3o8 



A. D. 1794. 



to procure crops from artificial fields floating upon the furface of the 

 water, which are made by fpreading earth upon rafts of bamboos. And 

 the canals themfelves, befides ferving the purpofes of navigation, and 

 fupplying filli and water fowls, are made to yield a crop of vegetables of 

 a fpecies, which reaches from the bottom to the furface. Ducks are 

 hatched by artificial heat, as in Egypt. Silk worms are fed on the 

 leaves of a fpecies of alh tree, as well as on thofe of the mulberry. They 

 make cloth from the fibres of nettles ; and they make p^per from ihe 

 barks of different vegetables, from the fibres of hemp, and the flraw of 

 rice *. They never fuffer their ground to lie fallow, but keep it con- 

 tinually in heart by a great variety and abundance of manures ; and 

 they provide againll the damage arifing from excellive drought by irrig- 

 ation. They fcarcely ever fow their corn in broadcafi:, but fet it care- 

 fully in drills, which affords employment for their children. ' A gentle- 

 ' man of the embafly calculated, that the favhig of the feed alone in 

 ' China in this drill hiifbandry, which -would he lojl in that of hroad-cajl, 

 ' would he fufficient to maintain all the European fubjeds of Great Britain.'' — 

 Thus every thing is turned to the befl account ; and the farmer enjoys 

 the whole fruits of his labour ; for there are no ecclefialUcal tithes to 

 diminifh his profits, or difcourage his induftry. 



Chow-ta-zhin, a friendly mandarin, communicated to Lord Macart- 

 ney an account, moftly in round numbers, of the extent, population, 

 and revenue, of the empire of China, exclufive of Tartary and the tri- 

 butary provinces, taken from official documents, which is as follows. 



Provinces. 



Pe-che-]ee . 

 Kiang-nan . 

 Kiang-see . . 

 Tche-kiang , 

 Fo-chen . . , 



,. f Hou-pe . . •) 



Hou-quang {nou-ran . } 



Ho-nan 



Shan-tung 



Shan-see 



Shen-see . "( 



Kan-sou J 



Se-ehueu 



Canton 



Quang-see 



Yu-nan 



Koei-chcou 



Totals 



Square miles. 



58,949 

 92,961 

 72,176 

 39,150 

 53,460 



144,770 



65,104 

 65,104 

 55,26s 



154,008 



166,800 

 79,456 

 78,250 



107,969 

 64,554 



Acres. 

 37,727>36o 



59,495,040 

 46,192,640 

 25,056,000 

 34,227,200 



92,653,600 



41,663,560 



41,666,560 

 35,371,520 



98,565,120 



106,752,000 

 50,851,840 

 50,080,000 

 69,100,160 

 41,314,560 



1.297,999 830,719,360 



* A fimilar manufafture of paper from ftravv, -f- The Chinefe tahel, tael, or tale, is fomewliat 

 tiay, thiftles, the refiife of hemp and flax, fome heavier than our ounce of filver, 100 of them being 

 kinds of wood and bark, and alfo from paper a!- worth about ^^33 ftcrling. 



ready written or printed r.pon, has been attempted + We are not informed what is the weight ot- 



tn this country. quantity of a meafure of grain, but it appears to be 



fufficient 



