C H 
fort of the pafi'engevs belonging to the embafly ; and 
even the Chinefe foldiers and failors evinced a difpoiition 
to pleafe beyond the ordinary line of duty. 
On tlie morning of the 9th of Augull, every necefTary 
arrangement having taken place, the fignal was made for 
failing. This fignal, always uled upon the water, is not 
made with guns, but with an inftrurnent called in Chi- 
nefe loo, and by Europeans in China gong. It confiils of 
circular rimmed plates of copper, in which there is mixed 
a certain portion of tin, or fpelter, to make it fonorous. 
Thefe being ftruck with a wooden mallet, covered with 
leather, emit a found which may be heard at two or three 
miles diftance. Authoritative notice on fhore, el'pecially 
among troops, is made riot by drums, but by linking 
two pieces of hollow bamboo together. The drum is no 
martial inftrurnent, being ufed only in their temples. 
The meandrous courfe of the river, which rendered a 
wind that was fair on one ftretch foul on another, re¬ 
tarded the progrefs of the embafly, but afforded a favour¬ 
able opportunity of viewing its banks and circumjacent 
places. Each fide was adorned with pleafant villas and 
delightful gardens, and the fields were in the higheft 
llate of cultivation, many of them covered with Barba- 
does millet, bolcus forghum, the tailed of the vegetable 
tribe, growing to the height of ten or twelve feet, called 
by the Chinefe lojty corn , and is laid to increafe a hun¬ 
dred fold. At night its banks were fplendidly illumina¬ 
ted with a diverfity of lights, from lanterns of tranfpa- 
rent party-coloured paper. Lights were alio affixed to 
the maft-heads of the veffels ; their number and lituation 
denoting the rank of thofe on-board. The fhrill and re¬ 
peated found of the loo , and the conftant buz and threat¬ 
ening (ting of mufquitos in the night-time, were both 
Angularly troublefome. Not only during the firlt, but 
allb in the fecond day’s progrefs up the Pei-ho, were the 
banks lined with innumerable lpedators of both fexes, 
and of all ages ; but the river itielf was literally covered 
with boats of every defcription. Its fhores on one fide 
were crowded with Hacks or pyramids of fait, from two 
to fix hundred feet long, and about fifteen feet high. 
Two hundred and twenty-two entire Hacks were counted, 
. befides many others incomplete} which, from a nice cal¬ 
culation, were iuppofed to contain fix hundred millions 
of pounds weight. This is an article of great revenue 
to the emperor. 
On the third day the embafly reached the port of 
Tien-fing, the general mart for the northern provinces 
of China. The city is built at the confluence of two 
rivers; the one, upon which the embaiTy was to proceed 
to Tong-choo-foo, was alio called Pei-ho, the other 
Yun-leang-ho. A bridge of boats extended acrofs the 
rivers, which occafionally feparated to admit a paflage 
for veffels. Temples and handfome edifices were built 
along the quays, contiguous to which were yards and 
magazines for navai ftores, and (hops and warehoules for 
retail trade. A pavilion was ereded in the centre of the 
city, oppofite to which the ambafladorial fleet flopped. 
The viceroy, who had come by land from Ta-coo, was 
in waiting here for the ambaflador. His excellency dif- 
embarked, with all his f'uite, attended with his whole 
train of fervants, guards, and muficiaris, and was received 
on-fliore by the viceroy and the legate above-mentioned, 
according to the following order of parade : Three mili¬ 
tary mandarins, or principal officers.—A tent, with a 
band of mafic outfide the tent.—Three long trumpets.— 
A triumphal arch.—Four large green ftandards, with five 
fmall ones between each, and bowmen between each fmall 
colour.—Six large red ftandards with matchlock men, 
and five fmall colours between each flandard.—Two large 
green ftandards, with lwordlinen between each.—Mulic 
tent.—Triumphal arch.—A body of Chinefe archers. 
After an interchange of compliments, and the accuf- 
tomed refrefhments of tea and fweetmeats, the legate in¬ 
formed the ambaflador that the emperor was at his coun¬ 
try refidence at Zhe-hol, in Tartary, at which place it 
I N A. 475 
was his intention to celebrate the anniverfary of his birth¬ 
day, which happened on the thirteenth of the eighth 
_ moon, correfponding with the 17th of September; and 
that it was his defire to receive the embafly in that city. 
