Chap. II, 
of the East Indies, 
cheaper than they are to be had at Market : And hence 
no Dearth is of any long Continuance among the Chinefe . 
The Sums that are gathered from this Capitation-tax, are 
laid up in the publick Treafury ; and I believe, that from 
this Tax fifty thouiand Dinars are paid every Day into the 
Treafury of Canfu alone, although this City is not one of 
the largeft in China. 
The Emperor referves likewife to himfelf, the Revenues 
•which arife from the Salt-mines, and from a certain Herb 
which they drink with hot Water, and, of which great 
Quantities are fold in all the Cities of China , to the 
Amount of great Sums ; they call it Ttcha , that is Tea, and 
It is a Shrub, more bufliy than the Pomegranate- tree, and 
of a more pleafant Smell, but has a kind of Bitternefs 
with it. Their Way is to boil Water, which they pour 
upon this Leaf 5 and this Drink cures all forts of Difeafes. 
Whatever Sums come into the Treafury, arife from the 
Pole- tax, the Duties upon Salt, and the Tax upon this 
Leaf\ 
1 9. In each City there is a fmall Bell hung to the Wall 
above the Prince’s or Governor’s Head ; and this Bell 
may be rung by a String, which reaches about three 
Miles, and croffes the High-way, to the End that People 
may get at it ; when the String is pulled, the Bell ftrikes 
over the Governor’s Head, and ftrait he commands that 
the Perfon who thus demands Juftice, be brought before 
him 5 and accordingly the Complainant fets forth his 
Cafe in Perfon ; and the fame Pra&ice is in ufe through- 
out all the other Provinces. 
If a Man has a Mind to travel from one Place to ano- 
ther, he mull take two Paffes with him, the one from the 
Governor, the other from the Eunuch or Lieutenant. 
The Governor’s Pafs permits him to fet out on his Jour- 
ney, and takes Notice of the Name of the Traveller, 
and of thofe alfo of his Company, the Age and Family of 
the one and the other ; for every Body in China , whether 
sl Native, or an Aral, or any other Foreigner, is obliged 
to declare all he knows of himfelf, nor can he poffibly be 
T excufed. 
The Eunuch, or Lieutenant’s Pafs, fpecifies the Quan- 
tity of Goods or Money, which the Traveller and thofe 
with him, take along with them ; and this is done for the 
Information of the frontier Places, where thefe two Paffes 
are examined ; for whenever a Traveller arrives at any of 
Jthem, it is regiftered. That fuch a one, the Son of fuch a 
one, of fuch a Family, paffed through this Place on fuch 
a Day, in fuch a Month, in fuch a Year, and in fuch 
Company ; and by this Means they prevent any one 
from carrying of the Money or Effects of other Perfons, 
or their being loft : So that if any thing has been carried 
off unjuftly, or the Traveller dies on the Road, they 
Immediately know what is become of the Thing, and they 
are either reftored to the Claimant, or to his Heirs *. 
20. The Chinefe adminifter Juftice with great Strid- 
nefs in all their Tribunals. When any Perfon commences 
a Suit againft another, he fets down his Claim in Wri- 
ting, and the Defendant writes down his Defence, which 
he figns, and holds between his Fingers. Thefe two 
Writings are delivered in together ; and being examined. 
Sentence is delivered in Writing, and each Party has his 
Papers returned to him ; but firft they give back to the 
Defendant his Writing, that he may acknowledge it. 
When one Party denies what tire other affirms, he is 
Ordered to return his Writing •, and if the Defendant thinks 
he may do it fafely, and accordingly delivers his Papers a 
fecond time, they alfo call for that of the Plaintiff, and 
then they fay to him who denies what the other affirms. 
Make it appear that your Antagonift has no Right to de- 
mand of you what is in Debate ; but take Notice, if he 
•makes out what you deny, you fhall undergo twenty 
Strokes of the Bamboo upon the Backfide, and pay a Fine 
of twenty Fakuges , which make about two hundred Di- 
nars. Now this Punifhment is fuch, as the Criminal 
could not furvive ; it is fo grievous, that no Perfon in all 
China may, of his own Authority, inflidt it upon another, 
upon pain of Death, and Confifcation of his Goods j and 
fo no body is ever fo hardy as to expofe himfelf to fo 
certain a Danger ; wherefore Juftice is well adminiftred to 
every one. They require no Witnefs, nor do they put 
the Parties upon Oath. 
