*7 



CHINA. 



' HIN.S. 







rather more than two third* of the *urfaoe of China are of this 



The hilly country lies to tb cut of US' E. long., and between thi* 

 meridian and the eastom put of the Nan ling, and extend* nortli to 

 the faanki of the Yang-tee-kiang. The hill*, though in many .place* 

 steep, generally roe with a gentle accent ; and a* they do not attain 

 a great elevation, their aidee an cultivated and planted with rice on 

 the taraee tirtini Their top* are covered with forest-trees, gene- 

 rally of the pin* kind, which are carefully planted. The level, between 

 the hill* an sometime, narrowed into valley.; In other places they 

 expand into plain*. They have generally abundance of water in their 

 riven, and there are some lake*, of which the largest are the Tung- 

 ting near til* confluence of the Yueo-kiang with the Yang-Ue-kiang, 

 and the Po-yang, not far from the mouth of the Kan-kiang. The 

 greatest portion of the surface U in a very high state of cultivation. 



The great plain occupies the north-eastern part of China. It ex- 

 tende in length 700 mile, from the Great Wall, north of Peking, to 

 the confluence of the riven Yanfr-tee-kian* and Kan-kiang (80* N. lat). 

 The Yang-tac-kiang may be considered a. its .outhern boundary as far 

 down a* Ngan-king, whence to the sea it U formed by a line drawn 

 from Ngan-king to the eea through Hang tcheou-foo. The western 

 boundary-line may be marked by a line drawn from King-tcheou-foo, 

 a town situated on the Yang-tse-kiang, to Hoai-king-foo on the Hoang- 

 ho, and hence to the Great Wall, about 50 miles north-west of Peking. 

 The breadth of the plain is various. North of 36 N. lat, where it 

 partly extend, to the shores of the Hoang-hai and partly borders on 

 the western side of the mountain range of Chang-tung, which occu- 

 pies: the peninsula of that name, it* width varies between 150 and 250 

 miles. This portion of the plain probably cover, an area of 70,000 

 square miles. Between 85 and 84 N. lat the plain enlarges, and in 

 the parallel of the Hoang-ho it extends more than 800 miles east and 

 west It grows still wider to the south, and reaches nearly 500 miles 

 inland in the parallel of the embouchure of the Yang-tse-kiang. The 

 whole plain, containing 210,000 square miles, is seven times as large 

 as that of Lombardy, with which it may in many respects be 

 compared. 



The northern part of the plain has a dry sandy soil, impregnated 

 in many part* with saline matter and destitute of trees, but it pro- 

 duces millet and wheat in abundance. South of 35 N. lat the whole 

 tract along the coast is very low and swampy, being partly covered 

 with numerous lakes and lagunes, and intersected by numerous 

 water-courses both artificial and natural. It produce* a great 

 quantity of rice. Farther inland the soil is more firm and dry and 

 of gleat fertility, which in increased by the abundance of water drawn 

 from the rivers and small lakes. It produces rice, cotton, wheat and 

 tobacco. The southern districts bordering on the banks of the Yang- 

 tse-kiang differ from the other in not being a flat level, but having a 

 surface slightly undulating, on which even a ranije of hills rises, as 

 the eastern prolongation of the Pe-ling. It is not however less fertile 

 than the other district*. Among its most valuable branches of agricul- 

 ture i* tea, which ia extensively cultivated on these low hills (between 

 80 and 32 N. lat). 



The eastern portion of this plain is traversed by the Great or Im- 

 perial Canal, which begins on the south at the town of Hang-tcheou- 

 foo (30* N. lat), and extendst o the town of Lin-tchin-tcheou, where 

 it falls into the river Ku ho, or Uu-i-ho. Its length exceeds 500 miles 

 in a straight line, but its actual length is nearly 700 miles. Some 

 portions of it have been made merely for the purpose of internal 

 navigation, but in others the design of draining and irrigating the 

 adjacent country has been connected with it ; hence it differs widely 

 from all the canals made in Europe. Its breadth is considerably 

 greater, and its waters are in few places altogether without a cur- 

 rent At a few points it is cut through rocks ; it often traverses lakes 

 and swamp* of considerable extent, running on an artificial elevation 

 sometimes twenty feet above the surface of the country. Its flood- 

 gate*, bridges, the vessel* which navigate it, and the number of towns 

 and village* lining it* banks, excite the admiration of all travellers. 

 By this canal, and the navigable rivers Yang-tse-kiang and Kan-kiang 

 on the south, and the rivers Eu-bo and Pei-ho in the north, goods 

 may be transported by water from the foot of the Mei-king Pan to 

 the town of Tong-tcheou-foo, a few miles distant from Peking. That 

 portion of the canal which lie* south of the Hoang-ho was made in 

 the 7th notary, or soon after ; but the more northern part in t h.- 

 13th century by Kublai Khan and hi* suooewon, when the Tartar 

 dynasty had removed the imperial residence from Nanking to Peking. 



The fertility of iU soil and the advantages resulting from the 

 ' navigation afforded by the Oreat Canal and it* numerous 

 a, have rendered this plain the most populous spot on the 

 i : it* inhabitant*, according to the native censux, amount to 170 

 million*, or about two-thinl* of the whole population of Europe To 

 protect this rich plain the Great Wall wa* erected, which inclose* 

 China on the northern boundary, and extend* over mountain* and 

 through valleys, and i* continued by bridge* aero** riven for about 

 1400 mile*. Thi* great work was constructed rather more than MOO 

 yean since, or about 200 yean before the Christian era, by the fint 

 universal monarch of China a* a defence against the nomadic tribe* of 

 Tartan, who have never ceased to infest the country to the south a* 

 long a* it has own subject to a separate dominion. The main *ub- 



stance of the wall is earth or rubbish, retained on each ride by a thick 

 casing of iton* and brick, and terraced by a platform of square tiles. 

