NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. 
Chap. XX. 
down from Shantung to Shanghae astonished the 
natives of the latter place, and were greater objects 
of attraction than even the foreign residents. 
These Shantung merchants were large men, much 
above the average size of Chinamen, and, as they 
took an airing in the evenings on the ramparts of 
Shanghae, they were followed by crowds of ad- 
miring natives. Peking horses, which happened 
to come down at that time, were also much larger 
than the southern kinds. The well-known Cochin 
China fowls, some of which are nearly as large as 
turkeys, are also originally from the province of 
Shantung. 
During the late war the size of the common 
grain in the fields about Tien-tsin and Peking 
astonished our soldiers, and the high, thick stubble 
formed a serious impediment to the marching of 
our cavalry. This is the millet already noticed, 
which grows to a height of fifteen feet and up- 
wards. It covers the plains of this part of China, 
being the staple summer crop, and ripening about 
the middle of September. Oily grain ( Sesamum 
orientals) is also extensively grown on the plain of 
Tien-tsin, from the Gulf of Pechele to the moun- 
tains beyond Peking, and is frilly twice as large 
and productive as that grown in the south. 
Amongst plants cultivated for the sake of their 
fibre, the Jute ( Corchorus sp.) is the most impor- 
tant. This, too, grows to a great height. 
Amongst green crops I noticed Brinjals, 
Gourds, Cucumbers, Vegetable Marrows, Yams, 
