LAKES OF CHINA.Thelakesof China are comparatively few and small; all those in the provinces of any size lie within the Plain, and are connected with the two great rivers. The largest is the Tungting in Hunan, about 220 miles in circumference, through which the waters of the Siang and Yuen rivers flow, and fill its channels and beds according to the season; it is now the silted-up bed of a former inland sea in Hupeh, lying on both sides of the Yangtsz’, and through which countless lakes, creeks, and canals form a navigable network between that river and the Han. The lake receives the silt as the tributaries flow on through it, and discharge themselves along the deep outlet near Yohchau; this depression altogether is about 200 miles long and 80 broad. About 320 miles eastward lies the Poyang Lake in Kiangsí, which also discharges the surplus waters of the Kan into the Yangtsz’. It is nearly 90 miles long, and about 20 in breadth, inclosing within its bosom many beautiful and populous islets. The scenery around this lake is highly picturesque, and its trade and fisheries are more important than those of the Tungting. The Yangtsz’ receives the waters of several other lakes as it approaches the ocean, the largest of which are the Ta hu or ‘Great Lake’ near Suchau, and the Tsau hu, lying on the northern bank, between Nganking and Nanking; both these lakes join the river by navigable streams,and the former is connected with the ocean by more than one channel.The only considerable lake connected with the Yellow River is the Hungtsih in Kiangsu, situated near the junction of that river and the Grand Canal, into which it discharges the drainings of the Hwai River; it is more remarkable for the fleets of boats upon it than for scenery in the vicinity. The larger part of the country between the mouths of the two rivers is so marshy and full of lakes, as to suggest the idea that the whole was once an enormous estuary where their waters joined, or else that their deposits have filled up a huge lake which once occupied this tract, leaving only a number of lesser sheets. Besides these, there are small lakes in Chihlí and Shantung; also theTien, theSien, and theTali, of moderate extent, in Yunnan; all of them support an aquatic population upon the fish taken from their waters.The largest lake in Manchuria is the Hinkai-nor in Kirin, near the source of the Usuri; the two lakes Hurun and Puyur, or Pir, in the basin of the Nonni River, give their name to Hurun-pir, the western district of Tsitsihar; but of the extent and productions of these sheets of water little is known.The regions lying north and south of Gobi contain many salt lakes, none of them individually comparing with the Aral Sea, but collectively covering a much larger extent, and most of them receiving the waters of the streams which drain their own isolated basins. The peculiarities of these little known parts, especially the depression on each side of the Tien shan, are such as to render them among the most interesting fields for geographical and geological research in the world. The largest one in Turkestan is Lob-nor, stated to be a great marsh overgrown with tall reeds and having a length of 75 miles and width of 15 miles.[13]Bostang-nor, said to connect with this lake, is placed on Chinese maps some 30 miles north of it. North of the Tien shan the lakes are larger and more numerous; the Dzaisang, Kisil-bash and Issik-kul are the most important. All these lakes are salt.The whole region of Koko-nor is a country of lakes. The Oling and Dzaring are among the sources of the Yellow River; and theTsing hai, or Azure Sea, better known as Koko-nor, gives its name to the province. The Tengkiri-nor in Tibet lies to the north of H’lassa, and is the largest sheet of water within the frontiers of the empire. In its neighborhood are numerous small lakes extending northward into Koko-nor. The Palti or Yamorouk is shaped like a ring, an island in its centre occupying nearly the whole surface. Ulterior Tibet possesses many lakes on both sides of the Gang-dis-ri range; the Yik and Paha, near Gobi, are the largest, being only two of a long row of them south of the Kwănlun range.BOUNDARIES OF THE PROVINCES.The Eighteen Provinces are bounded on the north-east by the colony of Shingking, from which they are separated by the line of a former palisade marking the boundary from the town of Shan-hai kwan to the Hwang ho. Following this stream to its sources in the Ín shan, the boundary then crosses these mountains and pursues a west and south-west course, through the territories of roving Mongol tribes, until it finds the Yellow River at the settlement of Hokiuh in Shensí. West of this the Great Wall divides the provinces of Shensí and Kansuh from the Mongolian deserts as far as the Kiayü Pass, beyond which lies the desert of Gobi, calledPeh hai(North Sea) andHah hai(Black Sea). On the east are the Gulf of Pechele and the Yellow Sea orHwang hai, also calledTung hai(Eastern Sea) as far south as the Channel of Formosa. This channel and the China Sea lie on the south-east and south, as far as the Gulf of Tongking and the confines of Annam. Kwangsí and Yunnan border on Annam and Siam on their south sides, while Burmah marks the western frontier, but nearly the whole south-west and western frontiers beyond Yunnan and Sz’chuen are possessed by small tribes of uncivilized people, over whom neither the Chinese nor Burmese have much real control. Koko-nor bounds Sz’chuen and Kansuh on their western and south-western sides.CHARACTER OF THE COAST.The coast of China, from Hainan to the mouth of the Yangtsz’, is bordered with multitudes of islands and rocky islets; from that point northward to Liautung, the shores arelow, and, except in Shantung, the coast is rendered dangerous by shoals.South of the Pei ho, along to the end of Shantung Promontory, the coast is bolder, increasing in height after passing the Miautau Islands, though neither side of the promontory presents any point of remarkable elevation; Cape Macartney, at the eastern end, is a conspicuous bluff when approaching it from sea. From this cape to the mouth of the Tsientang River, near Chapu, a distance of about 400 miles, the coast is low, especially between the mouths of the Yangtsz’ and Yellow rivers, and has but few good harbors. Quicksands in the regions near these rivers and the Bay of Hangchau render the navigation dangerous to native junks. From Kitto Point, near Ningpo, down to Hongkong, the shores assume a bolder aspect, and numerous small bays and coves occur among the islands, affording safe refuge for vessels. The aspect along this part is uninviting in the extreme, consisting principally of a succession of yellowish cliffs and naked headlands, giving little promise of the highly cultivated country beyond them. This bleak appearance is caused by the rains washing the decomposed soil off the surface; the rock being granite in a state of partial and progressive disintegration, the loose soil is easily carried down into the intervals. Another reason for its treeless surface is owing to the practice of annually cutting the coarse grass for fuel, and after the crop is gathered setting the stubble on fire, in order to manure the ground for the coming year; the fire and thinness of the soil together effectually prevent any large growth of trees or shrubbery upon the hills.The estuary of the Pearl River from the Bocca Tigris down to the Grand Ladrones, a distance of 70 miles, and from Hongkong westerly to the Island of Tungku, about 100 miles, is interspersed with islands. The strait which separates Hainan from the Peninsula of Luichau has been supposed to be the place called by Arabian travellers in the ninth century the Gates of China, but that channel was probably near the Chusan Archipelago. That group of fertile islands is regarded as the broken termination of the continental range of mountains running through Chehkiang.The Island of Formosa, or Taiwan, connects the islands of Japan and Lewchew with Luçonia. Between Formosa and the coast lie the Pescadores or Panghu Islands, a group much less in extent and number than the Chusan Islands. The Chinese have itineraries of all the places, headlands, islands, etc., along the entire coast, but they do not afford much information respecting the names of positions.[14]The first objects that invite attention in the general aspect of China Proper are the Great Plain in the north-east, and the three longitudinal basins into which the country is divided by mountain chains running east and west.[15]The three great rivers which drain these basins flow through them very irregularly, but by means of their main trunks and the tributaries, water communication is easily kept up, not only from west to east along the great courses, but also across the country. These natural facilities for inland navigation have been greatly improved by the people, but they still, in most cases, await the introduction of steam to assist them in stemming the rapid currents of some of their rivers, and bringing distant places into more frequent communication.The whole surface of China may be conveniently divided into the mountainous and hilly country and the Great Plain. The mountainous country comprehends more than half of the whole, lying west of the meridian of 112° or 114° (nearly that of Canton), quite to the borders of Tibet. The hilly portion is that south of the Yangtsz’ kiang and east of this meridian, comprising the provinces of Fuhkien, Kiangsí, Kwangtung, and sections of Hunan and Hupeh. The Great Plain lies in the north-east, and forms the richest part of the empire.This Plain extends in length 700 miles from the Great Wall and Barrier Range north of Peking to the confluence of Poyang Lake with the Yangtsz’ in Kiangsí, lat. 30° N. The latter river is considered as its southern boundary as far downas Nganking in Nganhwui, whence to the sea it is formed by a line drawn nearly east through Hangchau. The western boundary may be marked by a line drawn from Kingchau in Hupeh (lat. 30° 36′), nearly north to Hwaiking, on the Yellow River, and thence due north to the Great Wall, 50 miles north-west of Peking. The breadth varies. North of lat. 35°, where it partly extends to the Yellow Sea, and partly borders on the western side of Shantung, thence across to the Bear Mountains and Shansí, its measure is between 150 and 250 miles; stating the average at 200 miles, this portion has an area of 70,000 square miles. Between 34° and 35° the Plain enlarges, and in the parallel of the Yellow River has a breadth of some 300 miles from east to west; while further south, along the course of the Yangtsz’, it reaches nearly 400 miles inland. Estimating the mean breadth of this portion at 400 miles, there are 140,000 square miles, which, with the northern part, make an area of about 210,000 square miles—a surface seven times as large as that of Lombardy, and about the same area as the plain of Bengal drained by the Ganges. The northern portion in Chihlí up to the edge of the Plateau is mostly a deposit of the yellow loess and alluvial on the river bottoms; that lying near the coast in Kiangsu is low and swampy, covered by lakes and intersected by water-courses. This portion is extremely fertile, and furnishes large quantities of silk, tea, cotton, grain, and tobacco. The most interesting feature of this Plain is the enormous population it supports, which is, according to the census of 1812, not less than 177 millions of human beings, if the whole number of inhabitants contained in the six provinces lying wholly or partly in it be included; making it by far the most densely settled of any part of the world of the same size, and amounting to nearly two-thirds of the whole population of Europe.