Consumption of Piece Goods 1 1 



direct to Chung-king, which escape all notice by the foreign 

 Customs. 



A peculiar feature in the economy of Western China, and 

 one of great promise to manufacturing interests, once the 

 disabilities that now hamper all intercourse are lightened, is 

 the fact that the country is unsuited to the cultivation of 

 cotton. Hence, with the exception of silk, which is 

 abimdantly worn by all classes, the clothing of these vast 

 districts has all to be imported. Yunnan is scantily supplied 

 from Burmah, Kweichow from the two Kwang provinces, 

 and Szechuan from Hupeh (Hankow) and Kiang-su 

 (Shanghai). Raw cotton, as paicked by the Chinese, is 

 an exceedingly bulky article ; but it is light, easy to handle, 

 and less liable to total loss in the rapids than are heavy 

 bale goods. What the figures of this cotton import attain 

 to, it is impossible to ascertain ; but every traveller on the 

 Upper Yang-tse in the winter season is struck by the endless 

 procession of cotton-laden junks struggling up the successive 

 rapids. 



It is interesting to compare the proportion of foreign 

 piece goods consumed west of Ichang, with the total import 

 into Shanghai, and also with the relative populations served. 

 Mr. Popoff, late Secretary of the Russian Legation at 

 Peking, has published an estimate of the population of 

 China, based on the recent provincial censuses, which are 

 believed to be fairly accurate, and which I here reproduce. 



Provinces supplied from Shanghai. 