The ambaflador and the gentlemen returned to their 
refpe&ive yachts, and loon after a fumptuous repaft, with 
the addition of wine, fruit, and lweetme.its, was fent to 
them from the viceroy, as he had done before at Ta-coo; 
and his hofpitality was even extended to the fervants of 
the embafly, to whom he alfo lent a plentiful dinner. 
One among the many inftances of polite attention to the 
ambalfador, was a temporary theatre, which he had caufed 
to be ereded oppofite to his excellency’s yacht, where a 
company of comedians, at various times of the day, ex¬ 
hibited dramatic pieces and pantomimes. Boys or eu¬ 
nuchs played the female characters. In the evening, the 
weather proving favourable, the yachts and veffels pro¬ 
ceeded up the Pei-ho. Its fides, in fome places, were 
banked up by the lower ftalks of the millet; in fome 
reaches, by parapets of cut granite; and at others, by 
caufeways of the fame material; and fluices were made 
here and there to let off water to irrigate the adjoining 
lands. During the progrefs up the river, they were afi- 
fifted by the tide for thirty miles from Tien-fing, where 
it ceafes to flow; but in light airs, and contrary breezes, 
the Chinefe failors frequently made ule of a couple of 
(weeps, or large oars, which are neverlifted out of the 
water. When rowing was impracticable, men were em¬ 
ployed upon the banks to draw or trail the veffels by 
ropes. There were fifteen men to eacli yacht, and up¬ 
wards of five hundred were occupied on this fervice. 
Tien-fing, the literal tranflation of which is heavenly 
fpot , is in length nearly equal to London, and was laid 
to contain feven hundred thoivfand perfons. Some of 
the houfes are built with Hone, but niollly with brick, of 
one ftory only, though there are fome of two ltories 
high. The molt durable bricks are thole of a bluilh 
or lead colour; fome few are red; and others pale 
brown. The laft kind, ufed for the mean dwellings, are 
only baked in the fun. The blue bricks are burnt in a 
kiln by a dole wood fire, the blaze of which is not al¬ 
lowed to touch them ; and thole which are expofed to 
its flame, acquire a reddifh colour. In the making of 
bricks from the clay, thin layers of ftraw are placed be¬ 
tween them, without which they would, as they dried, 
run or adhere together ; fo that tlie Chinefe, like the 
children of Ifrael, could not make bricks without ftraw. 
The lands, as on the other fide of Tien-fing, were many 
of them covered with millet, which with rice, and a lit¬ 
tle wheat, are the principal objects of cultivation ; yet 
the people have experienced the dreadful effeds of fa¬ 
mine from the deftrudion of locufts, orfrorri the burftof 
torrents from the mountains. In fome fpots were feen 
growing a fpecies of the dolichos, not very difiimilar to- 
the kidney bean ; in others fields of beans, and various 
kinds of pulle; and likewife fefamum, and other plants 
whofe feeds produce oil. Plantations of the tea tree, 
of a dwarf fize, were alio abundant. The leaves had a 
near refemblance to a myrtle. It was the feafon for 
plucking the bloffoms, the finalleft of which, when care¬ 
fully diied, poffefs thehigheft flavour. The tea-tree of¬ 
ten grows upon the fides of mountains in China, and 
among rocky cliffs, to come at which is frequently dan¬ 
gerous, and fometimes impracticable. The people there¬ 
fore, that they may gather the leaves, make ufe of a An¬ 
gular ftratagem. Thofe declivities are often the habita¬ 
tion of monkeys, whom they menace, mock, and imi¬ 
tate, till the animals, to revenge themfeives, break off 
the branches, and fhower them down upon the infulters j 
from thefe branches the Chinefe colled the leaves, which 
is the objed they had in view. When dodor Letfom had 
read the above ltatement, taken from Grofier’s Defcrip¬ 
tion of China, he wrote to the author, to thank him for 
having given an account which coincided fb exadly with 
his own, which he had given in his Hiltory of the Tea- 
ti-ee 3 