[16]THE GREAT WALL.The public works of China are probably unequalled in any land or by any people, for the amount of human labor bestowed upon them; the natural aspect of the country has beenmaterially changed by them, and it has been remarked that the Great Wall is the only artificial structure which would arrest attention in a hasty survey of the surface of the globe. But their usefulness, or the science exhibited in their construction, is far inferior to their extent. The Great Wall, calledWan-lí Chang Ching(i.e., Myriad-mile Wall), was built by Tsin Chí-hwangtí, in order to protect his dominions from the incursions of the northern tribes. Some portions of it were already in existence, and he formed the plan of joining and extending them along the whole northern frontier to guard it. It was finishedB.C.204, having been ten years in building, seven of which were done after the Emperor’s death. This gigantic work was probably a popular one in the main, and still remains as its own chief evidence of the energy, industry, and perseverance of its builders, as well as their unwisdom and waste. Its construction probably cost less than the usual sums spent by European States for their standing armies. It commences at Shanhai wei or Shanhai kwan (lat. 40°, long. 119° 50′), a coast town of some importance as on the boundary between Chihlí and Shingking, and a place of considerable trade. Lord Jocelyn describes the wall, when observed from the ships, as “scaling the precipices and topping the craggy hills of the country, which have along this coast a most desolate appearance.”It runs along the shore for several miles, and terminates on the beach near a long reef. Its course from this point is west, a little northerly, along the old frontiers of the province of Chihlí, and then in Shansí, till it strikes the Yellow River, in lat. 39½° and long. 111½°. This is the best built part, and contains the most important gates, where garrisons and trading marts are established. Within the province of Chihlí there are two walls, inclosing a good part of the basin of the Sangkan ho west of Peking; the inner one was built by an emperor of the Ming dynasty. From the point where it strikes the Yellow River, near Pau-teh, it forms the northern boundary of Shensí, till it touches that stream again in lat. 37°, inclosing the country of the Ortous Mongols. Its direction from this point is north-west along the northern frontier of Kansuh toits termination near Kiayü kwan, through which the road passes leading to Hami.From near the eastern extremity of the Wall in the province of Chihlí, extending in a north-easterly direction, there was once a wooden stockade or palisade, forming the boundary between Liautung and Kirin, which has been often taken from its representation on maps as a continuation of the Great Wall. It was erected by the Manchus, but has long since become decayed and disused.The entire length of the Great Wall between its extremities is 22½ degrees of latitude, or 1,255 miles in a straight line; but its turnings and doublings increase it to fully 1,500 miles. It would stretch from Philadelphia to Topeka, or from Portugal to Naples, on nearly the same latitude. The construction of this gigantic work is somewhat adapted to the nature of the country it traverses, and the material was taken or made on the spot where it was used. In the western part of its course, it is in some places merely a mud or gravel wall, and in others earth cased with brick.The eastern part is generally composed of earth and pebbles faced with large bricks, weighing from 40 to 60 lbs. each, supported on a coping of stone. The whole is about 25 feet thick at the base, and 15 feet at the top, and varying from 15 to 30 feet high; the top is protected with bricks, and defended by a slight parapet, the thinness of which has been taken as proof that cannon were unknown at the time it was erected. There are brick towers at different intervals, some of them more than 40 feet high, but not built upon the Wall. These are independent structures, usually about 40 feet square at the base, diminishing to 30 at the top; at particular spots the towers are of two stories.The impression left upon the mind of a foreigner, on seeing this monument of human toil and unremunerative outlay, is respect for a people that could in any manner build it. Standing on the peak atKu-peh Kau(Old North Gate), one sees the cloud-capped towers extending away over the declivities in single files both east and west, until dwarfed by miles and miles of skyward perspective as they dwindle into minute piles, yet standwith solemn stillness where they were stationed twenty centuries ago, as though condemned to wait the march of time till their builders returned. The crumbling dike at their feet may be followed, winding, leaping across gorges, defiles, and steeps, now buried in some chasm, now scaling the cliffs and slopes, in very exuberance of power and wantonness, as it vanishes in a thin, shadowy line, at the horizon. Once seen, the Great Wall of China can never be forgotten.At present this remarkable structure is simply a geographical boundary, and except at the Gates nothing is done to keep it in repair. Beyond the Yellow River to its western extremity, the Great Wall, according to Gerbillon, is mostly a mound of earth or gravel, about fifteen feet in height, with only occasional towers of brick, or gateways made of stone. At Kalgan portions of it are made of porphyry and other stones piled up in a pyramidal form between the brick towers, difficult to cross but easy enough to pull down. The appearance of this rampart at Ku-peh kau is more imposing; the entire extent of the main and cross walls in sight from one of the towers there is over twenty miles. In one place it runs over a peak 5,225 feet high, where it is so steep as to make one wonder as much at the labor of erecting it on such a cliff as on the folly of supposing it could be of any use there as a defence. The wall is most visited at Nan-kau (South Gate), in the Ku-yung Pass, a remarkable Thermopyla fifteen miles in length, which leads from the Plain at Peking up to the first terrace above it, and at one time was guarded by five additional walls and gates, now all in ruins. From this spot, the wall reaches across Shansí, and was built at a later period.THE GRAND CANAL.The other great public work is the Grand Canal, orChah ho(i.e., river of Flood-gates), called alsoYun hoor ‘Transit River,’ an enterprise which reflects far more credit upon the monarchs who devised and executed it, than does the Great Wall, and if the time in which it was dug, and the character of the princes who planned it, be considered, few works can be mentioned in the history of any country more admirable and useful. When it was in order, before the inflow of the Yellow River failed, by means of its connection with its feeders,an uninterrupted water communication across the country from Peking to Canton existed, and goods and passengers passed from the capital to nearly every large town in the basins of the two great rivers. The canal was designed by Kublai to reach from his own capital as far as Hangchau, the former capital of the Sung dynasty, and cannot be better described than in Marco Polo’s language: “You must understand that the Emperor has caused a water communication to be made from this city [Kwa-chau] to Cambaluc, in the shape of a wide and deep channel dug between stream and stream, between lake and lake, forming as it were a great river on which large vessels can ply.”[17]The northern end is a channel fourteen miles long, from Tung-chau up to Peking, which, passing under the city walls, finishes its course of some 600 miles at the palace wall, close by the British Legation; here it is calledYu ho, or ‘Imperial River,’ but all boats now unlade at the eastern gate. An abridged account of Davis’s observations[18]will afford a good idea of its construction and appearance.“Early on the 23d September, we entered the canal through two stone piers and between very high banks. The mounds of earth in the immediate vicinity were evidently for the purpose of effecting repairs, which, to judge from the vestiges of inundation on either side, could not be infrequent. The canal joins the Yu ho, which we had just quitted, on its eastern bank, as that river flows towards the Pei ho. One of the most striking features of the canal is the comparative clearness of its waters, when contrasted with that of the two rivers on which we had hitherto travelled; a circumstance reasonably attributable to the depositions occasioned by the greater stillness of its contents. The course of the canal at this point was evidently in the bed of a natural river, as might be perceived from its winding course, and the irregularity and inartificial appearance of its banks. The stone abutments and flood-gates are for the purpose of regulating its waters, which at present were in excess and flowing out of it. As we proceeded on the canal, the stone flood-gates or sluices occurredat the rate of three or four a day, sometimes oftener, according as the inequalities in the surface of the country rendered them necessary....“As we advanced, the canal in some parts became narrower, and the banks had rather more of an artificial appearance than where we first entered it, being occasionally pretty high; but still the winding course led to the inference, that as yet the canal was for the most part only a natural river, modified and regulated by sluices and embankments. The distance between the stone piers in some of the flood-gates was apparently so narrow as only just to admit the passage of our largest boats. The contrivance for arresting the course of the water through them was extremely simple; stout boards, with ropes fastened to each end, were let down edgewise over each other through grooves in the stone piers. A number of soldiers and workmen always attended at the sluices, and the danger to the boats was diminished by coils of rope being hung down at the sides to break the force of blows. The slowness of our progress, which for the last week averaged only twenty miles a day, gave us abundant leisure to observe the country....“We now began to make better progress on the canal than we had hitherto done. The stream, though against us, was not strong, except near the sluices, where it was confined. In the afternoon we stopped at Kai-ho chin (i.e., River-opening mart), so called, perhaps, because the canal was commenced near here. On the 28th we arrived at the influx of the Yun ho, where the stream turned in our favor, and flowed to the southward, being the highest point of the canal, and a place of some note. The Yun ho flows into the canal on its eastern side nearly at right angles, and a part of its waters flow north and part south, while a strong facing of stone on the western bank sustains the force of the influx. At this point is the temple of the Dragon King, or genius of the watery element, who is supposed to have the canal in his special keeping. This enterprise of leading in this river seems to have been the work of Sung Lí, who lived under Hungwu, the first emperor of the Ming dynasty, about 1375. In his time, a part of the canal in Shantung became so impassable that the coasting passageby sea began to be most used. This was the very thing the canal had been intended to prevent; Sung accordingly adopted the plan of an old man named Píying, to concentrate the waters of the Yun ho and neighboring streams, and bring them down upon the canal as they are at present. History states that Sung employed 300,000 men to carry the plan into operation, and that the work was completed in seven months. On both sides of us, nearly level with the canal, were extensive swamps with a shallow covering of water, planted with the Nelumbium; they were occasionally separated by narrow banks, along which the trackers walked, and the width of the canal sometimes did not exceed twenty-five yards. On reaching the part which skirts the Tu-shan Lake, the left bank was entirely submerged, and the canal confounded with the lake. All within sight was swamp, coldness, and desolation—in fact, a vast inland sea, as many of the large boats at a distance were hull down. The swamps on the following day were kept out of sight by some decent villages on the high banks, which from perpetual accumulation assumed in some places the aspect of hills.