Dr. Cantor on the Flora and Fauna of Chusan. 363 



the reign of Kanghe, a period of sixty-one years, they were 

 permitted to investigate everything they deemed worthy of 

 notice, and the voluminous works they left bear testimony to 

 their diligence. Missions were established in all the principal 

 cities, and they were ably conducted by men who were well 

 versed in literature and in the arts and sciences, and who 

 would not have suffered by comparison with the best scholars 

 of Europe : and what might we expect to find in their works 

 concerning the natural history of China ? Judging by their 

 success in other departments, as topography, history, &c, we 

 might reasonably hope for full and faithful narrations of the 

 vegetable and animal productions, and also of the agriculture. 

 Concerning some of the more remarkable productions, as 

 bamboo, tea, &c, we have details of such length as to tire the 

 reader. They were not the men who would let anything pass 

 by them which could adorn their pages, or excite the wonder 

 of readers in other countries. But what do we find on peru- 

 sing their accounts ? So far as those descriptions are mere 

 translations of native authors, the defects are not to be charged 

 to the J esuits. They wished to tell all they could concerning 

 China, and in their desire so to do, recorded many things 

 which further research would have convinced them were not 

 facts. These exaggerated statements have conspired to create 

 ideal notions of the character, policy and country of the Chi- 

 nese, which future travellers, we apprehend, will find erro- 

 neous. Among all their remarks on natural history we do not 

 find a single continued narration of facts which the author as- 

 serts as having come under his own eyes. There was no Lin- 

 naeus or Cuvier who would be satisfied with faithfully record- 

 ing the results of his own observation. If such had been the 

 case, the united labours of these 'fathers* would have pre- 

 sented rich materials for compiling a work on the natural hi- 

 story of China, but which must now be reserved for others. 

 In considering the merits and demerits of these writers, how- 

 ever, we must remember that they lived in an age when the 

 public taste was satisfied with nothing but tales almost beyond 

 the bounds of belief. Their accounts are not more improbable 

 than what we find in Buffon ; and these men flourished long 

 before his time. Besides, it was for their interest to portray 

 this country in as favourable an aspect as possible : their situ- 

 ation was such as required all the aid that interesting descrip- 

 tion could bring. The want of any well-digested work on na- 

 tural history also presented itself as a serious obstacle against 

 pursuing the science in a useful way. If observations were 

 made, how could they be compared with previous ones and 

 their relative importance ascertained ? This was a hindrance 



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