102 EXPEDITION TO JAPAN. 



its whole surface, two crops of rice are produced annually, except where sugar-cane may be 

 planted, and where culinary vegetables are raised for the supply of cities, villages, &c. The 

 preparation for rice appears to be simple and inexpensive ; nor did we at any time witness the 

 great gangs of agricultural laborers that we had been taught to anticipate. At harvest-time, 

 indeed, the cities seemed to pour out their denizens to assist the countrymen; and at least one 

 fleet of boats passed us, with crowds on board, to participate in gathering the just ripening 

 crops. 



Tbe land is prepared either by a plough or the hoe. The plough is drawn by a large, heavy, 

 unsightly ox — the water-buffalo. It is a rude implement, scarcely a step, if a step, in advance 

 of its ancient congener of Greece or Eome. The ground is wet, saturated while being ploughed; 

 hence it is easily worked, and, as water is admitted upon it immediately thereafter, it is not in- 

 jured by being baked by the sun. It is in the same condition when worked by the hoe, a large 

 broad implement. A gang of these following each other, make a series of furrows, more re- 

 sembling those of a good plough than do those actually made by the plough of China. After the 

 earth is completely dissolved, or reduced by submersion- — aided, perhaps, by harrows and other 

 tools — the young rice (drawn from beds) is set out by hand, at regular intervals of about twelve 

 inches. This is done by either sex, with bare feet and nude legs, wading in the water. The 

 fields are regularly irrigated until the rice is about maturing, when they are laid dry. This is 

 the great staple in China, constituting the main article of food, being a substitute for bread 

 for all the numerous population of that country. 



Besides rice, various other articles are cultivated in the neighborhood of Canton : tea to a 

 limited extent; sugar-cane of good quality; several sorts of roots; numerous vegetables, as 

 maize, potatoes, tomatoes, &c. ; also fruits. Of these last, the most remarkable — and, if to be 

 introduced into the United States, the most valuable — are the mandarin orange, small, but beau- 

 tiful and well flavored, and possessing the peculiarity of a very thin, loose skin, removable 

 from the pulp with the greatest facility, and without measurably soiling one's fingers ; the hiche — 

 a special favorite among the Chinese, and, in fact, very pleasant to the taste — which grows upon 

 a highly ornamental tree, requiring a hot climate; and the persimmon, remarkable for the great 

 size of its fruit, some being near three inches or more in diameter, and is mild and pleasant 

 to the palate. This, however, would be more curious than valuable. The coolie orange, the 

 banana, custard apple, &c, are also grown here. These trees are usually planted upon the 

 dykes enclosing rice or paddy fields; and thus, in addition to preserving them from damage, 

 and economizing space, contribute to relieve the monotony of a landscape of large, uniformly 

 level surfaces. 



The animal food of the Chinese of this section appears to be limited in variety and in extent, 

 consisting chiefly of fowls and their eggs, fish, pork, and a modicum of coarse, inferior beef. 

 There is some mutton, but this is brought from the north, at high prices, and for the foreign 

 population. 



In the management of fowls, except of ducks, there seems to be no special peculiarity. The 

 eggs of these latter are hatched in great numbers at Canton. They are arranged in layers, with 

 papers between, in large wicker-work baskets, the size of barrels, and set away in rooms, 

 where, in due time, they are hatched by the barrel-full. I am not informed of the details, nor 

 whether the rooms are artificially warmed ; but one of the medical officers of the squadron 

 witnessed the operation with admiration, and he thought that incubation was effected by the 

 natural temperature — at least, when he saw it. So certain is the operation, that the time of 