“A part of our journey on the first of October lay along a portion of the canal where the banks, particularly to the right, were elaborately and thoroughly faced with stone; a precaution which seemed to imply a greater than ordinary danger from inundations. In fact, the lakes, or rather floods, seemed to extend at present nearly to the feet of the mountains which lay at a distance on our left. We were now approaching that part of China which is exposed to the disastrous overflowings of the Yellow River, a perpetual source of wasteful expenditure to the government, and of peril and calamity to the people; it well deserves the name of China’s Sorrow. We observed the repairs of the banks diligently proceeding under the superintendence of the proper officer. For this purpose they use the natural soil in combination with the thick stalks of the gigantic millet.”The canal reaches the Yellow River about 70 miles from its mouth; but before leaving the lakes in the southern part of Shantung, it used to run nearly parallel with that stream formore than a hundred miles, and between it and the New Salt River during a good part of this distance. It is hard to understand how, by natural causes, so powerful a river, as it is described to be by the historians of both the British embassies less than one hundred years ago, should have become so completely choked up. The difference of level near Kaifung is found to be so very little that the siltage there has been enough to turn the current into the river Wei and elsewhere. When Amherst’s embassy passed, the boats struck right across the stream, and gained the opposite bank, about three-fourths of a mile distant, in less than an hour. They drifted about two miles down, and then slowly brought up against the current to the spot where the canal entered. This opening was a sluice nearly a hundred yards across, and through it the waters rushed into the river like a mill-race; the banks were constructed of earth, strengthened with sorghum stalks, and strongly bound with cordage. Sir John Davis remarks, with the instinct of a tradesman, as he commends the perseverance and industry which had overcome these obstacles, that if the science of a Brunel could be allowed to operate on the Yellow River and Grand Canal, “a benefit might be conferred on the Chinese that would more than compensate for all the evil that we have inflicted with our opium and our guns.” The boats were dragged through and up the sluice close to the bank by ropes communicating with large windlasses worked on the bank, which safely, though slowly, brought them into still water.The distance between the Yellow and Yangtsz’ rivers is about ninety miles, and the canal here is carried largely upon a raised work of earth, kept together by retaining walls of stone, and not less than twenty feet above the surrounding country in some parts. This sheet of water is about two hundred feet wide, and its current nearly three miles an hour. South of the Hwang ho several large towns stand near the levees, below their level, whose safety wholly depends upon the care taken of the banks of the canal. Hwai-ngan and Pauying lie thus under and near them, in such a position as to cause an involuntary shudder at the thought of the destruction which would take place if they should give way. The level descends from these towns tothe Yangtsz’, and at Yangchau the canal is much below the houses on its sides. It also connects with every stream or lake whose waters can be led into it. There are two or three inlets into the Yangtsz’ where the canal reaches the northern bank, but Chinkiang, on the southern shore, is regarded as the principal defence and post of its crossing. The canal leaves the river east of that city, proceeds south-east to Suchau, and thence southerly on the eastern side of lake Tai, with which it communicates, to Hangchau in Chehkiang. This portion is by far the most interesting and picturesque of the whole line, owing to its rich and populous cities, the fertility and high cultivation of the banks, and the lively aspect imparted by the multitude of boats. Though Kublai has had the credit of this useful work, it existed in parts of its course long before his day. The reach between the two great rivers was opened in the Han dynasty, and repaired by the wise founder of the Sui dynasty (A.D.600). The princes of the Tang dynasty kept it open, and when the Sung emperors lived at Hangchau they made the extension up to Chinkiang the great highway which it is to this day. The work from Peking to the Yellow River was opened by the Mongols about 1289, in which they merely joined the rivers and lakes to each other as they now exist. The Ming and Tsing emperors have done all they could to keep it open throughout, and lately an attempt has been made to reopen the passage from Hungtsih Lake north into the old bed, so that boats can reach Tientsin from Kwachau. Its entire length is about 650 miles, or not quite twice that of the Erie Canal, but it varies in its breadth and depth more than any important canal either of America or Europe.As a work of art, compared with canals now existing in western countries, the Transit River does not rank high; but even at this day there is no work of the kind in Asia which can compare with it, and there was none in the world equal to it when first put in full operation. It passes through alluvial soil in every part of its course, and the chief labor was expended in constructing embankments, and not in digging a deep channel. The junction of the Yun ho, about lat. 36° N., was probably taken as the summit level. From this point northward thetrench was dug through to Lintsing to join the Yu ho, and embankments thrown up from the same place southward to the Yellow River, the whole being a line of two hundred miles. In some places the bed is cut down thirty, forty, and even seventy feet, but it encountered no material obstacle. The sluices which keep the necessary level are of rude construction, and thick planks, sliding in grooves hewn in stone buttresses, form the only locks. Still, the objects intended are all fully gained, and the simplicity of the means certainly does not derogate from the merit and execution of the plan.[19]CANALS.There are some other inferior canals in the empire. Kienlung constructed a waste-weir for carrying off the surplus waters of the Yellow River of about a hundred miles in length, by cutting a canal from Ífung hien in Honan, to one of the principal affluents of lake Hungtsih. It also answered as a drain for the marshy land in that part, and has probably recently served to convey the floods from the main stream into the lake. In the vicinity of Canton and Suchau are many channels cut through the plains, which serve both for irrigation and navigation, but they are not worthy the name of canals. Similar conveniences are more or less frequently met with in all parts of the provinces, notably those on the Plain and low coast-lands.A Road-Cut in the Loess.PUBLIC ROADS.The public roads, in a country so well provided with navigable streams, are of minor consequence, but these media of travel are not neglected. “I have travelled near 600 leagues by land in China,” observes De Guignes, “and have found many good roads, most of them wide and planted with trees. They are not usually paved, and consequently in rainy weather are either channelled by the water or covered with mud, and in dry weather so dusty that travellers are obliged to wear spectacles to protect their eyes. In Kwangtung transportation is performed almost wholly by water, the only roads being across the lines of navigation. The pass across the Mei ling is paved or filled up with stones; at Kih-ngan, in Kiangsí, are paved roads in good condition, but beyond the Yangtsz’, in Nganhwui, they werealmost impracticable, but became better as we proceeded northward, and in many places had trees on both sides. Beyond the Hwang ho they were broader, and we saw crowds of travellers, carts, mules, and horses. In Shantung and Chihlí they were generally broad and shady, and very dusty. This is, no doubt, disagreeable, but we went smoothly over these places, while in the villages and towns we were miserably jolted on the pavements. I hope, for the sake of those who may come after me, that the Chinese will not pave their roads before they improve their carriages. Some of the thoroughfares leading to Peking are paved with thick slabs of stone. One feature of the roads through the northern provinces which attracts attention is the great number that lie below the level of the country. It is caused by the wind sweeping along them, and carrying overthe fields the dust made and raised by the carts. As soon as the pools left by the rains dry enough to let the carts pass, the earth is reduced to powder; as the winds sweep through the passage and clear it out, the process in a few years cuts a defile through the loam often fifteen feet deep, which impedes travel by its narrow gauge, hindering the carts as they meet. The banks are protected by revetment walls or turf, if necessary. Those near Hangchau, and the great road leading from Chehkiang into Kiangsí, are all in good condition. Generally speaking, however, as is the case with most things in China, the roads are not well repaired, and large holes are frequently allowed to remain unfilled in the path, to the great danger of those who travel by night.”[20]Mountain passes have been cut for facilitating the transit of goods and people over the high ranges in many parts of the empire. The great road leading from Peking south-west through Shansí and Shensí, and thence to Sz’chuen, is carried across the Peh ling and the valley of the river Hwai by a mountain road, “which, for the difficulties it presents and the art and labor with which they have been overcome, does not appear to be inferior to the road over the Simplon.”[21]At one place on this route, called Lí-nai, a passage has been cut through the rock, and steps hewn on both sides of the mountain from its base to the summit. The passage across the peak being only wide enough for one sedan, the guards are perched in little houses placed on poles over the pass. This road was in ancient times the path to the metropolis, and these immense excavations were made from time to time by different monarchs. The pass over the Mei ling, at Nan-ngan, is a work of later date, and so are most of the other roads across this range in Fuhkien and Kwangtung.GENERAL ASPECT AND RACE TYPES.The general aspect of the country is perhaps as much modified by labor of man in China as in England, but the appearance of a landscape in the two kingdoms is unlike. Whenever water is available, streams are led upon the rice fields, and this kind of cultivation allows few or no trees to grow in the plats. Such fields are divided by raised banks, which serve for pathways across the marshy enclosure, and assist in confining the water when let in upon the growing crop. The bounds of other fields are denoted by stones or other landmarks, and the entire absence of walls, fences, or hedgerows, makes a cultivated plain appear like a vast garden.The greatest sameness exists in all the cities. A wall encloses all towns above asz’or township, and the suburbs are not unfrequently larger than their enceinte. The streets in large towns south of the Hwang ho are paved, and the sewers run under the cross slabs. What filth is not in them is generally in the street, as these drains easily become choked. The roadways are not usually over ten feet wide, but the low houses on each side make them appear less like alleys than would be the case in western cities. Villages have a pleasant appearance at a distance, usually embowered among trees, between which the whitewashed houses look prettily; but on entering them one is disappointed at their irregularity, dirtiness, and generally decayed look. The gardens and best houses are mostly walled in from sight, while the precincts of temples are the resort of idlers, beggars, and children, with a proportion of pigs and dogs.Elegance or ornament, orderly arrangement and grandeur of design, cleanliness, or comfort, as these terms are applied in Europe, are almost unknown in Chinese