884 



CHINA. 



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4 :. 



country.* where the price of labour it to high, at i much 



lower rate than it it brought from China. The cultiva- 



ton of it in that country are said to tell the very bett 



to their own merchants from 4d. to Si. per pound, who 



diipos* of it to the Eatt India Company at the 



r*te of Sd. per pound for the ordinary kinds, and 2s. bd. 



'ie finest parcels. } 



In China, there are few animals which are not to be 

 found in other countries of the East, though, in tuch an 

 extensive empire, there rniy naturally be supposed to be 

 numerous dier.ities in the appearance even of the com- 

 moo tribe*. Wild animal* of every tpeciei, except the 

 lion, which it unknown in China, abound in the moun- 

 taint and foretts ; the elephant, rhinoceros, leopard, ty- 

 gcr, wolf, bear, buffalo, camel, dromedary, horse, ape, 

 &c. Some of the cmmftt are not higher than horses, and 

 hare two bunches on their shoulders. A species of tygfr 

 without a tail, and with a body resembling that of a dug, 

 it described at remarkably swift and fierce ; and the Chi- 

 nese affirm, that when a traveller escapes his fury by as- 

 cending a tree, the creature stations himself at the root 

 of the tree, and, by uttering loud yells, brings to the 

 spot all of the same species within hearing, who, by their 

 united endeavours, dig up the tree by the roots, and de- 

 vour their miserable victim. The Chinese hunters are 

 aid to destroy this animal, by forming a circle of strong 

 palisades, within which they take their stand, and attract 

 the tyger* to the spot by imitating their cry, and then 

 dispatch them with their arrows while attempting to dig 

 up the stakes. There are various kinds of apes, one species 

 of which named sin-sin, but suspected to be altogether a 

 fabulous animal, is described as equal in size to an ordinary 

 roan, and at imitating very nearly the motions of human 

 beings. A species of flying fox is also said to be found in 

 the frontirrs of N rthnii 1'artary, which, by means of a 

 thin membrane extending on each side from his fore to 

 his hind lee, is able to dart from one tree to another, 

 but always from a higher to a lower situation. A rat as 

 large as an elephant, a tyger resembling a horse covered 

 with scales, griffins, dragons, and other chimeras, some 

 of which are described in a printed collection of observa- 

 tions by the emperor Kang-hce, furnish sufficient proof 

 of the deficiency of the Chinese philosophers in the de- 

 partment of natural history. Those wild animals denomi- 

 nated game are said to be remarkably abundant ; stags, 

 deer, goats, elks, hares, rabbits, squirrels, &c. A kind 

 of tlag, not much larger than a middle-sized dog, is de- 

 scribed as one of the most beautiful quadrupeds in China, 

 and is bought by the mandarins, to be kept as curiosi- 

 ties in their gardens. The mutk deer is very common in 

 all the provinces, it nearly of a black colour, and with- 

 out horns, and its flesh is frequently used at the most 

 luxurious tables. The musk is found only in the male 

 in thin membranous bap, covered with a fine soft hair. 

 Some of the missionaries affirm, that the ordinary food of 

 this animal is the flesh of serpents, which it easily pro- 

 caret by stiipifying them with the odour of its musk ; 

 it the Chinese peasants knowing this fact, secure 

 ihemtelves from these reptiles, by carrying always a few 

 grains of musk about their persons. 



The domestic animals in China are less numerous, than 

 the extent of the empire and number of inhabitants might 

 afford reason to expect. Few are employed in the la- 

 bour* of agriculture, and still fewer arc reared for the 

 msc of the table. The hortc in China has neither the 



Natural 

 ' 



strength, beauty, nor swiftness of the European breed. 

 Some of the emperor'* stud are not deficient in size and 

 pirit ; but no means are used to improve the breed. 

 The Chinese horses in general are not provided with 

 shoes, so that their hoofs are soon destroyed, and, in :>ix 

 years, the best of them are rendered totally unserviceable. 

 A Scotch poney, in short, wild from the mountains, and 

 untouched by the comb, is affirmed to be equal in ap- 

 pearance and usefulness to any of the cavalry in the Chi- 

 nese emperor's service. Asses, mules, and buffaloes, arc 

 more numerous than the horses, and are chiefly used in 

 the labours of agriculture. The mulct, as formerly men- 

 tioned, are preferred even to the horses in riding, as being 

 more sure and easy in their motion, more capable of en- 

 during fatigue, and of subsisting upon little nourishment. 

 The btiffaloes are generally of a gray colour, with horns 

 almost straight, and are commonly sold at 10 taels per 

 head. The sheep are of the broad-tailed species, and are 

 said to become very fat in the mountain-pastures. The 

 fiogs, which are the most abundant of the tame animals, 

 are generally of a black or white colour, and remarkably 

 prolific, frequently producing seventeen or eighteen 

 young at a litter. They are more cleanly in their habits 

 than those of Europe, and are kept in the houses like dogs. 



Among the wild birds of China are eagles, falcons,pe- 

 licans, swans, storks, birds of paradise, paroquets, &c. 

 The most beautiful of the feathered race in that country is 

 the Kin-kee or golden pheasant, the body of which is finely- 

 shaped, its pi mage inconceivably brilliant, and its flesh 

 extremely delicate. The most courageous bird, and th..' 

 which the Chinese consider as the sovereign of the birds 

 of prey, is called hai-tsing, a species of hawk, said to be 

 found only in the province of Shen-see, and always ac- 

 counted the property of the emperor, to whose falconer 

 it is required to be conveyed. Another of the more re- 

 markable birds in the country, namely the fishing corvo- 

 rant, called by the Chinese Leu-tzc, has already been 

 mentioned ; and it may here only be added, that these 

 birds are often as large as a goose, and so strong as t 

 be able to raise from the water a fish of their own 

 weight. Many of the sparrows are extremely beautiful, 

 some having white breasts, some a green head and tail, 

 and some the head, back, and top of the wings, of a pur- 

 ple colour. Immense numbers of herons, cranes, guille- 

 mots, and other aquatic fowls, frequent the extensive 

 swamps cjf China ; ore of the most beautiful of which is 

 the anae galericulata, usually called the mandarin duck, 

 as it is generally bought by the higher classes to be kept 

 in their aviaries. 



The Chinese are in the practice of rearing numbers of Poultry, 

 poultry, pigeons, geese, quails, and particularly ducks. 

 A live quail is commonly carried by the wealthier Chi- 

 nese, in cold weather, instead of a muff. Next to the 

 breeding of swine, the Chinese are much occupied with 

 rearing ducks, which almost invariably compose one dish 

 at the table of the higher classes. Many of the people 

 of Canton earn a subsistence by rearing those creatures ; 

 some hatching their eggs in sand baths, arranged in 

 ovens ; some tending the young, inuring them to the 

 water, and to the use of the young fry and craw-fish on 

 the banks of the rivers ; and some occupying themselves 

 with feeding the flocks of the full grown fowls. In this 

 latter business they take the ducks on board of a broad- 

 bottomed boat, with a bridge, which lets down as a pai- 

 The young brood are put under the 



Water 



fowls- 



sage to the shore, 



The tea pUnl it Sloo. belonging to the Duke of Northumberland, U gold to have been the first that Bowered in Europe ; but the 

 igUnd. wuniml from wed in Kew K ard tns I,, -,ir J. Ellia. 



ile description of thcic nd mnjr ntlu-r Chincic plants, thrulis, and trees, we must refer ma readers to *- 

 a. pulton, or Grower'. Dt.crifti*, o/CA 1M , !. i. ad flucm. 



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