CHINA. 



301 



reigner must of necessity treat ; and they are almost 

 ^^ "Y"*" / equally obliged to insist upon enormous profits, as they 

 are expected to pay for their privileges by frequent and 

 magnificent presents to the superior officers at Canton ; 

 and these again must share the spoil with the emperor 

 and his chief ministers at Pekin. Many of these officers 

 at Canton arrive from the capital sufficiently poor; and 

 in the space of three years return thither with immense 

 riches. The various curiosities, jewellery, aim other 

 articles of English manufacture, which have been obser- 

 ved in the different imperial palaces, and all of them pre- 

 sents from Canton, exclusive of similar valuables, in the 

 possession of the higher mandarins, have been estimated 

 at a sum equal to two millions sterling. 



Commer- Of the refined knavery, and undisguised extortions 

 rial tricki practised by the Chinese upon European traders, and 



even upon one another, the following instances may be 

 Chinese. . . & r , . ' 



given as attested fact?, upon the authority of Mr Barrow. 



" In consideration of the Hindostan, (a ship employed, 

 in the embassy of Lord Macartney) having carried pre- 

 sents for the emperor, an order was issued from court, 

 that she should be exempt from duties, at any of the 

 ports, where she might take in a cargo. It happened 

 that the Hong merchants had already paid the Hindos- 

 tan's duties with those of the other ships, of which her 

 particular share was 30,000 ounces of silver. The Hoo- 

 poe, or collector, was therefore requested to return this 

 sum, agreeably to the order from court ; but he refund- 

 ed only 14.000 dollars, which can be reckoned as little 

 more than 11,000 ounces, observing that so much was 

 the exact amount of the emperor's duties." 



" An Armenian merchant brought a large pearl to 

 Canton, in the expectation of making his fortune. Its 

 size and beauty soon became known, and attracted the 

 attention of the officers and the merchants, who paid 

 their daily visits 16 the Armenian, offering him prices 

 far inadequate to its value- At length, however, after 

 minute and repeated examinations, a price was agreed 

 upon, and a deposit made ; but the Armenian was to 

 keep possession of the pearl till the remaining part of 

 the purchase- money should be ready ; and, in order to 

 obviate any possibility of trick, the b.,x, in which it was 

 kept, was sealed with the purchaser's seal. Several days 

 -elapsed without his hearing any thinu further from the 

 Chinese ; and, at length, the time approached, when all 

 foreign merchants are ordered down to Macao. The 

 Armenian in vain rndeavoun-d to find out ihp people, 

 who had purchased his pearl ; but he contented himself 

 with the reflection, that, although he had been disap- 

 pointed in the main object of hi., journey, he still had his 

 property, and that the deposit wa. more than sufficient 

 to defray his expenccs. On reaching his home, he had 

 no longer any scruple in breaking open the seal ; but his 

 mortification may easily be supposed, in discovering that 

 his real pearl had been exchanged for an artificial one, 

 o very like as not to be detected, but by the most cri- 

 tical examination." 



" 1 bought of a blind man in the street," says M. 

 Osbeck, ' a Cam* Ilia Japonica, which had fine double 

 white and red flowers. But, by farther observing it in 

 my room, I found, that the flowers were taken fr m 

 another tree, and one calyx was s-j neatly fixed in the 

 other with nails of bamboo, that I should scarce have 

 found it out, if the flowers had not begun to wither. 

 The tre.- itself had only buds, but no open flowers. I 

 learned from this instance, that whosoever will deal with 



Trade. 



the Chinese must make use of his utmost circumspec- 

 tion ; and even then must run the risk of being cheated." 

 " One of my countrymen," says the same author, 

 " can testify this, who buying some chickens, the feathers 

 of which were curiously curled, found, in a few days 

 time, the feathers growing straight, and that his chickens 

 were of the most common sort. The Chinese had curled 

 the feathers up like a wig, a little before he was going 

 to sell them. This is an instance of a Chinese who spares 

 neither time nor pains, if he can only gain money, whe- 

 ther by fair or fraudulent means." 



" Sometimes you think you have bought a capon," 

 says Grosier, " and you receive nothing but skin ; all 

 the rest has been scooped out, and its place so ingenious- 

 ly filled, that the deception cannot be discovered, till the 

 moment you begin to eat. The counterfeit hams of the 

 Chinese have often been mentioned. They are made of a 

 piece of wood, cut in the form of a ham, and coated 

 over with a certain kind of tarth, which is covered with 

 hog's skin. The whole is so curiously painted and pre- 

 pared, that a knife is necessary to detect the fraud." 



The contempt testified by the Chinese towards foreign 

 traders proceeds not merely from their notions of national 

 superiority, and their low views of the mercantile occu- 

 pation in general ; but is no doubt greatly confirmed by 

 the knavery and deceit, which are sometimes practised 

 upon their own people, by the merchants of Europe. 

 Not withstanding all their* acuteness" and caution, they have 

 often been cheated with gaudy watches, and similar ar- 

 ticles of indifferent workmanship, purposely fabricated 

 for the Chinese market, and the following instance of 

 English fraud, recorded by Mr Barrow, is not much in- 

 ferior to those of the Chinese dealers. " One gentle- Enelih 

 man in the honourable East India Company's employ, tricks. " 

 took it into his head, that cuckoo clocks might prove a 

 saleable article in China; and accordingly laid in a large 

 assortment, which more than answered his most sanguine 

 expectations. But, as these vfooden machines were con- 

 structed for sale only, and not f<Jr use, the cuckoo clocks 

 became all mute, long before the second arrival of this 

 gentleman with another cargo. His clocks were now 

 not only unsaleable, but the former purchasers threaten- 

 ed to return their's upon his hands, which would cer- 

 tainly have been done, had not a thought entered his 

 head, that not only pacified his former customers, but 

 procured him also other purchasers for his second cargo. 

 He convinced them by undeniable authorities, that the 

 cuckoo was a very odd kind of bird, which sung only at 

 certain seasons of the year ; and assured them, that, 

 whenever the proper time arrived, all the cuckoos, they 

 had purchased, would once again tune their melodious 

 throats." 



The principal articles, exported from China in the com- Eiportc<l. 

 merce with Europe, are : article*. 



Porcelain, of various descriptions. 

 Tea, of which the principal kinds are, 



taels. 



Vo y, Booy or Bohea, at from 1 2 to 1 5 per pic. * 



Sng-lo 24 26 



C. ng-foo '25 '27 



S 10 tchon <K) .50 



Pekao 3-1 fiO 



Hay.'uen 50 60 



Tchu G5 7O 



S gar 4 6 



Sugarcandy 715, 



The pic ij equal to 100 Chinese pounds of 1C tacfc or ounces. 