houses, cities, or gardens. Commanding or agreeable situations are chosen for temples and monasteries, which are not only the abode of priests but serve for inns, theatres, and other purposes. The terrace cultivation sometimes renders the acclivities of hills beautiful in the highest degree, but it does not often impart a distinguishing feature to the landscape. A lofty solitary pagoda, an extensive temple shaded by trees in the opening of a vale, a commemorativepai-lau, or boats moving in every direction through narrow creeks or on broad streams, are some of the peculiar lineaments of Chinese scenery. No imposing mansions with beautiful grounds are found on the skirts of a town, for the people huddle together in hamlets and villages for mutual aid and security. No tapering spires pointing out the rural church, nor towers, pillars, domes, or steeples in the cities, indicating buildings of public utility, rise upon the low level of dun-tiled roofs. No meadows or pastures, containing herds and flocks, are visible from the hill-tops in China; nor are coaches or railroad cars observed hurrying across its landscapes. Steamers have just begun to course through some of its rivers, and disturb, by their whistles and wheels, the drowsy silence of past ages and the slow progress of unwieldy junks—the other changes have yet to come.The condition and characteristics of the various families of man inhabiting this great empire, render its study far more interesting than anything relating to its physical geography or public works. The Chinese forms the leading family, but the Miaotsz’, the Li-mu, the Kakyens, and other aborigines in the southern provinces, the Manchus, the Mongols, and various Tartar tribes, the Tibetans, and certain wild races in Kirin and Formosa, must not be overlooked. The sons of Han are indeed a remarkable race, whether regard be had to their antiquity, their numbers, their government, or their literature, and on these accounts deserve the study and respect of every intelligent student of mankind; while their unwearied industry, their general peaceableness and good humor, and their attainments in domestic order and mechanical arts, commend them to the notice of every one who sees in these points of character an earnest of their future position amid the great family of civilized nations when once they shall have attained the same.The physical traits of the Chinese may be described as being between the light and agile Hindu, and the muscular, fleshy European. Their form is well built and symmetrical; their color is a brunette or sickly white, rather approaching to a yellowish than to a florid tint, but this yellow hue has been much exaggerated; in the south they are swarthy but not black, never becoming as dark even as the Portuguese, whose fifth or sixth ancestors dwelt near the Tagus. The shades of complexion differ much according to the latitude and degree of exposure tothe weather, especially in the females. The hair of the head is lank, black, coarse, and glossy; beard always black, thin, and deficient; scanty or no whiskers; and very little hair on the body. Eyes invariably black, and apparently oblique, owing to the slight degree in which the inner angles of the eyelids open, the internal canthi being more acute than in western races, and not allowing the whole iris to be seen; this peculiarity in the eye distinguishes the eastern races of Asia from all other families of man. There is a marked difference between the features of the mixed race living south of the Mei ling, and the inhabitants of the Great Plain and in Shansí or further west; the latter are the finer appearing. The hair and eyes being always black, a European with blue eyes and light hair appears strange to them; one reason given by the people of Canton for calling foreignersfan kwei, or ‘foreign devils,’ is, that they have sunken blue eyes, and red hair like demons.The cheek-bones are high, and the outline of the face remarkably round. The nose is rather small, much depressed, nearly even with the face at the root, and wide at the extremity; there is, however, considerable difference in this respect, but no aquiline noses are seen. Lips thicker than among Europeans, but not at all approaching those of the negro. The hands are small, and the lower limbs better proportioned than among any other Asiatics. The height of those living north of the Yangtsz’ is about the same as that of Europeans. A thousand men taken as they come in the streets of Canton, will hardly equal in stature and weight the same number in Rome or New Orleans, while they would, perhaps, exceed these, if gathered in Peking; their muscular powers, however, would probably be less in either Chinese city than in those of Europe or America.In size, the women are smaller than European females; and in the eyes of those accustomed to the European style of beauty, the Chinese women possess little; the broad upper face, low nose, and linear eyes, being quite the contrary of handsome. Nevertheless, the Chinese face is not destitute of beauty, and when animated with good humor and an expressive eye, and lighted by the glow of youth and health, the features lose much of their repulsiveness. Nor do they fade so soon andlook as ugly and withered when old as some travellers say, but are in respect to bearing children and keeping their vigor, more like Europeans than the Hindus or Persians.ABORIGINAL TRIBES.The mountainous regions in Yunnan, Kwangsí, and Kweichau, give lodgement to many clans of the Miaotsz’ or “children of the soil,” as the words may be rendered. It is singular that any of these people should have maintained their independence so long, when so large a portion of them have partially submitted to Chinese rule. Those who will not are calledsăng Miaotsz’,i.e., wild or ‘unsubdued,’ while the others are termedshuhor ‘subdued.’ They present so many physical points of difference as to lead one to infer that they are a more ancient race than the Chinese around them, and the aborigines of Southern China. They are rather smaller in size and stature, have shorter necks, and their features are somewhat more angular. They are divided into many tribes, and have been described by Chinese travellers, who have illustrated their habits by paintings and sketches, from which a good idea can be obtained of their condition. Dr. Bridgman has translated such an account, written by a Chinese native traveller, in which he sketches the manners of eighty-two clans, especially those customs relating to worship and marriage, showing how little they have learned from their rulers or improved from the savage state. An examination of their languages shows that those of the Miaotsz’ proper have strong affinities with the Siamese and Annamese, and those known asLoloexhibit a decided likeness to the Burmese. The former of these are mentioned in Chinese history during 4,000 years; the latter aboutA.D.250, when a Shan nation came under Chinese influence in Yunnan, and was the object of a warlike expedition. The same race still remain on the Upper Irrawadi and in Assam as Shans and Khamti, and in the basins of the Meinam and Mei-lung, all of them akin to the Tibetans and Burmese. They form together an interesting relic of the ancient peoples of the land, and further inquiries will doubtless develop something of their history and origin.[22]An aboriginal race—theLi-mu—exists in the centre of Hainan, an offset from the Miaotsz’, judging by the little that is known of their language. The natives of Formosa seem to have more affinity with their neighbors in Luzon and southward than with the Chinese.MANCHUS AND MONGOLS.The Mongol and Manchu races have been considered as springing from the same stock, but during centuries of separation under different circumstances they have altered much. The Mongols are essentially a nomadic race, while the Manchus are an agricultural or a hunting people, according to the part of their country they inhabit. The Manchus are of a lighter complexion and somewhat larger than the Chinese, have the same conformation of the eyelids, but rather more beard, while their countenances indicate greater intellectual capacity. They seem to partake of both the Mongol and Chinese character, possessing more determination and largeness of plan than the latter, with much of the rudeness and haughtiness of the former. They have fair, if not florid, complexions, straight noses, and, in a few cases, brown hair and heavy beards. They are more allied to the Chinese, and when they ruled the northern provinces as the Kin dynasty, amalgamated with them. They may be regarded as the most improvable race in Central Asia, if not on the continent; and the skill with which they have governed the Chinese empire, and adopted a civilization higher than their own, gives promise of still further advances when they become familiar with the civilization of Christian lands.Under the term Mongols or Moguls a great number of tribes occupying the steppes of Central Asia are comprised. They extend from the borders of the Khirgís steppe and Kokand eastward to the Sialkoi Mountains, and it is particularly to this race that the nameTartarsorTatarsis applicable. No such word is now known among the people, except as an ignominious epithet, by the Chinese, who usually write it with two characters—tah-tsz’—meaning ‘trodden-down people.’ Klaproth confines the appellation ofTartarsto the Mongols, Kalmucks, Kalkas, Eleuths, and Buriats, while the Kirghís, Usbecks, Cossacks, and Turks are of Kurdish andTurkomanorigin.The Mongol tribes generally are a stout, squat, swarthy, ill-favoredrace of men, having high and broad shoulders, short, broad noses, pointed and prominent chins, long teeth distant from each other, eyes black, elliptical, and unsteady, thick, short necks, extremities bony and nervous, muscular thighs, but short legs, with a stature nearly or quite equal to the European. They have a written language, but their literature is limited and mostly religious. The same language is spoken by all the tribes, with slight variations and only a small admixture of foreign words. Most of the accounts of their origin, their wars, and their habits, were written by foreigners living or travelling among them; but they themselves, as McCulloch remarks, know as little of these things as rats or marmots do of their descent. Yet it is not so easy to find the typical Mongol among the medley of nationalities in their towns. A crowd in a town like Yarkand exhibits all the varieties of the human race. The gaunt, almost beardless Manchu, with sunken eyes, high cheek-bones, and projecting jowl, contrasts with the smooth face, pinky yellow, oblique eye, flat cheeks, and rounded jowl of the Chinese. The bearded, sallow Toork, the angular, rosy Kirghís, the coarse, hard Dungani, and thick-lipped, square-faced Eleuth, all show poorly with the tall, handsome Cashmerian, the swarthy Badakshi, and robust, intelligent Uzbek. The fate of the vast swarms of this race which have descended from the table-land of Central Asia and overrun, in different ages, the plains of India, China, Syria, Egypt, and Eastern Europe, and the rise and fall of the gigantic empire they themselves erected under Genghis in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, are among the most remarkable episodes in the world’s history. They have always maintained the same character in their native wilds, their conquests have been exterminations rather than subjugations, their history a record of continual quarrels between clans.The last of the five races is the Tibetan, who partake of the physical characteristics of the Mongols and Hindus. They are short, squat, and broad-shouldered in body, with angular faces, wide, high cheek-bones, small black eyes, and scant beard. They are mild in disposition, have a stronger religious feeling than the Chinese, and have never left their own highlandseither for emigration or conquest. Their civilization is fully equal to that of the Siamese and Burmese, and life and property are more secure with them than among their turbulent neighbors in Butan, Lahore, or Cabul.
LAKES OF CHINA.
