CHAP. IX.

"Lord of the Lotos, father, friend and king,O Sun! thy powers I sing."—&c.[49]

Whether the Chinese, like the Hindus, entertained the samenotions of creative power, or its influence upon water as the primary element, I could not learn. No information as to the ground-work of their religion is to be looked for from the priests of the present day, who are generally very ignorant; but I suspect the dedication of the Lotos to sacred uses to be much older than the introduction of Hindu mythology by the priests of Budha. They even ascribe the fable of eating the flower to the mother of their first EmperorFoo-shee; and the Lotos and the lady are equally respected by all the sects in China; and even by the Mantchoo Tartars, whose history commences with the identical story of a young virgin conceiving and bearing a son, who was to be the progenitor of a race of conquerors, by eating the flower of a water lilly. If, indeed, any dependence is to be placed on the following well known inscription found on an ancient monument of Osiris, Egyptian rites may be supposed to have made their way into the east and probably into China, or, on the other hand, those of the east adopted by the Egyptians, at a period of very remote antiquity. "Saturn, the youngest of all the gods, was my father. I am Osiris, who conducted a large and numerous army as far as the deserts of India, and travelled over the greatest part of the world, &c. &c."

It may not, perhaps, be thought improbable (I offer it, however, merely as conjecture) that the story ofOsirisandIsiswas known in China at a very early period of the history of this country.Osiris, king of Egypt, and husband ofIsis, was worshipped under the form of an ox, from his having paid particular attention to the pursuits of agriculture, and from employing this animal in the tillage of the ground.

"Primus aratra manu solerti fecit Osiris."Osiris first constructed ploughs with dext'rous skill.

Historians say, thatIsis, on the murder of her husband, enjoined the priests of Egypt, by a solemn oath, to establish a form of worship in which divine honours should be paid to their deceased prince; that they should select what kind of animal they pleased to represent the person and the divinity ofOsiris, and that they should inter it with solemn funeral honours when dead. In consideration of this apotheosis, she allotted a portion of land to each sacerdotal body. The priests were obliged to make a vow of chastity; their heads were shaven and they went barefooted. Divine honours were likewise conferred onIsisafter her death, and she was worshipped under the form of a cow.

Now, although the festival in China, at which the Emperor holds the plough in the commencement of the spring, be considered at this day as nothing more than a political institution, and continued as an example to the lower orders of people, an incitement for them to pursue the labours of agriculture as the most important employment in the state;—yet, as this condescension of the sovereign militates so strongly against all their maxims of government, which place an immense distance between him and the first of his people, it may not, perhaps, be much amiss in supposing it to have originated in some religious opinion. Indeed he still continues to prepare himself for the solemn occasion, by devoting three days entirely to pious ceremonies and rigid devotion. On the day appointed by the tribunal of mathematics, acowis sacrificed in theTee-tan, or temple dedicated to the earth; and on the same day, in some of the provinces, the figure of a cow of baked clay, of an immense size, is carried in procession by a number of the peasantry, followed by the principal officers of government and the other inhabitants. The horns and the hoofs are gilded and ornamented with silken ribbons. The prostrations being made and the offerings placed on the altar, the earthen cow is broken in pieces and distributed among the people. In like manner the body ofOsiris, worshipped afterwards under the form of an ox, was distributed byIsisamong the priests; and theIsia[50]were long celebrated in Egypt in the same manner as the festival of holding the plough is at this day observed in China, both being intended, no doubt, to commemorate the personswho had rendered the most solid advantages to the state, by the encouragement they had held out for the cultivation of the ground.

The disputes, quarrels, persecutions and massacres, that have happened at various times among the different sects of Christianity in Europe, have not been much less violent, nor productive of less dreadful consequences, between the sect of immortals and that of Fo, in China, whenever the court, or rather the intriguing eunuchs, seemed to favour the opinions of one sect in preference to those of the other. Persecutions never failed to begin whenever either party was fortunate enough to gain over to its side the chief of the eunuchs, who had always sufficient influence with the reigning monarch to prevail upon him to espouse the same cause. They were, however, wars of priests alone in which the people remained neutral, or took no active part. Whole monasteries have been levelled with the ground, and thousands of priests put to death on both sides. Since, however, the accession of the present Tartar dynasty, they have met with no particular marks of favour or distinction; and, on that account, are apparently reconciled to each other; indeed, they are scarcely distinguishable either by their temples or by their dress. The prediction of future events being best suited to the minds of the multitude, and most sought after, the oracle of fate may be consulted in any temple, whether ofFoor ofTao-tze. The government interferes not in religious opinions, and it gives no support to any particular sect, except that of the Lama, whose priests are paid and maintained as a part of theImperial establishment. The Tartar officers of state are likewise attached to the faith of the Lama, without the absurdities that have been mixed with it by the immortals.