 It bounds the whole north of China, extending along the frontier* of 

 three province*, a diatanoa of nearly 19 degree* of longitude. From 

 it* eastern extremity there is an extensive stockade of wooden piles 



inclosing the country of Mougden, and which in some European maps 

 has been erroneously represented as a continuation of the solid barrier. 

 The total height of the wall vane* from 16 to 30 feet, on a baai* of 



tone projecting 2 feet under the brickwork, and about the same in 

 height The thickness of the whole wall at the base is 26 feet, 

 diminishing to 20 and in places to 15 feet at the platform. The 

 towers are 40 feet square at the base, diminishing to 80 feet at the 

 top, and about 87 feet in height. The thinness of the parapet of the 

 wall, being only 16 inches, justifies the conclusion that it was not 

 intended to resist cannon ; and it appear* certain that the use of fire- 

 arms is comparatively modern in China, however ancient the invention 

 of gunpowder. 



Numerous riven drain and water China, but by far the greater 

 number flow into the HOAXIMIO and YAKU-TSE-KIANO, which are 

 among the greatest riven of the globe. Among the riven which do 

 not belong to the systems of those two great riven two require notice 

 here, the Pei-ho and the Ta si-kUug. The Pti-ko, or White River, 

 rises on the mountains north-went of Peking, near the Great Wall, and 

 flows in a south-eastern direction to the town of Tong-tcheou-foo, a 

 few miles east of Peking, where it becomes navigable for large river- 

 boats. Continuing in the same direction, it unites with the Eu-ho, a 

 much larger river than the Pei-ho itself, which rises near the banks of 

 the Hoang-ho, and running in a north-east direction is connected with 

 the Great Canal at the town of Lin-tchin-tcheou : the remainder of 

 its course may be considered ss the continuation of the canal. The 

 tides come up nearly to the place where the Ku-ho meets the Pei-ho, 

 a distance of more than 80 miles. Hence to the sea the Pei-ho runs 

 nearly due east, and at its mouth has a bar which at low tides has 

 only two or three feet of water upon it ; but at high tides, which here 

 rise five or six feet, the bar does not prevent the flat-bottomed Chinese 

 junks from entering the river. There is perhaps hardly another river 

 in the world which is navigated by so many vessels a* the Pei-ho. The 

 Ta-n-kiang, or the River of Canton, rises east of the town of Yun-n&n 

 (108 E. long.), and runs the fint half of iU course in a narrow valley 

 between high mountains, and the other half in a wide, fertile, and 

 well-cultivated one ; towards it* mouth it drains the plain of Canton, 

 and receives the Pe-kiang. The general direction of its course is from 

 west to east, and it is navigated to a considerable distance. 



In the interior are numerous lakes, of which the largest is the 

 Tntiug-hou (113 E. long.), which i* above 200 miles in circuit ; it 

 receives the waters of a vast number of small riven, and discharges 

 itself into the Yang-Ue-kiang. The Fho-yang-hou (116 E. long.) is 

 also of very large dimensions, and is much admired for the beauty of 

 the surrounding scenery ; it also discharges its superfluous watera into 

 the Yaug-tse-kiang. The Tay-hou (120 E. long.), the Kan-yew-hou 

 (119* E. long.), the Hong-tae-hou, near the junction of the Grand 

 Canal with the Hoang-ho, are also large and celebrated lakes. All 

 the lakes are well stored with fish. 



Mineralogy, <tc. Of the geological character of a country of such 

 vast extent, and of which so small a portion has been explored by 

 men of science as China, it would be manifestly useless to pretend 

 to give any account It is however certain that the range of rocks 

 embraces most of the primitive and metamorphio series, and yields 

 a valuable variety of building stones and slates. The porcelain clays 

 are of great excellence. 



The variety of surface through the wide extent of the empire 

 affords a rich fund of minerals and metals. There can exist no doubt 

 of the abundant supply of coal throughout China, nor of its general 

 use, which we find from Marco Polo was known to the Chinese 

 before its adoption in Europe. Lime they possess in all its combi- 

 nations. Limestone of good quality is abundant, and lime-kilns are 

 very numerous. The dark gray marble used at Canton is coarse, and 

 unsusceptible of a fine polish ; the shops contain large quantities of 

 striated gypsum or alabaster. At the head of minerals the Chinese 

 place their famoua yu-stone, which i* nephrite, or jade. A* the 

 country abounds in the primitive rocks, it is consequently rich in 

 metal*. Gold is obtained in the native state from the (and* of tin- 

 river* in Yun-niln, near the frontier* of the Birmece country, well 

 known for it* richnes* in that metal ; ia Yun-nan al*o silver-mine* 

 are worked. Iron i* obtained in many part* of the empire. Ordi- 

 nary copper come* from Yun-nAn and Kuei-chow, and an abundance 

 of malachite, or green oopprr-ore U obtained near the great lake in 

 Hoo-kuAng. The famoui pi tung, or white copper, which take* a 

 pnliith not unlike silver, cornea from Yun-n&n : a considerable quantity 

 of quicksilver is obtained in Kuei-chow ; and there is a rich mine 

 of tutenag, or sine, in Hoo-pf. Arsenic, orpiment, cobalt, Ac, are 

 found. Hock-salt and salt obtained by the evaporation of sea-water 

 are articles of great traffic. Rubies, amethyiU, sapphire*, beryls, 

 topaze*, crystals, and lapin-lazuli are met with in some part*. 



CYtato/e. In regard to the climate of China, a diitinguiiihing 

 feature i* the unusual excess in which heat and cold prevail in some 

 part* of the empire at opposite seasons of the year ; as well as the 

 low avenge of the thermometer in comparison with the latitude. 