Thelakesof China are comparatively few and small; all those in the provinces of any size lie within the Plain, and are connected with the two great rivers. The largest is the Tungting in Hunan, about 220 miles in circumference, through which the waters of the Siang and Yuen rivers flow, and fill its channels and beds according to the season; it is now the silted-up bed of a former inland sea in Hupeh, lying on both sides of the Yangtsz’, and through which countless lakes, creeks, and canals form a navigable network between that river and the Han. The lake receives the silt as the tributaries flow on through it, and discharge themselves along the deep outlet near Yohchau; this depression altogether is about 200 miles long and 80 broad. About 320 miles eastward lies the Poyang Lake in Kiangsí, which also discharges the surplus waters of the Kan into the Yangtsz’. It is nearly 90 miles long, and about 20 in breadth, inclosing within its bosom many beautiful and populous islets. The scenery around this lake is highly picturesque, and its trade and fisheries are more important than those of the Tungting. The Yangtsz’ receives the waters of several other lakes as it approaches the ocean, the largest of which are the Ta hu or ‘Great Lake’ near Suchau, and the Tsau hu, lying on the northern bank, between Nganking and Nanking; both these lakes join the river by navigable streams,and the former is connected with the ocean by more than one channel.
The only considerable lake connected with the Yellow River is the Hungtsih in Kiangsu, situated near the junction of that river and the Grand Canal, into which it discharges the drainings of the Hwai River; it is more remarkable for the fleets of boats upon it than for scenery in the vicinity. The larger part of the country between the mouths of the two rivers is so marshy and full of lakes, as to suggest the idea that the whole was once an enormous estuary where their waters joined, or else that their deposits have filled up a huge lake which once occupied this tract, leaving only a number of lesser sheets. Besides these, there are small lakes in Chihlí and Shantung; also theTien, theSien, and theTali, of moderate extent, in Yunnan; all of them support an aquatic population upon the fish taken from their waters.
The largest lake in Manchuria is the Hinkai-nor in Kirin, near the source of the Usuri; the two lakes Hurun and Puyur, or Pir, in the basin of the Nonni River, give their name to Hurun-pir, the western district of Tsitsihar; but of the extent and productions of these sheets of water little is known.
The regions lying north and south of Gobi contain many salt lakes, none of them individually comparing with the Aral Sea, but collectively covering a much larger extent, and most of them receiving the waters of the streams which drain their own isolated basins. The peculiarities of these little known parts, especially the depression on each side of the Tien shan, are such as to render them among the most interesting fields for geographical and geological research in the world. The largest one in Turkestan is Lob-nor, stated to be a great marsh overgrown with tall reeds and having a length of 75 miles and width of 15 miles.[13]Bostang-nor, said to connect with this lake, is placed on Chinese maps some 30 miles north of it. North of the Tien shan the lakes are larger and more numerous; the Dzaisang, Kisil-bash and Issik-kul are the most important. All these lakes are salt.
The whole region of Koko-nor is a country of lakes. The Oling and Dzaring are among the sources of the Yellow River; and theTsing hai, or Azure Sea, better known as Koko-nor, gives its name to the province. The Tengkiri-nor in Tibet lies to the north of H’lassa, and is the largest sheet of water within the frontiers of the empire. In its neighborhood are numerous small lakes extending northward into Koko-nor. The Palti or Yamorouk is shaped like a ring, an island in its centre occupying nearly the whole surface. Ulterior Tibet possesses many lakes on both sides of the Gang-dis-ri range; the Yik and Paha, near Gobi, are the largest, being only two of a long row of them south of the Kwănlun range.
BOUNDARIES OF THE PROVINCES.
The Eighteen Provinces are bounded on the north-east by the colony of Shingking, from which they are separated by the line of a former palisade marking the boundary from the town of Shan-hai kwan to the Hwang ho. Following this stream to its sources in the Ín shan, the boundary then crosses these mountains and pursues a west and south-west course, through the territories of roving Mongol tribes, until it finds the Yellow River at the settlement of Hokiuh in Shensí. West of this the Great Wall divides the provinces of Shensí and Kansuh from the Mongolian deserts as far as the Kiayü Pass, beyond which lies the desert of Gobi, calledPeh hai(North Sea) andHah hai(Black Sea). On the east are the Gulf of Pechele and the Yellow Sea orHwang hai, also calledTung hai(Eastern Sea) as far south as the Channel of Formosa. This channel and the China Sea lie on the south-east and south, as far as the Gulf of Tongking and the confines of Annam. Kwangsí and Yunnan border on Annam and Siam on their south sides, while Burmah marks the western frontier, but nearly the whole south-west and western frontiers beyond Yunnan and Sz’chuen are possessed by small tribes of uncivilized people, over whom neither the Chinese nor Burmese have much real control. Koko-nor bounds Sz’chuen and Kansuh on their western and south-western sides.
CHARACTER OF THE COAST.
The coast of China, from Hainan to the mouth of the Yangtsz’, is bordered with multitudes of islands and rocky islets; from that point northward to Liautung, the shores arelow, and, except in Shantung, the coast is rendered dangerous by shoals.
South of the Pei ho, along to the end of Shantung Promontory, the coast is bolder, increasing in height after passing the Miautau Islands, though neither side of the promontory presents any point of remarkable elevation; Cape Macartney, at the eastern end, is a conspicuous bluff when approaching it from sea. From this cape to the mouth of the Tsientang River, near Chapu, a distance of about 400 miles, the coast is low, especially between the mouths of the Yangtsz’ and Yellow rivers, and has but few good harbors. Quicksands in the regions near these rivers and the Bay of Hangchau render the navigation dangerous to native junks. From Kitto Point, near Ningpo, down to Hongkong, the shores assume a bolder aspect, and numerous small bays and coves occur among the islands, affording safe refuge for vessels. The aspect along this part is uninviting in the extreme, consisting principally of a succession of yellowish cliffs and naked headlands, giving little promise of the highly cultivated country beyond them. This bleak appearance is caused by the rains washing the decomposed soil off the surface; the rock being granite in a state of partial and progressive disintegration, the loose soil is easily carried down into the intervals. Another reason for its treeless surface is owing to the practice of annually cutting the coarse grass for fuel, and after the crop is gathered setting the stubble on fire, in order to manure the ground for the coming year; the fire and thinness of the soil together effectually prevent any large growth of trees or shrubbery upon the hills.
The estuary of the Pearl River from the Bocca Tigris down to the Grand Ladrones, a distance of 70 miles, and from Hongkong westerly to the Island of Tungku, about 100 miles, is interspersed with islands. The strait which separates Hainan from the Peninsula of Luichau has been supposed to be the place called by Arabian travellers in the ninth century the Gates of China, but that channel was probably near the Chusan Archipelago. That group of fertile islands is regarded as the broken termination of the continental range of mountains running through Chehkiang.
The Island of Formosa, or Taiwan, connects the islands of Japan and Lewchew with Luçonia. Between Formosa and the coast lie the Pescadores or Panghu Islands, a group much less in extent and number than the Chusan Islands. The Chinese have itineraries of all the places, headlands, islands, etc., along the entire coast, but they do not afford much information respecting the names of positions.[14]
The first objects that invite attention in the general aspect of China Proper are the Great Plain in the north-east, and the three longitudinal basins into which the country is divided by mountain chains running east and west.[15]The three great rivers which drain these basins flow through them very irregularly, but by means of their main trunks and the tributaries, water communication is easily kept up, not only from west to east along the great courses, but also across the country. These natural facilities for inland navigation have been greatly improved by the people, but they still, in most cases, await the introduction of steam to assist them in stemming the rapid currents of some of their rivers, and bringing distant places into more frequent communication.
The whole surface of China may be conveniently divided into the mountainous and hilly country and the Great Plain. The mountainous country comprehends more than half of the whole, lying west of the meridian of 112° or 114° (nearly that of Canton), quite to the borders of Tibet. The hilly portion is that south of the Yangtsz’ kiang and east of this meridian, comprising the provinces of Fuhkien, Kiangsí, Kwangtung, and sections of Hunan and Hupeh. The Great Plain lies in the north-east, and forms the richest part of the empire.
This Plain extends in length 700 miles from the Great Wall and Barrier Range north of Peking to the confluence of Poyang Lake with the Yangtsz’ in Kiangsí, lat. 30° N. The latter river is considered as its southern boundary as far downas Nganking in Nganhwui, whence to the sea it is formed by a line drawn nearly east through Hangchau. The western boundary may be marked by a line drawn from Kingchau in Hupeh (lat. 30° 36′), nearly north to Hwaiking, on the Yellow River, and thence due north to the Great Wall, 50 miles north-west of Peking. The breadth varies. North of lat. 35°, where it partly extends to the Yellow Sea, and partly borders on the western side of Shantung, thence across to the Bear Mountains and Shansí, its measure is between 150 and 250 miles; stating the average at 200 miles, this portion has an area of 70,000 square miles. Between 34° and 35° the Plain enlarges, and in the parallel of the Yellow River has a breadth of some 300 miles from east to west; while further south, along the course of the Yangtsz’, it reaches nearly 400 miles inland. Estimating the mean breadth of this portion at 400 miles, there are 140,000 square miles, which, with the northern part, make an area of about 210,000 square miles—a surface seven times as large as that of Lombardy, and about the same area as the plain of Bengal drained by the Ganges. The northern portion in Chihlí up to the edge of the Plateau is mostly a deposit of the yellow loess and alluvial on the river bottoms; that lying near the coast in Kiangsu is low and swampy, covered by lakes and intersected by water-courses. This portion is extremely fertile, and furnishes large quantities of silk, tea, cotton, grain, and tobacco. The most interesting feature of this Plain is the enormous population it supports, which is, according to the census of 1812, not less than 177 millions of human beings, if the whole number of inhabitants contained in the six provinces lying wholly or partly in it be included; making it by far the most densely settled of any part of the world of the same size, and amounting to nearly two-thirds of the whole population of Europe.[16]
THE GREAT WALL.
