Chap. XIV. 
MANURES. 
241 
manure is so eagerly sought after as night-soil; and 
every traveller in China has remarked the large cisterns 
or earthen tubs which are placed in the most conspicuous 
and convenient situation for the reception of this kind 
of manure. What would be considered an intolerable 
nuisance in every civilised town in Europe is here looked 
upon by all classes, rich and poor, with the utmost com- 
placency; and I am convinced that nothing would 
astonish a Chinaman more than hearing any one com- 
plain of the stench which is continually rising from these 
manure-tanks. Almost every Chinese town is placed 
on the banks of a river or canal, and the water is gene- 
rally led not only round the walls, thus forming a kind 
of moat, but also through many parts of the city. Long 
clumsy boats are placed in different departments of the 
town, into which the night-soil and urine are emptied 
and conveyed from thence into the country. The fields 
in the neighbourhood of cities are generally supplied 
with it by coolies, who go every morning to market 
loaded with the produce of their farms. Each brings 
home two buckets of this manure, slung at the ends of 
his bamboo pole. In England it is generally supposed 
that the Chinese carry the night-soil and urine to these 
tanks, and leave it there to undergo fermentation, before 
they apply it to the land. This, however, is not the 
case ; at least, not generally. In the fertile agricultural 
districts in the north I have observed that the greater 
part of this stimulant is used in a fresh state, being of 
course sufficiently diluted with water before it is applied 
to the crops. And there can be little doubt that in this 
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