ON POPULATION. 697 



winds prevail for eight or nine months in the year, 

 the growth of vegetation is always imperfect ; and 

 according to Baibi> on a territory of 4,250,000 

 square miles, the number of the inhabitants does 

 not exceed 30,000,000, who for the most part lead 

 a wandering or nomadic life, and have never made 

 any considerable progress in civilization, science, 

 literature, and the arts, if we except the brutal art 

 of war ; so that if we include the whole of North 

 America above latitude 50, and of Asia above 

 40% the population is only about 33,800,000, on a 

 territory -of nearly 1 2,000,000 square miles. 



But in the warm and temperate latitudes of 

 Asia, south of latitude 40, where the growth of 

 vegetation continues from six months, as in the 

 north of China, to ten months, and even the whole 

 year, in the southern portions of the continent, the 

 population is about 400,000,000, on a territory of 

 6,450,000 square miles. In India, it is 140,000,000 

 on an area of 1,200,000 square miles; while in 

 China alone, between latitude 20 and 40, it is 

 about 200,000,000, making an aggregate of 

 340,000,000 on a territory of 2,840,000 square 

 miles. From which it may be shown by calcu- 

 lation, that if the climate of northern Asia and 

 America were equally favourable, they might sup- 

 port a population of more than 1,400,000,000 on 

 a territory of 1 2,000,000 square miles ; whereas 

 it is only 33,800,000. And what is their rank in 

 the scale of intellectual and moral enjoyment? 