The public works of China are probably unequalled in any land or by any people, for the amount of human labor bestowed upon them; the natural aspect of the country has beenmaterially changed by them, and it has been remarked that the Great Wall is the only artificial structure which would arrest attention in a hasty survey of the surface of the globe. But their usefulness, or the science exhibited in their construction, is far inferior to their extent. The Great Wall, calledWan-lí Chang Ching(i.e., Myriad-mile Wall), was built by Tsin Chí-hwangtí, in order to protect his dominions from the incursions of the northern tribes. Some portions of it were already in existence, and he formed the plan of joining and extending them along the whole northern frontier to guard it. It was finishedB.C.204, having been ten years in building, seven of which were done after the Emperor’s death. This gigantic work was probably a popular one in the main, and still remains as its own chief evidence of the energy, industry, and perseverance of its builders, as well as their unwisdom and waste. Its construction probably cost less than the usual sums spent by European States for their standing armies. It commences at Shanhai wei or Shanhai kwan (lat. 40°, long. 119° 50′), a coast town of some importance as on the boundary between Chihlí and Shingking, and a place of considerable trade. Lord Jocelyn describes the wall, when observed from the ships, as “scaling the precipices and topping the craggy hills of the country, which have along this coast a most desolate appearance.”
It runs along the shore for several miles, and terminates on the beach near a long reef. Its course from this point is west, a little northerly, along the old frontiers of the province of Chihlí, and then in Shansí, till it strikes the Yellow River, in lat. 39½° and long. 111½°. This is the best built part, and contains the most important gates, where garrisons and trading marts are established. Within the province of Chihlí there are two walls, inclosing a good part of the basin of the Sangkan ho west of Peking; the inner one was built by an emperor of the Ming dynasty. From the point where it strikes the Yellow River, near Pau-teh, it forms the northern boundary of Shensí, till it touches that stream again in lat. 37°, inclosing the country of the Ortous Mongols. Its direction from this point is north-west along the northern frontier of Kansuh toits termination near Kiayü kwan, through which the road passes leading to Hami.
From near the eastern extremity of the Wall in the province of Chihlí, extending in a north-easterly direction, there was once a wooden stockade or palisade, forming the boundary between Liautung and Kirin, which has been often taken from its representation on maps as a continuation of the Great Wall. It was erected by the Manchus, but has long since become decayed and disused.
The entire length of the Great Wall between its extremities is 22½ degrees of latitude, or 1,255 miles in a straight line; but its turnings and doublings increase it to fully 1,500 miles. It would stretch from Philadelphia to Topeka, or from Portugal to Naples, on nearly the same latitude. The construction of this gigantic work is somewhat adapted to the nature of the country it traverses, and the material was taken or made on the spot where it was used. In the western part of its course, it is in some places merely a mud or gravel wall, and in others earth cased with brick.
The eastern part is generally composed of earth and pebbles faced with large bricks, weighing from 40 to 60 lbs. each, supported on a coping of stone. The whole is about 25 feet thick at the base, and 15 feet at the top, and varying from 15 to 30 feet high; the top is protected with bricks, and defended by a slight parapet, the thinness of which has been taken as proof that cannon were unknown at the time it was erected. There are brick towers at different intervals, some of them more than 40 feet high, but not built upon the Wall. These are independent structures, usually about 40 feet square at the base, diminishing to 30 at the top; at particular spots the towers are of two stories.
The impression left upon the mind of a foreigner, on seeing this monument of human toil and unremunerative outlay, is respect for a people that could in any manner build it. Standing on the peak atKu-peh Kau(Old North Gate), one sees the cloud-capped towers extending away over the declivities in single files both east and west, until dwarfed by miles and miles of skyward perspective as they dwindle into minute piles, yet standwith solemn stillness where they were stationed twenty centuries ago, as though condemned to wait the march of time till their builders returned. The crumbling dike at their feet may be followed, winding, leaping across gorges, defiles, and steeps, now buried in some chasm, now scaling the cliffs and slopes, in very exuberance of power and wantonness, as it vanishes in a thin, shadowy line, at the horizon. Once seen, the Great Wall of China can never be forgotten.
At present this remarkable structure is simply a geographical boundary, and except at the Gates nothing is done to keep it in repair. Beyond the Yellow River to its western extremity, the Great Wall, according to Gerbillon, is mostly a mound of earth or gravel, about fifteen feet in height, with only occasional towers of brick, or gateways made of stone. At Kalgan portions of it are made of porphyry and other stones piled up in a pyramidal form between the brick towers, difficult to cross but easy enough to pull down. The appearance of this rampart at Ku-peh kau is more imposing; the entire extent of the main and cross walls in sight from one of the towers there is over twenty miles. In one place it runs over a peak 5,225 feet high, where it is so steep as to make one wonder as much at the labor of erecting it on such a cliff as on the folly of supposing it could be of any use there as a defence. The wall is most visited at Nan-kau (South Gate), in the Ku-yung Pass, a remarkable Thermopyla fifteen miles in length, which leads from the Plain at Peking up to the first terrace above it, and at one time was guarded by five additional walls and gates, now all in ruins. From this spot, the wall reaches across Shansí, and was built at a later period.
THE GRAND CANAL.
The other great public work is the Grand Canal, orChah ho(i.e., river of Flood-gates), called alsoYun hoor ‘Transit River,’ an enterprise which reflects far more credit upon the monarchs who devised and executed it, than does the Great Wall, and if the time in which it was dug, and the character of the princes who planned it, be considered, few works can be mentioned in the history of any country more admirable and useful. When it was in order, before the inflow of the Yellow River failed, by means of its connection with its feeders,an uninterrupted water communication across the country from Peking to Canton existed, and goods and passengers passed from the capital to nearly every large town in the basins of the two great rivers. The canal was designed by Kublai to reach from his own capital as far as Hangchau, the former capital of the Sung dynasty, and cannot be better described than in Marco Polo’s language: “You must understand that the Emperor has caused a water communication to be made from this city [Kwa-chau] to Cambaluc, in the shape of a wide and deep channel dug between stream and stream, between lake and lake, forming as it were a great river on which large vessels can ply.”[17]The northern end is a channel fourteen miles long, from Tung-chau up to Peking, which, passing under the city walls, finishes its course of some 600 miles at the palace wall, close by the British Legation; here it is calledYu ho, or ‘Imperial River,’ but all boats now unlade at the eastern gate. An abridged account of Davis’s observations[18]will afford a good idea of its construction and appearance.
“Early on the 23d September, we entered the canal through two stone piers and between very high banks. The mounds of earth in the immediate vicinity were evidently for the purpose of effecting repairs, which, to judge from the vestiges of inundation on either side, could not be infrequent. The canal joins the Yu ho, which we had just quitted, on its eastern bank, as that river flows towards the Pei ho. One of the most striking features of the canal is the comparative clearness of its waters, when contrasted with that of the two rivers on which we had hitherto travelled; a circumstance reasonably attributable to the depositions occasioned by the greater stillness of its contents. The course of the canal at this point was evidently in the bed of a natural river, as might be perceived from its winding course, and the irregularity and inartificial appearance of its banks. The stone abutments and flood-gates are for the purpose of regulating its waters, which at present were in excess and flowing out of it. As we proceeded on the canal, the stone flood-gates or sluices occurredat the rate of three or four a day, sometimes oftener, according as the inequalities in the surface of the country rendered them necessary....
“As we advanced, the canal in some parts became narrower, and the banks had rather more of an artificial appearance than where we first entered it, being occasionally pretty high; but still the winding course led to the inference, that as yet the canal was for the most part only a natural river, modified and regulated by sluices and embankments. The distance between the stone piers in some of the flood-gates was apparently so narrow as only just to admit the passage of our largest boats. The contrivance for arresting the course of the water through them was extremely simple; stout boards, with ropes fastened to each end, were let down edgewise over each other through grooves in the stone piers. A number of soldiers and workmen always attended at the sluices, and the danger to the boats was diminished by coils of rope being hung down at the sides to break the force of blows. The slowness of our progress, which for the last week averaged only twenty miles a day, gave us abundant leisure to observe the country....
“We now began to make better progress on the canal than we had hitherto done. The stream, though against us, was not strong, except near the sluices, where it was confined. In the afternoon we stopped at Kai-ho chin (i.e., River-opening mart), so called, perhaps, because the canal was commenced near here. On the 28th we arrived at the influx of the Yun ho, where the stream turned in our favor, and flowed to the southward, being the highest point of the canal, and a place of some note. The Yun ho flows into the canal on its eastern side nearly at right angles, and a part of its waters flow north and part south, while a strong facing of stone on the western bank sustains the force of the influx. At this point is the temple of the Dragon King, or genius of the watery element, who is supposed to have the canal in his special keeping. This enterprise of leading in this river seems to have been the work of Sung Lí, who lived under Hungwu, the first emperor of the Ming dynasty, about 1375. In his time, a part of the canal in Shantung became so impassable that the coasting passageby sea began to be most used. This was the very thing the canal had been intended to prevent; Sung accordingly adopted the plan of an old man named Píying, to concentrate the waters of the Yun ho and neighboring streams, and bring them down upon the canal as they are at present. History states that Sung employed 300,000 men to carry the plan into operation, and that the work was completed in seven months. On both sides of us, nearly level with the canal, were extensive swamps with a shallow covering of water, planted with the Nelumbium; they were occasionally separated by narrow banks, along which the trackers walked, and the width of the canal sometimes did not exceed twenty-five yards. On reaching the part which skirts the Tu-shan Lake, the left bank was entirely submerged, and the canal confounded with the lake. All within sight was swamp, coldness, and desolation—in fact, a vast inland sea, as many of the large boats at a distance were hull down. The swamps on the following day were kept out of sight by some decent villages on the high banks, which from perpetual accumulation assumed in some places the aspect of hills.
