CHINA. 
445 
aether, and reach to his tail. This animal never flies 
but by darting from the top of one tree to another, 
which is lower : he has not the power of railing himfelf, 
and of flying as he mounts. A kind of flying rat they 
fay is a lib feen near Keou-ouai f it is larger than a com¬ 
mon rat, and has wings like thole of the fox already 
mentioned; it is pretty evident that thefe are nothing 
more than flying fquirrels. 
China has birds of almoft every genus : eagles, fal¬ 
cons, pelicans, birds of paradife, fwans, ftorks, parrots, 
and paroquets, which are not inferior to thole of the 
Weft-Indies, either in the variety or beauty of their 
plumage, or in the facility with which they learn to fpeak. 
Indeed we might with truth affirm, that the birds and 
flowers of China, feem abundantly to furpafs thofe of 
all other climes, in richnefs and brilliancy of colours. 
Infers of almoft every kind are found in China, and 
the butterflies or rather moths found on the mountain 
Le-feou-chan, fituated in the province of Quang-tong, 
are fo much prized, that they are fent to court. They 
are of a much greater fize than thofe of Europe, their 
wings are much broader, their colours are variegated in 
an extraordinary manner, and they have a furpriling 
brightnefs. Thefe moths and butterflies remain motion- 
lefs on the trees in the day-time, and they fuffer them- 
felves to be taken without difficulty. In the evening, 
they begin to flutter about, almoft in the fame manner 
as bats, which fomeof them equal in fize. The Chinefe 
boaft much of the butterflies found on the mountains 
Si-chan, in the province of Pe-tcheli; but they are 
Email, and not fo much valued by naturalifts as thofe of 
the mountain Lo-feou-chan. 
The filk infefls are found in great numbers on the 
trees and in the fields of the province of Chang-tung. 
They propagate in vaft quantities, and feed indifcrimi- 
nately on the leaves of the mulberry, and on thole of 
other trees. They do not fpin their filk circularly and 
in the fame manner as common filk-worms, which form 
theirs into balls: they produce it in filaments and long 
threads, which, being carried away by the wind, are 
caught by the trees and bullies : the Chinefe collect thefe 
threads, and make a kind of ftuff of them, called kien- 
tcheouy inferior in lull re to thofe manufactured of com¬ 
mon filk; it might be taken at firft fight, for coarfe 
•woollen ftuff or drugget: it is, however, much efteemed 
in China, and fold there fometimes for more than the 
richeft fattin. This ftuff is clofely woven, it never cuts, 
endures long, walhes like linen, and, when manufactured 
with care, is fcarcely fufceptible of being fpotted, even 
with oil. The infeCts which produce this kind of filk 
are of two kinds; one larger and blacker than common 
filk-worms, called tfouen-kien ; the other fmaller, and 
known by the name of tiao-kien. The filk of the firft 
fpecies of thefe worms is of a reddilh grey; that of the 
fecond is blacker, and the cloth' made of them partakes 
of both thefe colours. 
It is impoflible to give a lift of the different kinds of 
filh to be found in the lakes, rivers, and leas, of China, 
The miflionaries, to whom we are indebted for the 
greater part of the knowledge we have concerning this 
empire, have not thrown fumcient light upon any one 
branch of natural hiftory. They, however, allure us, 
that they obferved in China moll of the different kinds 
feen in Europe; befides which there is a filh called tcha- 
kia-yu, or the filh in armour, (the Cataphractus of 
Bloch,) which the Chinefe elleem as food. They give 
it this name, becaufe its body is defended by lharp fcales, 
ranged in llraight lines. The fielh is white, and taftes 
almoft like veal. In certain feafons they catch another 
kind of filh, fimilar to the. filver whiting, fo extremely 
white, that it is called the jlour-fijh. It is, above all, 
remarkable for its black eye-balls, which appear as if let 
in two circles of the moll brilliant filver. This filh is 
Vol. IV. No. zio. 
foun$ in fuch abundance on the coaft of the province of 
Liang-nan, that four hundred pounds weight of them 
are /bmetimes taken at one haul with a net. The coalls 
of the province of Tche-kiang fwarm with a fpecies of 
cod : an incredible quantity of them is confumed on the 
fea coaft of Fo-kien, befides what are falted on the fpot, 
to be tranfported to the interior parts of the country. 
They are taken from the nets, and Itowed in the holds 
of tlurveflels, between layers of fait; and, notwithftand- 
ing the exceffive heats, they are thus tranlported to the 
remote!! provinces of the empire. 
The well-known Chinefe filh, called gold and filver 
filh, are kept for ornament in linall ponds in their gar¬ 
dens and courts. In warm countries thefe filh multiply 
fall, provided care is taken to colleft their fpawn, which 
floats on the water, and which they will themfelves de¬ 
vour. This fpawn the Chinefe put into a particular vef- 
fel expofed to the fun, and preferve there until vivified 
•by the heat: gold filh, however, feldom multiply when 
they are kept in clofe vafes, becaufe they are then too 
much confined. To render them fruitful, they mull be 
put into refervoirs of confiderable depth, and conftantly 
l'upplied with frelh water. At a certain time of the year, a 
prodigious number of barks are feen on the great river 
Yang-tfe-kiang, which go thither to purchafe the fpawn 
of thefe fifties. Towards the month of May, the neigh¬ 
bouring inhabitants Ihut up the river in feveral places 
with mats and hurdles, and leave only a fpace in the 
middle fufficient for the pallage of barks. The fpawn of 
the filh, which the Chinele can diltinguilh at firft fight* 
although a llranger could perceive no traces of it in the 
water, is Hopped by thefe hurdles. The water mixed with 
the Ipawn is then drawn up; and, after it has been put 
into large veffels, it is fold to merchants, who convey it 
to every part of the empire, and difpofe of it by meafUre 
to thofe who are delirems of Hocking their ponds and re¬ 
fervoirs. 
One of the moll incredible fafls relative to China, in 
the eftimation of an European, is its altonilliing popula¬ 
tion. Father Amiot took great pains to invelligate this 
fubjeft, and fixed the population of China, in 1743, at 
two hundred millions. By another enumeration, taken 
from the accounts of the tribunal of lands, received in 
France in 1779, the population of China, in 1761, was- 
as follows: 
Province of Pe-tcheli, including Leao-tong 
* 5 > 89 ri 79 * 
Kiang-nan, two divifions 
- 
45,922,439 
Kiang-fi - 
- 
11,006,640 
Fo-kien ... 
8,063,671 
Tche-kiang 
- 
15,429,69^ 
Hou-quang 
- 
8,829,320 
Ho-nan, two divifions - 
- 
24,413,11® 
Chang-tong -. 
- 
25,180,734/ 
Chaii-fi - 
- 
9,768,189 
• Chen-fi, including Kan-fou 
- 
14,699,457 
Se-tchuen 
- 
2,782,976 
Quang-tong 
-- 
6 > 797’597 
Quang-fi ... 
- 
3,947,414 
Yun-nan - 
p* 
2,078,802 
Koei-tcheou 
- 
3,402,722 
Total 
- 
198,214,553 
This regilter was accompanied with a comparative 
llatement of the population in the preceding year, 1760, 
in which the numbers were Hated at 196,837,977; there 
was therefore an increafe of 1,376,576, in the courfe of 
one year only. Upwards of thirty years elapfed from the 
epocha of this numeration to the date of that obtained 
by fir George Staunton in 1793, which is literally as 
follows: 
5 X fjabk 