However strictly the women may be kept at home by the customs of the country, they are nevertheless permitted, on certain occasions, to consult their destiny at the altar, without being exposed to the censure of vulgarity or impropriety. Barren wives are even encouraged to visit the temples, not so much for the purpose of knowing their destiny, as under a firm belief that, by rubbing the bellies of certain little copper gods, they shall conceive and bear children. But, the women in general who, from habit, feel little inclination to stir abroad, except on very pressing occasions, encourage a set of fortune-tellers, mountebanks and jugglers, who thus pick up a livelihood by travelling the country and telling fortunes from house to house. They are known by a wretched squalling flute on which they play, and are beckoned to call where their art is required. By being made acquainted with the day and hour of a person's birth, they pretend tocast his nativity, which is calledSwan-ming, or the art of discovering events by means of numbers. A Chinese, even in the higher ranks, has no great idea of a man's learning, if he be ignorant of theSwan-ming. I was very frequently applied to atYuen-min-yuen, by persons in office, to know if I could tell them their fortune; and it was difficult to persuade them I had any knowledge of the astronomical instruments intended for the Emperor, after professing my ignorance incasting a nativity.

The priests of both sects are supposed to be no less attentive in keeping up a perpetual fire burning upon the altars than the Roman Vestals were in this respect; but no expiation nor punishment being considered necessary, as in the latter case, they cannot boast that "flames unextinguish'd on their altars shine." They are, in fact, frequently extinguished by carelessness or accident. No virgins attend this holy flame, but the charge of it is committed generally to young boys under training for the priesthood. Like the Greeks and the Romans, the Chinese have also their penates or household gods, which are not represented under any particular personification, but generally by a tablet bearing a short inscription and a taper burning before it. Every ship, however small, has its tablet and its taper; and within the compass-box or binnacle a taper is continually kept burning.

In every city, town and village, sometimes in the midst of woods, in the mountains and most lonely places, are small temples, the doors of which are continually left open for the admittance of such as may be desirous of consulting their destiny. The practical part of Chinese religion may, in fact, be said to consist in predestination. A priest is not at all necessary for unravelling the book of fate. If any one be about to undertake a journey, or to purchase a wife, or to build a house, or, above all, to bury a deceased relation, and any doubt should arise in his mind as to the fortunate result of such undertaking, he repairs to the nearest temple; and, if he should not be able to read himself, he takes a friend by the hand who can. On the altar of every temple is placed a wooden cup, filled with anumber of small sticks, marked at the extremities with certain characters. Taking the cup in his hands he shakes it till one of the sticks falls upon the ground and, having examined the character upon it, he looks for the corresponding mark in a book which is generally appended to the wall of the temple. The lot, in this manner, is cast several times, and if one lucky flick in three should happen to turn up, he is willing to consider the omen as favourable; and, if the event should answer the expectation he has been led to form from the book of fate, he considers it as a duty to return to the temple and to burn a sheet or two of painted paper, or of paper covered with tin foil, and to deposit a few pieces of copper money on the altar, in token of gratitude for the favour he has received[52]. In this manner is consumed the greatest part of the tin that is carriedto China by the trading companies of Europe. I have already observed that they have no communion of worship to offer up, in a public manner, their prayers or thanksgivings.