“A part of our journey on the first of October lay along a portion of the canal where the banks, particularly to the right, were elaborately and thoroughly faced with stone; a precaution which seemed to imply a greater than ordinary danger from inundations. In fact, the lakes, or rather floods, seemed to extend at present nearly to the feet of the mountains which lay at a distance on our left. We were now approaching that part of China which is exposed to the disastrous overflowings of the Yellow River, a perpetual source of wasteful expenditure to the government, and of peril and calamity to the people; it well deserves the name of China’s Sorrow. We observed the repairs of the banks diligently proceeding under the superintendence of the proper officer. For this purpose they use the natural soil in combination with the thick stalks of the gigantic millet.”
The canal reaches the Yellow River about 70 miles from its mouth; but before leaving the lakes in the southern part of Shantung, it used to run nearly parallel with that stream formore than a hundred miles, and between it and the New Salt River during a good part of this distance. It is hard to understand how, by natural causes, so powerful a river, as it is described to be by the historians of both the British embassies less than one hundred years ago, should have become so completely choked up. The difference of level near Kaifung is found to be so very little that the siltage there has been enough to turn the current into the river Wei and elsewhere. When Amherst’s embassy passed, the boats struck right across the stream, and gained the opposite bank, about three-fourths of a mile distant, in less than an hour. They drifted about two miles down, and then slowly brought up against the current to the spot where the canal entered. This opening was a sluice nearly a hundred yards across, and through it the waters rushed into the river like a mill-race; the banks were constructed of earth, strengthened with sorghum stalks, and strongly bound with cordage. Sir John Davis remarks, with the instinct of a tradesman, as he commends the perseverance and industry which had overcome these obstacles, that if the science of a Brunel could be allowed to operate on the Yellow River and Grand Canal, “a benefit might be conferred on the Chinese that would more than compensate for all the evil that we have inflicted with our opium and our guns.” The boats were dragged through and up the sluice close to the bank by ropes communicating with large windlasses worked on the bank, which safely, though slowly, brought them into still water.
The distance between the Yellow and Yangtsz’ rivers is about ninety miles, and the canal here is carried largely upon a raised work of earth, kept together by retaining walls of stone, and not less than twenty feet above the surrounding country in some parts. This sheet of water is about two hundred feet wide, and its current nearly three miles an hour. South of the Hwang ho several large towns stand near the levees, below their level, whose safety wholly depends upon the care taken of the banks of the canal. Hwai-ngan and Pauying lie thus under and near them, in such a position as to cause an involuntary shudder at the thought of the destruction which would take place if they should give way. The level descends from these towns tothe Yangtsz’, and at Yangchau the canal is much below the houses on its sides. It also connects with every stream or lake whose waters can be led into it. There are two or three inlets into the Yangtsz’ where the canal reaches the northern bank, but Chinkiang, on the southern shore, is regarded as the principal defence and post of its crossing. The canal leaves the river east of that city, proceeds south-east to Suchau, and thence southerly on the eastern side of lake Tai, with which it communicates, to Hangchau in Chehkiang. This portion is by far the most interesting and picturesque of the whole line, owing to its rich and populous cities, the fertility and high cultivation of the banks, and the lively aspect imparted by the multitude of boats. Though Kublai has had the credit of this useful work, it existed in parts of its course long before his day. The reach between the two great rivers was opened in the Han dynasty, and repaired by the wise founder of the Sui dynasty (A.D.600). The princes of the Tang dynasty kept it open, and when the Sung emperors lived at Hangchau they made the extension up to Chinkiang the great highway which it is to this day. The work from Peking to the Yellow River was opened by the Mongols about 1289, in which they merely joined the rivers and lakes to each other as they now exist. The Ming and Tsing emperors have done all they could to keep it open throughout, and lately an attempt has been made to reopen the passage from Hungtsih Lake north into the old bed, so that boats can reach Tientsin from Kwachau. Its entire length is about 650 miles, or not quite twice that of the Erie Canal, but it varies in its breadth and depth more than any important canal either of America or Europe.
As a work of art, compared with canals now existing in western countries, the Transit River does not rank high; but even at this day there is no work of the kind in Asia which can compare with it, and there was none in the world equal to it when first put in full operation. It passes through alluvial soil in every part of its course, and the chief labor was expended in constructing embankments, and not in digging a deep channel. The junction of the Yun ho, about lat. 36° N., was probably taken as the summit level. From this point northward thetrench was dug through to Lintsing to join the Yu ho, and embankments thrown up from the same place southward to the Yellow River, the whole being a line of two hundred miles. In some places the bed is cut down thirty, forty, and even seventy feet, but it encountered no material obstacle. The sluices which keep the necessary level are of rude construction, and thick planks, sliding in grooves hewn in stone buttresses, form the only locks. Still, the objects intended are all fully gained, and the simplicity of the means certainly does not derogate from the merit and execution of the plan.[19]
CANALS.
There are some other inferior canals in the empire. Kienlung constructed a waste-weir for carrying off the surplus waters of the Yellow River of about a hundred miles in length, by cutting a canal from Ífung hien in Honan, to one of the principal affluents of lake Hungtsih. It also answered as a drain for the marshy land in that part, and has probably recently served to convey the floods from the main stream into the lake. In the vicinity of Canton and Suchau are many channels cut through the plains, which serve both for irrigation and navigation, but they are not worthy the name of canals. Similar conveniences are more or less frequently met with in all parts of the provinces, notably those on the Plain and low coast-lands.
A Road-Cut in the Loess.
A Road-Cut in the Loess.
A Road-Cut in the Loess.
PUBLIC ROADS.
The public roads, in a country so well provided with navigable streams, are of minor consequence, but these media of travel are not neglected. “I have travelled near 600 leagues by land in China,” observes De Guignes, “and have found many good roads, most of them wide and planted with trees. They are not usually paved, and consequently in rainy weather are either channelled by the water or covered with mud, and in dry weather so dusty that travellers are obliged to wear spectacles to protect their eyes. In Kwangtung transportation is performed almost wholly by water, the only roads being across the lines of navigation. The pass across the Mei ling is paved or filled up with stones; at Kih-ngan, in Kiangsí, are paved roads in good condition, but beyond the Yangtsz’, in Nganhwui, they werealmost impracticable, but became better as we proceeded northward, and in many places had trees on both sides. Beyond the Hwang ho they were broader, and we saw crowds of travellers, carts, mules, and horses. In Shantung and Chihlí they were generally broad and shady, and very dusty. This is, no doubt, disagreeable, but we went smoothly over these places, while in the villages and towns we were miserably jolted on the pavements. I hope, for the sake of those who may come after me, that the Chinese will not pave their roads before they improve their carriages. Some of the thoroughfares leading to Peking are paved with thick slabs of stone. One feature of the roads through the northern provinces which attracts attention is the great number that lie below the level of the country. It is caused by the wind sweeping along them, and carrying overthe fields the dust made and raised by the carts. As soon as the pools left by the rains dry enough to let the carts pass, the earth is reduced to powder; as the winds sweep through the passage and clear it out, the process in a few years cuts a defile through the loam often fifteen feet deep, which impedes travel by its narrow gauge, hindering the carts as they meet. The banks are protected by revetment walls or turf, if necessary. Those near Hangchau, and the great road leading from Chehkiang into Kiangsí, are all in good condition. Generally speaking, however, as is the case with most things in China, the roads are not well repaired, and large holes are frequently allowed to remain unfilled in the path, to the great danger of those who travel by night.”[20]
Mountain passes have been cut for facilitating the transit of goods and people over the high ranges in many parts of the empire. The great road leading from Peking south-west through Shansí and Shensí, and thence to Sz’chuen, is carried across the Peh ling and the valley of the river Hwai by a mountain road, “which, for the difficulties it presents and the art and labor with which they have been overcome, does not appear to be inferior to the road over the Simplon.”[21]At one place on this route, called Lí-nai, a passage has been cut through the rock, and steps hewn on both sides of the mountain from its base to the summit. The passage across the peak being only wide enough for one sedan, the guards are perched in little houses placed on poles over the pass. This road was in ancient times the path to the metropolis, and these immense excavations were made from time to time by different monarchs. The pass over the Mei ling, at Nan-ngan, is a work of later date, and so are most of the other roads across this range in Fuhkien and Kwangtung.
GENERAL ASPECT AND RACE TYPES.
The general aspect of the country is perhaps as much modified by labor of man in China as in England, but the appearance of a landscape in the two kingdoms is unlike. Whenever water is available, streams are led upon the rice fields, and this kind of cultivation allows few or no trees to grow in the plats. Such fields are divided by raised banks, which serve for pathways across the marshy enclosure, and assist in confining the water when let in upon the growing crop. The bounds of other fields are denoted by stones or other landmarks, and the entire absence of walls, fences, or hedgerows, makes a cultivated plain appear like a vast garden.
The greatest sameness exists in all the cities. A wall encloses all towns above asz’or township, and the suburbs are not unfrequently larger than their enceinte. The streets in large towns south of the Hwang ho are paved, and the sewers run under the cross slabs. What filth is not in them is generally in the street, as these drains easily become choked. The roadways are not usually over ten feet wide, but the low houses on each side make them appear less like alleys than would be the case in western cities. Villages have a pleasant appearance at a distance, usually embowered among trees, between which the whitewashed houses look prettily; but on entering them one is disappointed at their irregularity, dirtiness, and generally decayed look. The gardens and best houses are mostly walled in from sight, while the precincts of temples are the resort of idlers, beggars, and children, with a proportion of pigs and dogs.