21. When any Man becomes a Bankrupt in this Coun- 
try, they throw him into Prifon in the Governor’s Palace, 
and he is immediately put upon the Declaration of his 
Effedls. After he has been a Month in Prifon, he is re- 
leafed by the Governor s Order, and Proclamation is made, 
T. hat fuch a one, the Son of fuch a one, has confumed 
the Subftahce of fuch a one ; and that if he has any Effects 
in the Hand? of any Perfon, in any Shape whatfo- 
ever, it muft_ be made known in the Term of a Month. 
In the mean time the Bankrupt is bamboo’d on the Back- 
fide if Discovery is made of any Effedts of his ; and at 
the fame time is upbraided with having been a Month in 
Prifon eating and drinking, tho* he had wherewithal to 
fatisfy his Creditors. He is chaftifed in the fame manner, 
whether he makes any Declaration of his Effects or not 
They reproach- him, that he has made it his ftudy to get 
by Fraud the Subftance of private Perfons into his Hands, 
and embezzle it ; and that he ought not fo to defraud 
thofe he had Dealings with, by ftripping them of their 
Property. But after all, if they cannot difcover him to 
have been guilty of any Fraud, and if it is proved to the 
Magiftrate, that the Man has nothing in the World, the 
Creditors are called in, and receive a Part of their Debt 
out of the Treafury of the Bagbun. This is the ordinary 
Title of the Emperors of China, and fignifies the Son of 
Heaven ; but we commonly pronounce it after a different 
Manner, and call him Magbun. Then it is publicity 
forbidden to buy of, or fell to this Man, upon pain of 
Death, . that he may not defraud any of his Creditors by 
concealing their Money. If Difcovery be made that he 
hath any Sums in the Hands of another, and if the Perfon 
he intrufts makes no Declaration within the Time limited, 
he is bamboo’d to death, and nothing is faid to the Pro- 
prietor or Bankrupt. The Sums that they discover are 
divided among the Creditors, and the Debtor or Bank- 
rupt muft never more concern himfelf with Trade r. 
22. The Chinefe have a Stone which is ten Cubits high, 
eredled in the publick Squares of their Cities, and on this 
Stone are engraved the Names of all Sorts of Medicines, 
with the exad Price of each ; and when the Poor ftand 
in need of any Relief from Phyfick, they go to the Trea- 
fury, where they receive the Price each Medicine is rated 
at. There is in China no T ax upon Land ; they only 
levy fo much per Head, according to the Wealth and Pof- 
feffions of the Subject. When a Male Child is bom, his 
Name is immediately enter’d in the King’s Books ; and 
when this Child has attained his eighteenth Year, he be- 
gins to pay for his Head ; but they demand it not of 
the Man who has feen his eightieth Year ; on the con- 
trary, he receives a Gratification by way of Penfion from 
the publick Treafury; and in doing this, the Chinefe fry. 
That they make this Provifion for him in his old Days’ 
in Acknowledgment for what they received of him when 
he was young. 
23. There are Schools in every Town for teaching the 
poor Children to write and read, and the Matters are 
maintained at the publick Charge. The Women wear 
nothing on their Heads but their Hair, whereas the Men 
are covered. In China there is a certain Town called 
fayUy which has a Caftle advantagioufly feated on a Hill, 
and all the Fortreffes in the Kingdom are called by the 
fame Name. The Chinefe are generally handfcme, of 
tHa fi the Cuilom °f drinking Tea in China, is much more ancient than we have generally imagined it, for it muft have 
E hat tfff W£nt int °u hlS C °T y !, .° thenvife a TaX U P° n k WOuld have been ineffedual. It ma/not be amifs to obferve 
thf l f f the Author are equally natural and judicious; for he infills chiefly on thofe Things in which the Chinefe differed moil from 
X Tt, t? that ; U T not circumcife, were not very exaft in walhing, and made no Confluence of eatinc Blood 
* fettkd Re S“ Iali °" “W* *• *“*»* *> *« K is very probable, that the Chin./, derived a 
C-l ' Iikewbe confirmed by later Travellers ; and though there feems to be a great deal of Severity in it vet it is well idintwl ^ tW 
Genius of the Chinefe , who would not fail to become Bankrupts frequently, if they were allowed to trade afterwards • j • 
Law m other Countries, in cafe of a fecond or third Bankruptcy, might be found very^ SuaL ’ ^ the ,IltroduCJn S 
cornel? 
