machinery is fre- 

 quently employed ; and, in the latter, a sailor ascends 

 the mast, and pushes down the sail with his feet. Hence, 

 the Chinese seamen are very reluctant to lower their sails, 

 even when the safety of the ship requires that precau- 

 tion ; and many of their vessels are upset by the mere 

 quantity of sail which they keep up in blowing wcathi-r. 

 When these large sails are hoisted, and braced almost 

 parallel with the sides of the ship, a Chinese junk will 

 run within four and three points, or even sometimes half 

 a point of the wind ; but this advantage is greatly coun- 

 teracted by their want of keel and their rounded bot- 

 tom, which cause them to drift much to leeward. The RuJJcr. 

 rudder is placed in a large opening in the stern, and is 

 fastened chiefly by means of cables, *o that it can be oc- 

 casionally tak-n up to avoid sands and shallows ; but its 

 power is thus greatly diminished by the constant slack- 

 ening of the ropes, which connect it with the ship. 

 Their anchors are made of a hard and heavy kind of wood, Ar 

 called Tie-moo, iron-wood, which tiny consider as le. 

 pt to bend than those which are made of iron ; but, in 



Sail". 