Elegance or ornament, orderly arrangement and grandeur of design, cleanliness, or comfort, as these terms are applied in Europe, are almost unknown in Chinese houses, cities, or gardens. Commanding or agreeable situations are chosen for temples and monasteries, which are not only the abode of priests but serve for inns, theatres, and other purposes. The terrace cultivation sometimes renders the acclivities of hills beautiful in the highest degree, but it does not often impart a distinguishing feature to the landscape. A lofty solitary pagoda, an extensive temple shaded by trees in the opening of a vale, a commemorativepai-lau, or boats moving in every direction through narrow creeks or on broad streams, are some of the peculiar lineaments of Chinese scenery. No imposing mansions with beautiful grounds are found on the skirts of a town, for the people huddle together in hamlets and villages for mutual aid and security. No tapering spires pointing out the rural church, nor towers, pillars, domes, or steeples in the cities, indicating buildings of public utility, rise upon the low level of dun-tiled roofs. No meadows or pastures, containing herds and flocks, are visible from the hill-tops in China; nor are coaches or railroad cars observed hurrying across its landscapes. Steamers have just begun to course through some of its rivers, and disturb, by their whistles and wheels, the drowsy silence of past ages and the slow progress of unwieldy junks—the other changes have yet to come.
The condition and characteristics of the various families of man inhabiting this great empire, render its study far more interesting than anything relating to its physical geography or public works. The Chinese forms the leading family, but the Miaotsz’, the Li-mu, the Kakyens, and other aborigines in the southern provinces, the Manchus, the Mongols, and various Tartar tribes, the Tibetans, and certain wild races in Kirin and Formosa, must not be overlooked. The sons of Han are indeed a remarkable race, whether regard be had to their antiquity, their numbers, their government, or their literature, and on these accounts deserve the study and respect of every intelligent student of mankind; while their unwearied industry, their general peaceableness and good humor, and their attainments in domestic order and mechanical arts, commend them to the notice of every one who sees in these points of character an earnest of their future position amid the great family of civilized nations when once they shall have attained the same.
The physical traits of the Chinese may be described as being between the light and agile Hindu, and the muscular, fleshy European. Their form is well built and symmetrical; their color is a brunette or sickly white, rather approaching to a yellowish than to a florid tint, but this yellow hue has been much exaggerated; in the south they are swarthy but not black, never becoming as dark even as the Portuguese, whose fifth or sixth ancestors dwelt near the Tagus. The shades of complexion differ much according to the latitude and degree of exposure tothe weather, especially in the females. The hair of the head is lank, black, coarse, and glossy; beard always black, thin, and deficient; scanty or no whiskers; and very little hair on the body. Eyes invariably black, and apparently oblique, owing to the slight degree in which the inner angles of the eyelids open, the internal canthi being more acute than in western races, and not allowing the whole iris to be seen; this peculiarity in the eye distinguishes the eastern races of Asia from all other families of man. There is a marked difference between the features of the mixed race living south of the Mei ling, and the inhabitants of the Great Plain and in Shansí or further west; the latter are the finer appearing. The hair and eyes being always black, a European with blue eyes and light hair appears strange to them; one reason given by the people of Canton for calling foreignersfan kwei, or ‘foreign devils,’ is, that they have sunken blue eyes, and red hair like demons.
The cheek-bones are high, and the outline of the face remarkably round. The nose is rather small, much depressed, nearly even with the face at the root, and wide at the extremity; there is, however, considerable difference in this respect, but no aquiline noses are seen. Lips thicker than among Europeans, but not at all approaching those of the negro. The hands are small, and the lower limbs better proportioned than among any other Asiatics. The height of those living north of the Yangtsz’ is about the same as that of Europeans. A thousand men taken as they come in the streets of Canton, will hardly equal in stature and weight the same number in Rome or New Orleans, while they would, perhaps, exceed these, if gathered in Peking; their muscular powers, however, would probably be less in either Chinese city than in those of Europe or America.
In size, the women are smaller than European females; and in the eyes of those accustomed to the European style of beauty, the Chinese women possess little; the broad upper face, low nose, and linear eyes, being quite the contrary of handsome. Nevertheless, the Chinese face is not destitute of beauty, and when animated with good humor and an expressive eye, and lighted by the glow of youth and health, the features lose much of their repulsiveness. Nor do they fade so soon andlook as ugly and withered when old as some travellers say, but are in respect to bearing children and keeping their vigor, more like Europeans than the Hindus or Persians.
ABORIGINAL TRIBES.
The mountainous regions in Yunnan, Kwangsí, and Kweichau, give lodgement to many clans of the Miaotsz’ or “children of the soil,” as the words may be rendered. It is singular that any of these people should have maintained their independence so long, when so large a portion of them have partially submitted to Chinese rule. Those who will not are calledsăng Miaotsz’,i.e., wild or ‘unsubdued,’ while the others are termedshuhor ‘subdued.’ They present so many physical points of difference as to lead one to infer that they are a more ancient race than the Chinese around them, and the aborigines of Southern China. They are rather smaller in size and stature, have shorter necks, and their features are somewhat more angular. They are divided into many tribes, and have been described by Chinese travellers, who have illustrated their habits by paintings and sketches, from which a good idea can be obtained of their condition. Dr. Bridgman has translated such an account, written by a Chinese native traveller, in which he sketches the manners of eighty-two clans, especially those customs relating to worship and marriage, showing how little they have learned from their rulers or improved from the savage state. An examination of their languages shows that those of the Miaotsz’ proper have strong affinities with the Siamese and Annamese, and those known asLoloexhibit a decided likeness to the Burmese. The former of these are mentioned in Chinese history during 4,000 years; the latter aboutA.D.250, when a Shan nation came under Chinese influence in Yunnan, and was the object of a warlike expedition. The same race still remain on the Upper Irrawadi and in Assam as Shans and Khamti, and in the basins of the Meinam and Mei-lung, all of them akin to the Tibetans and Burmese. They form together an interesting relic of the ancient peoples of the land, and further inquiries will doubtless develop something of their history and origin.[22]
An aboriginal race—theLi-mu—exists in the centre of Hainan, an offset from the Miaotsz’, judging by the little that is known of their language. The natives of Formosa seem to have more affinity with their neighbors in Luzon and southward than with the Chinese.
MANCHUS AND MONGOLS.
The Mongol and Manchu races have been considered as springing from the same stock, but during centuries of separation under different circumstances they have altered much. The Mongols are essentially a nomadic race, while the Manchus are an agricultural or a hunting people, according to the part of their country they inhabit. The Manchus are of a lighter complexion and somewhat larger than the Chinese, have the same conformation of the eyelids, but rather more beard, while their countenances indicate greater intellectual capacity. They seem to partake of both the Mongol and Chinese character, possessing more determination and largeness of plan than the latter, with much of the rudeness and haughtiness of the former. They have fair, if not florid, complexions, straight noses, and, in a few cases, brown hair and heavy beards. They are more allied to the Chinese, and when they ruled the northern provinces as the Kin dynasty, amalgamated with them. They may be regarded as the most improvable race in Central Asia, if not on the continent; and the skill with which they have governed the Chinese empire, and adopted a civilization higher than their own, gives promise of still further advances when they become familiar with the civilization of Christian lands.
Under the term Mongols or Moguls a great number of tribes occupying the steppes of Central Asia are comprised. They extend from the borders of the Khirgís steppe and Kokand eastward to the Sialkoi Mountains, and it is particularly to this race that the nameTartarsorTatarsis applicable. No such word is now known among the people, except as an ignominious epithet, by the Chinese, who usually write it with two characters—tah-tsz’—meaning ‘trodden-down people.’ Klaproth confines the appellation ofTartarsto the Mongols, Kalmucks, Kalkas, Eleuths, and Buriats, while the Kirghís, Usbecks, Cossacks, and Turks are of Kurdish andTurkomanorigin.
The Mongol tribes generally are a stout, squat, swarthy, ill-favoredrace of men, having high and broad shoulders, short, broad noses, pointed and prominent chins, long teeth distant from each other, eyes black, elliptical, and unsteady, thick, short necks, extremities bony and nervous, muscular thighs, but short legs, with a stature nearly or quite equal to the European. They have a written language, but their literature is limited and mostly religious. The same language is spoken by all the tribes, with slight variations and only a small admixture of foreign words. Most of the accounts of their origin, their wars, and their habits, were written by foreigners living or travelling among them; but they themselves, as McCulloch remarks, know as little of these things as rats or marmots do of their descent. Yet it is not so easy to find the typical Mongol among the medley of nationalities in their towns. A crowd in a town like Yarkand exhibits all the varieties of the human race. The gaunt, almost beardless Manchu, with sunken eyes, high cheek-bones, and projecting jowl, contrasts with the smooth face, pinky yellow, oblique eye, flat cheeks, and rounded jowl of the Chinese. The bearded, sallow Toork, the angular, rosy Kirghís, the coarse, hard Dungani, and thick-lipped, square-faced Eleuth, all show poorly with the tall, handsome Cashmerian, the swarthy Badakshi, and robust, intelligent Uzbek. The fate of the vast swarms of this race which have descended from the table-land of Central Asia and overrun, in different ages, the plains of India, China, Syria, Egypt, and Eastern Europe, and the rise and fall of the gigantic empire they themselves erected under Genghis in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, are among the most remarkable episodes in the world’s history. They have always maintained the same character in their native wilds, their conquests have been exterminations rather than subjugations, their history a record of continual quarrels between clans.
The last of the five races is the Tibetan, who partake of the physical characteristics of the Mongols and Hindus. They are short, squat, and broad-shouldered in body, with angular faces, wide, high cheek-bones, small black eyes, and scant beard. They are mild in disposition, have a stronger religious feeling than the Chinese, and have never left their own highlandseither for emigration or conquest. Their civilization is fully equal to that of the Siamese and Burmese, and life and property are more secure with them than among their turbulent neighbors in Butan, Lahore, or Cabul.