CHINESE TARTARY. 



957 



rainion not only over the finest regions of this continent, but over a great part of northern Eu- 

 rope. At present they are split into a number of petty States, dependent on the emperor of 

 China. The Cahiiucks, Mongols Proper, Kalkas, the Eluths, on the Lake of Kokonor, and 

 the Sifans, seem to be the principal tribes. Tiie Mongol tribes are diminutive in person, but 

 muscular and active ; the countenance is broad, square, and flat, with high cheek-bones, nose 

 depressed, eyes small and black and bending obliquely towards the nose, thick lips, and thin, 

 black hair. The Kalkas or Black Mongols have been described by a traveler as the dirtiest 

 and ugliest race he over saw, except the Hottentots. The Mongols lead a roaming, pastoral 

 life, with numerous herds and flocks. They are Boodhists, and have numerous lamas and 

 gheims or monks, but these have not the same influence with their brethren in Thibet. In the 

 eastern part of this region was the celebrated Karakonnn, the capital of the largest empire that 

 ever existed, and the residence of the famous Kublai Khan, but its precise situation is un- 

 known. The province of Teenshan-peloo, comprising Zoongaria, the country of the Torgots, 

 and that of the Kirghises, may be considered an appendage of Western Mongolia. 



6. Country of the Mantchoos or JManchoos. This country is bounded north by Siberia, 

 from which it is separated by the Altaian Mountains, east by the Sea of Japan, south by Corea 

 and China Proper, and west by a chain of mountains which separates it from Mongolia. It is 

 watered by the great river Amour^ and is almost as extensive as China Proper, but is less known 

 to Europeans than Central Asia. The inhabitants were originally nomades, but since they con- 

 quered China, in 1644, their union with a civilized people has occasioned the introduction of ag- 

 riculture and the arts, and a part of the nation now inhabit towns and villages. The race who 

 at present occupy the throne in China originated in this country. 



Our knowledge of this country comes chiefly from Chinese descriptions, which are in gene- 

 ral meagre and pompous. It presents generally a different aspect from those immense and na- 

 ked plains which characterize the centre of Asia. It appears to be diversified by rugged and 

 broken mountain ranges, covered with thick forests, and separated by valleys, many of which, 

 notwithstanding the coldness of the climate, possess considerable fertility. Their recesses are 

 filled with wild beasts of a formidable character, and in such crowds as to render traveling danger- 

 ous. Wheat is raised only in the most favored spots ; the prevalent culture is that of oats, else- 

 where scarcely an Asiatic grain. The product most valued abroad is the ginseng, the universal 

 medicine in the eye of the Chinese, who boast, that it would render man immortal were it pos- 

 sible for hira to become so. It grows upon the sides of the mountains. The shores of the 

 Eastern Ocean appeared to La Perouse covered with magnificent forests, but abandoned to 

 nature ; a singular circumstance in a region so closely bordering on the over-cultivated and 

 crowded empire of China. 



The Mantchoos are by no means destitute of civilization. They possess even a language 

 and writing, essentially diflerent from that of the Chinese, or of any other nation of Central Asia. 

 The language is distinguished by an excess of smoothness, which forbids two consonants ever 

 to come in contact with each other. 



The Mantchoos are tall and robust, and the eyes larger, and the face less flat than is the case 

 with the Mongols. They are Boodhists in religion. A part of Mantchooria has been incorpo- 

 rated with the Chinese province of Tchele, and contains Gehol^ the summer residence and 

 hunting-seat of the emperors. The gardens are very superb and extensive. Bordering on 

 Corea, is the province of Shin Yang or Leaotong, very populous and fertile, and containing 

 cities bearing those names. The northern region on the Amour is called Zitzikar, and Is the 

 original seat of the conquering race. Further east and north is Daouria, Inhabited by a mixed 

 race of Mongols and IMantchoos. 



The large island of Saghalien or Tarrakai is partly occupied by the Mantchoos, but the na- 

 tives are of a wholly distinct race, called Ainos. They are said by travelers to differ from 

 the inhabitants of the continent in their physical characteristics, but we have no accurate details 

 about them. They derive their subsistence from the chace and fishing, and seem to have no 

 knowledge of agriculture, and to be destitute of flocks and herds ; yet they are described as 

 mild, peaceable, generous, and affectionate in their dispositions. Saghalien is about 150 miles 

 in length by 80 in breadth, and is separated from the mainland by the Channel of Tartary, but 

 is thought to be connected with the continent by a low, narrow, sandy neck. The island has 

 the appearance of fertility, and the seas around abound with whales and fish. 



