138 Notice of a Chinese Geographical work. |Feb. 



The author of the treatise in question was named Chhln loen kwing. 

 In a short and modest preface, he states that his father heing in too 

 poor circumstances to devote his attention to letters, was compelled in 

 early life to push his fortunes on the sea ; that there he became dis- 

 tinguished for his knowledge and skill, and had the good fortune to 

 render important service to the expedition sent by the emperor Khang 

 hi for the reduction of Formosa. He was thus brought to the favoura- 

 ble notice of that emperor, and was promoted from post to post, till he 

 attained the appointment of lieutenant-commandant of the coasts of 

 Kwang tung. He was naturally proud of his profession, and " very 

 impressively" instructed his son while yet a boy in all the mysteries 

 of his craft, " the islands and the shoals, the harbours and the danger- 

 ous places, the haunts of pirates," and other matters of seafaring in- 

 terest, so that, as the latter assures us, he never in afterlife forgot them. 



Our author obtained in his youth an appointment in the body guard 

 of the emperor Khang hi, and enjoyed an excellent opportunity of 

 extending his geographical knowledge under the auspices of that mon- 

 arch, whom he describes as graciously taking a personal interest in 

 and promoting his studies. He afterwards held various appointments 

 of importance, visiting officially several of the countries described in the 

 course of his little work, and improving his knowledge of more distant 

 lands by intercourse with Europeans and other foreigners whom he 

 occasionally fell in with. The preface is dated in the 8th year of Yung 

 ching, corresponding with A. D. 1731. 



The work itself is entitled Hdi kwo wan Man lu y * or a Narrative of 

 what is seen and heard of the seas and the nations. It is divided into 

 eight chapters, the first of which treats of the sea coasts of China, and is 

 accompanied by a set of maps exhibiting the entire sea front from Kao 

 li (Korea) to the boundary of Cochin China. This chapter is occupied 

 with a rather dry and uninteresting detail of the distances and bearings 

 of different places, and the dangers encountered, as well from the ordi- 

 nary perils of navigation, as well as from the pirates by whom many 

 parts of the coast were at that time infested. As the author avoids, 

 apparently intentionally, any particulars regarding the country or the 

 people, there is nothing in this chapter of sufficient interest to extract ; 

 so that we may pass at once to the second, entitled 



