CHINA. 



SOS 



The ships are loaded at the expence of the Hong mer- 

 chants, and generally complete their cargo at Wampoo, 

 unless they draw so much water as to require to be car- 

 ried farther down the river, before receiving the whole 

 of their burden. When thejoading is completed, the cap- 

 tain sends intimation to the Hong merchant, who then 

 applies to the Ho-poo for the license to sail and to pro- 

 cure a pilot ; and this license ought to be preserved till 

 the vessel has passed Macao, both as a proof that all the 

 duties have been paid, and as a claim upon the Chinese for 

 ,nce in case of accidents. After the departure of 

 the ships for Europe, the supercargoes of the compa- 

 nies at Canton begin to bargain with the Hong merchants 

 for the next cargo ; and, by acquiring on the spot a 

 knowledge of the situation of these merchants, and of 

 other circumstances, they have thus greatly the advan- 

 tage of private traders, in making profitable contracts. 



The following table of expences, attending a commer- 

 cial voyage to Canton, according to the statements of M. 

 De Guignes, * may be acceptable to mercantile read- 



Dollars. 



665 

 2708 



67 

 40 

 4 

 600 



15 

 9 



184 

 200 

 200 

 4 

 6 

 60 

 4 



4766 



Duty upon a ship 50 Chinese feet in length, and 

 20 in breadth = 1000 feet, or lOOTchang . . 



Present to the Ho-poo, about 



Two per cent, upon the two payments for the se- 

 cretaries of the Ho-poo 



Expence of pilot to Wampoo 



Additional gratification 



Hire of a lodging at Canton 



Licence for each country boat employed in un- 

 loading th? cargo 



Hire of the boat, &c 



Salary to interpreter, and expence of licence to 

 tail 



To the mandarins at Wampoo 



To the comprador, or purchaser of provisions . 



To the soldiers 



To the mandarins upon leaving Canton 



To the pilot, for going down to Macao 



To the bouts, which assist in passing the bars . . 



Total about L. 1150, or .... 



The fare of the country boats from Canton to Wam- 

 poo, is generally from four to six dollars ; but it is re- 

 commended, upon finally quitting Canton, to use the 

 fihip'o boat, instead of the Chinese craft, which would 

 expose the trader to demands for money at every custom- 

 house, f 



Few of the manufacturing arts have attained any high 

 ruRts *ND degree of excellence in China ; and almost the only one, 

 rDi3. i n w hich they excel, is in the art of pottery. Even the 

 superior quality, however, of their porcelain, is more 

 Porcelain, owing to the excellence of the materials which they pos- 

 sess, and the care with whkh they select and purify 

 them, than to any ingenuity or skill displayed in the pro- 

 cess. Their taste in shaping and ornamenting their por- 

 celain vessels is generally acknowledged to be most 

 wretched ; and they can neither finish nor paint their 

 ware in a manner equal to that of European manufac- 

 ture. 



The two principal {substances, which enter into the 

 composition of their porcelain, and upon the due prepa- 



ration and proportioning of which its quality depends, Manufac- 

 are called Kao-lin and Pe-tun-tse : the former, is a fine totes. 

 soft clay, or soap-stone, mixed with a few grains of mi- " """V"" 

 ca ; and the latter a kind of granite composed chiefly of 

 quartz, with a small quantity of mica ; the whitest of Materials, 

 each, and that which has a greenish hue, is always pre- 

 ferred, and carefully purified. The Pe-tun-tse, after be- 

 ing broken by an iron club, is pounded in mortars by 

 means of levers, headed with stone and bound with iron, 

 which are sometimes worked by water like the hammers 

 of paper mills. The powder is then thrown into a large 

 vessel full of water, stirred with an iron shovel, and left 

 to settle. A kind of cream, about four inches thick, 

 then rises to the top, which is repeatedly scummed off as 

 it collects, and poured into another vessel filled with 

 water. The dregs, which remain behind, are then pound- 

 ed anew, and submitted to the same process. The 

 cream, thus collected, is allowed to remain in a vessel 

 of water, till it form a crust at the bottom, and the wa- 

 ter above become perfectly clean, which is then gently 

 poured off, and the paste thrown into large moulds to be 

 dried ; but, before becoming entirely hard, it is cut into 

 small square cakes like bricks, which are sold by the 

 hundred. 



The kao-lin is found in large mines, under a stratum 

 of red earth ; and, though almost sufficiently prepared 

 in its natural state, is made to pass through the same 

 process, and formed into bricks like the Pe-tuo-tse. 



These two substances are then mixed together, the 

 kao-lin acting as a cement to unite the particles of the 

 Pe-tun-tse. For the fine porcelain, equal parts of each 

 are employed ; for that of a secondary quality, four parts 

 of the kao-lin are added to six of the Pe-tun-tse ; and 

 for that of the lowest kind, one part of kao-lin to three 

 of Pe-tun-tse. Instead of kao-lin, the manufacturers 

 sometimes employ a kind of greasy chalk-stone, named 

 Hao-tche, which is pounded, purified, and formed into 

 caket, in the same manner as the other substances. The 

 porcelain, made of this material, is finer, whiter, and light- 

 er, but, at the same time, more brittle and expensive, 

 than what is made with kao-lin ; and, hence, the work- 

 men generally content themselves with dipping the form- 

 ed paste into a thick tincture of Hao-tche, for the pur- 

 pose of giving it a greater degree of whiteness. Another 

 kind of substance of the nature of gypsum, called She- 

 kao, is also occasionally used, but it wants the solidity of 

 the kao-lin. 



When the substances are mixed in the desired proper- Mode of 

 tions, the mass is thrown into a large pit, well paved and working, 

 cemented ; and is then kneaded chiefly by treading, till 

 it become hard. From this mass the workmen take 

 their portions, which they spread out upon large slates, 

 and knead and roll the substance in every direction, de- 

 stroying every vacuum, and removing every extraneous 

 matter, even the smallest hair or grain of sa.,d. Vessels 

 with plain surfaces, are then formed, generally with 

 the wheel ; and, when a cup has thus received its pro- 

 per height and diameter, it passes to another wokman, 

 who forms its base ; then to a third, who gives its pro- 

 per shape by a mould ; then to a fourth, who polishes 

 its edges, and diminishes its thickness; and soon, through 

 a variety of hands, perhaps to the number of 20, before 

 it is ready for the furnace. In the larger and more com- 

 plicated pieces, in which there are spout;, handles, rings, 

 &c. and m figures of trees, animals, busts, and other ima- 



By th ii author, the dollar is estimated at nearly 4t. 104. sterling. 



f For a variety of other useful and particular directions respecting the navigation from Macao to Wampoo, w mutt refcr to Pow 

 ti a Peking par M. De Guigne, tome iii. p. 277.. 



