CHINA, Si 



Metals, minerals... .China (if we are to belie ve some naturalists) 

 produces all metals and minerals that are known in the world. White 

 copper, called by the Chinese fietong, is peculiar to itself, but we 

 know of no extraordinary quality it possesses. Tutenag is another 

 peculiar metal, a mine of which, in the province of Houquang, yield- 

 ed many hundred weight in the course of a few days. One of the 

 fundamental maxims of the Chinese government is that of not intro- 

 ducing a superabundance of gold and silver, for fear of diminishing 

 industry. Their gold mines, therefore, are but slightly worked, and 

 the currency of that metal is supplied by the grains the people pick 

 up in the sand of rivers and mountains. The silyer specie is furnish- 

 ed from the mines of Honan. 



Iron, lead, and tin mines, must be very common, since these metals 

 are sold at a low rate throughout the empire ; and it appears, from, 

 very authentic documents, that the use of iron, in particular, was very 

 ancient there : quarries and coal-mines abound in almost every pro- 

 vince. Coals are found in great plenty in the mountains of the pro- 

 vinces of Shensee, Shansee, and Pechelee; they are used by workmen 

 in their furnaces, in all kitchens, and in the stoves with which the 

 Chinese warm their apartments during the winter. 



Climate, soil, agriculture. ...The climate of China varies ac- 

 cording to the situation of the places. Towards the north it is cold, 

 in the middle mild, and in the south hot. The soil is, either by nature 

 or art, fruitful of every thing that can minister to the necessities, con- 

 veniences, or luxuries of life. Agriculture, in this country, according 

 to the testimony of all travellers, is carried to the utmost degree of 

 perfection. The culture of the cotton, and the rice fields, from which 

 the bulk of the inhabitants are clothed and fed, is ingenious almost 

 beyond description. 



Vegetables... .Many of the rare trees, and aromatic productions, 

 either ornamental or medicinal, that abound in other parts of the world, 

 are to be found in China, and some are peculiar to itself. 



The tallow-tree has a short trunk, a smooth bark, crooked branches, 

 red leaves, shaped like a heart, and is about the height of a common 

 cherry-tree. The fruit it produces has all the qualities of our tallow^ 

 and when manufactured with oil serves the natives as candles ; but 

 they smell strong, nor is their light clear. Of the other trees peculiar 

 to China, are some which yield a kind of flour ; some partake of the 

 nature of pepper. The gum of some is poisonous, but affords the 

 finest varnish in the world. After all that can be said of these, and 

 many other beautiful and useful trees, the Chinese, notwithstanding 

 their industry, are so wedded to their ancient customs, that they are very 

 little, if at all, meliorated by cultivation. The same may be said of their 

 richest fruits, which in general, are far from being so delicious as 

 those of Europe, and indeed of America. This is owing to the Chi- 

 nese never practising grafting or inoculation of trees, and knowing 

 nothing of experimental gardening. 



It would be unpardonable here not to mention the raw silk, which 

 so much abounds in China; and, above all, the tea plant, or shrub. It 

 is planted in rows, and pruned to prevent luxuriancy. " Vast tracts of 

 hilly land (says sir George Staunton) are planted with it, particularly 

 in the province ofFochen. Its perpendicular growth is impeded for 

 the convenience of collecting its leaves, which is done first in spring, 

 and twice afterwards in the course of the summer. Its long and ten- 

 der branches spring up almost from the root without any intervening 



