Sli 



CHINA. 



they get on board of any foreign ship, are apt to give 

 prppcr, or tome such article, which prove* fatal to the 

 hog*, that they may get them when dead ; and it i cer- 

 tain, that truths ',cse animal* die in the possrs- 

 lion of Europeans, during their stay in China. Rice, 

 howr . r great staff of life, and it name, Fan, oc- 

 cur* in almost every expression, which relates to food. 

 A meal ia named tche-fan, to rat rice; breakfast is called 

 tsao-fan, or morning rice, and supper, ouan-fan, or 

 ing riff. Their chief beverage is bad tea. boiled again 

 and again, ai long as the leaves will yield the smallest 

 ;je to the water ; and this is taken without 

 aiilk, or sugar, or any other ingredient whatever, except 

 a little ginger in cold weather. The principal use of the 

 tea it to purify the water, which, in that level country, 

 is extremely impure, and which the Chinese never use 

 f!l it has been boiled. They take little care, however, 

 to procure it of a good quality, but make use always of 

 the nearest pond, and trust to the effects of the tea to 

 correct its impurities ; and especially to the leaves, which 

 are supposed to carry down the sediment to the bottom 

 of the vessel. They make at least two regular meah in 

 the day, one about 10 o'clock forenoon, and another 

 about -t or 5 in the afternoon ; but it was observed, that 

 they generally had their frying-pans on the fire by four 

 o'clock ia the morning, and were always cooking some- 

 thing or other for the belly. 



The diet of the wealthy in China is as plentiful and 

 sumptuous, as that of the lower classes is poor and mea- 

 gre. The substantial articles of their ordinary meals are 

 rice, pulse, pork, mutton, poultry, and fish. They sel- 

 dom use beef, which is said, however, to be excellent at 

 Wampoo ; and their mutton also is good, but abounds 

 only in the northern province*. Ducks and game are in 

 daily use ; but the flesh of young pigs, which is said to 

 be extremely light and wholesome in China, is the most 

 common species of animal food at the tables of the higher 

 rders. TheTartari make regular use of ass, and especially 

 of horse-flesh, which is said to be sold at a higher rate in 

 Canton than young pork. The flesh of hare and of the stag 

 i much used at Pekin ; and the most esteemed part of the 

 ratter animal is the tail, which is reserved for the table of 

 the emperor, and which sometimes sells for 30 or 40 taeU. 

 It it said to have the taste of rancid tallow. The weal- 

 thy Chinese seek after the most nourishing and invigora- 

 ting diet with great avidity, and at whatever price. The 

 greatest delicacies are the most gelatinous substances, 

 the paws of the bear, the fins of the shark, the sinewy 

 parts of the stag and other animals, the nests of a parti- 

 cular species of swallow brought chiefly fromCambodia, 

 and a kind of fucut or sea-plant. Of this last they make 

 a very nourishing and refreshing jelly, which is mixed 

 with sugar and orange juice. Their bread is made with- 

 out yeast into small cakes, and is very light and white, 

 but seldom sufficiently baked. They use a variety of ve 

 getablc substances in the form of pickles, particularly 

 re-mi, already mentioned, onions, ginger, and the young 

 shoots of bamboo. They have a number of fruits also 

 preserved by sugar, especially a preparation from the 

 flour of beans, which ii used sometimes in a liquid, and 

 sometimes in a solid form, and which is represented as 

 remarkably iniipid. They arc very fond of eating their 

 fruit, after it has been cooled upon ice ; and this luxury 

 . 10 abundintly collected in the city of P. kin, that even 

 the poorer clatset arc able to procure it. Their cookery 

 ! to be sufficiently good, their soups and vermicelli 

 particularly excellent, and their pastry, made from the 

 -lour of buck-wheat, ur.-uually light, and at white as 

 -ir dihe|-are chiefly in the form of stcwt of 



fish, fowl, and meat, sometimes separately, and sometimes Ckuamr 

 promiscuously, mixed with various vegetables and sauces; n 

 and their drink at table is either tea or an ardent spirit ^__ 

 distilled from millet or rice, which they always drink in 

 a hot state, and which is said to resemble burnt brandy. 

 Thcyeat very plentifully, and rather voraciously, at meals; 

 and throughout the day are constantly eating pastry and 

 fruits, sipping spirituous liquors, smoking tobacco, or 

 chewing betel and areca nut. 



The following are the prices of some of the principal !' 

 articles of subsistence at Pekin, according to Mr Barrow. f* 



Beef, per pound, (>J. 



Mutton, Sd. 



Pork, Hd 



Bread 1 1. 



Rice IJd. or2d. 



Wheat flour, '2',d. or 3d. 



Eggs, per dozen, Is. Od. 



Fowls, each, from "i. to Ds. 



Tea, per pound, from 12s. to \, 10s. and 



not so good as may be purchased in Lon 



at O's. per pound. 



Coals, brought from the mountains of Tartary on t!.* 

 backs of dromedaries, are extremely dear, and are gene- 

 rally pounded, mixed with earth, and dried in the form of 

 bricks, when they burn without flame, but yield a heat 

 sufficiently strong for their small stoves. 



The price of labour in the same city is nearly one p ; 

 shilling per day to the best employed mechanics ; but l.ib.wr. 

 hired servants may be had at the rate of one ounce of 

 silver, or 6s. 8d. per month, and sometimes merely for 

 their subsistence. 



The clothing of the Chinese hi ancient times, consist- Drcv. 

 ed of long and ample robes, with immense sleeves reach- 

 ing to the ground, and a large quantity of hair gathered 

 up under their cap'. But they have been compelled to 

 adopt the habits of their Tartar conquerors ; and, like 

 them also, they shave the hair from their heads, cr. 

 a single tress or tuft, which they form into a long plait- 

 ed queue, called Penze. Many of the lowest class have- 

 scarcely any other clothing, than a single pair of cotton 

 drawers, and straw shoes; but the dress of the majority 

 consists of a jacket or frock of black or blue cotton, 

 wide cotton drawers, straw hat and shoes, frequently 

 without any covering for the legs, and sometimes with 

 stockings of coarse cotton cloth. The better tort wear 

 a kind of velvet cap on the head, of blue, black, or 

 brown silk, a jacket of cotton cloth or European carn- 

 blet, buttoned close round the neck, and folded across 

 the breast, with sleeves remarkably wide ; and frequent- 

 ly, instead of drawers, they have quilted petticoats and 

 black sattin boots. In those provinces where silk is 

 abundant, the people are clothed chiefly in that article, 

 as all the Chinese proceed upon the principle of con- 

 suming their own immediate products, and of receiving 

 as little as possible from other districts. The dress of 

 the more wealthy consists of a number of garments. 

 Besides a robe of thin coarse silk, nearest to the body, 

 by way of a shirt, and a vest generally of the same stuff, 

 witlr drawers, or quilted petticoats, they have common- 

 ly three and at least two upper garments. That which 

 is next to the vest is without sleeves, but reaches nearly 

 to the feet. The one above this is equally lontf, and h.u 

 the sleeves very wide towards the shnuldi-r, but narrower 

 towards the wrist. The outer garment is i ng, 



reaching only to the calf of the I'-g, and ha. s-K-i-vi-s of n 

 moderate width. These two upper robes resemble the 



