126 
TUNG-CHOW. 
plant of the Chinese, but seems to be chiefly confined to the northern 
provinces. They have another plant also used for the manufac- 
ture of rope, called by them Ge ?na, which is, I believe, the 
Qannabis sativa. The cordage made from the Cannabis is most 
prized by Europeans, but that formed from the Sida is, I suspect, 
preferred by the Chinese. I am led to this conclusion by having ob- 
served the two plants cultivated together at Tung-Chow, the Sida in 
long ridges or in fields, like the millet, and the Cannabis in small 
patches. I had no opportunity of seeing the manufacture of the Sida; 
but the rope made from it, in colour, softness, and fineness, re- 
sembles the dressed fibre of several West Indian Sidas prepared by 
Dr. Wright, and placed, with their respective plants, in the herbarium 
of Sir Joseph Banks. The root of the Sida is used according to 
the Missionaries*, as a powerful sudorific; but as their information 
is derived from the Chinese, who attribute medicinal properties to 
almost all plants, it cannot in this instance be much relied on. 
From the number of plants cultivated at Tung-Chow, my readers 
may be disposed to imagine that every foot of ground was rendered 
productive. This, however, would be an erroneous conclusion. 
Variety seemed to have taken place of quantity. It appeared as if 
the soil was capable of bearing no extensive crop of any one kind, 
but was of a different quality in different spots, and adapted to 
the growth of different kinds. Thus, on the borders of the river, I 
often found millet ; and not a hundred yards beyond, the Sida ; and, 
still farther, the Gossipium, and then a barren marsh ; but this series 
had no fixed law except with respect to the millet, which always 
lined the banks of the river when not of a sandy nature. In this 
mode of cultivation the Chinese had shown some ingenuity and 
industry ; but I could never find, here or elsewhere, that they 
throw extensive tracts of land into general cultivation ; still less, that 
* Lettres Edifiantcs et Curieuses, torn. xxi. p. 30. 