Formerly it was the custom to bury slaves with emperors and princes and sometimes also their concubines alive; but this cruel practice has given way, in modern times, to the more harmless one of burning representations of their domestics in tin foil, cut into the shape of human beings, and of placing their statues in wood or stone upon their graves; this seems to be the remains of a Scythian or Tartar custom, which, according to Herodotus, was commonly observed at the funerals of their sovereigns, when their horses, their slaves, and their concubines were impaled alive and placed in order round the tyrant's tomb. The last remains of a relation are interred with all the honours that the family can afford. I never passed between the capital andYuen-min-yuenwithout observing numbers of funeral processions. Those of great officers of state would sometimes extend for nearly half a mile. The train was usually arranged in the following order. In front marched a priest uncovered, next a group of musicians with flutes, trumpets, and cymbals; after these the male relations of the deceased in long white frocks and behind them the chief mourner, supported by two friends, whose exertions to prevent him from tearing his cheeks and hair appeared to be truly ridiculous. Then followed the coffin, covered by a magnificent canopy and borne generally by four men, sometimes by eight. After the canopy the female relations proceeded in chairs, or more generally in thelittle covered carts, wearing white frocks like the men, their hair dishevelled, and broad white fillets bound across their foreheads. On approaching a bridge or a temple the procession always halted while the priest burned little images of tin foil, or let off a few crackers, upon which the noisygongand the rest of the band made a flourish.

The famous feast of lanterns, when the whole empire is lighted up from one extremity to the other, in every possible way that fancy can suggest, is an ancient religious usage of which, at the present day, they can give no plausible account. It is just possible that, among other Egyptian ceremonies, this may be one derived from a common origin with an annual illumination of the same kind mentioned by Herodotus; which was generally observed, from the cataracts of the Nile to the borders of the Mediterranean, by hanging lamps of different kinds to the sides of the houses. On this day the Chinese not only illuminate their houses, but they also exercise their ingenuity in making transparencies in the shape of different animals, with which they run through the streets by night. The effect when perfectly dark is whimsical enough. Birds, beasts, fishes, and other animals are seen darting through the air, and contending with each other; some with squibs in their mouths, breathing fire, and others with crackers in their tails: some sending out sky-rockets, others rising into pyramids of party-coloured fire, and others bursting like a mine with violent explosions. But the most ingenious are those that, Proteus-like, change their shape from time to time, and under every form exhibit a different display of fire-works.

I have observed, at the beginning of this chapter, that the temples are occasionally appropriated to the use of state-officers, embassadors and other public characters, when travelling through the country, there being no other houses affording accommodations equally suitable. On quitting the temple it is generally thought necessary to perform an act of reverence bordering on devotion, not however to the Deity, but to the name of the Emperor inscribed on the altar. This custom, together with that of depositing rice and other grain, tea and oil at certain seasons, especially on the day of his nativity, although perhaps, in the first instance, a token only of respect and gratitude, and in the other an acknowledgment of his being the sole proprietary of the soil, are nevertheless acts that tend, from the sanctity of the place where they are performed, to the encouragement of idolatry. By thus associating the offerings made to the Deity and to the Monarch, the vulgar become apt to magnify the power of the latter and to raise it on a level with that of the former. A Chinese in speaking of a propitious event occurring, either in his own or any other country, generally attributes it to the joint Will of Heaven and the Emperor of China.

The conversion of the temples into lodging-houses is attended with some temporal advantages to the priests, by the donations that are generally made on such occasions. Most of them being supported entirely by voluntary contributions and trifling legacies that may be left by pious persons, they are thankful for the smallest gifts: for as there is little or no connection between the church and the state, they derive no pay, noremolument, nor preferment from the latter. The Emperor pays his own priests, which are those of all his Tartar subjects; the Chinese Confucionists, or men of learning, and the state officers contribute to the maintenance of theirs, whether ofFoorTao-tze, and the mass of the people, from the prevailing propensity of enquiring into futurity, afford the means of support to many thousands, I might perhaps say millions of priests, by the offerings carried to the altars whenever they find it necessary to consult the book of fate, which is done on most of the common occurrences in life.

From the short view I have here taken of the different sects, I think it may justly be concluded that the primitive religion of China no longer exists, or exists only in a corrupted state; that there is at present no national nor scarcely a state religion: and that the articles of faith are as various as the modes of worship; in all of which the people appear to be rather actuated by the dread of evil in this life, than by the fear of punishment in another: that the duties they perform are more with a view to appease an angry deity and to avert impending calamities, than from any hope of obtaining a positive good: that they rather consult or enquire of their gods what may happen, than petition them to accomplish or avert it; for a Chinese can scarcely be said to pray; he is grateful when the event proves favourable to his wishes; petulant and peevish with his gods when adverse.

Little as the priests, or the numerous noviciates that are found in all the principal temples, are employed in the dutiesof their office, or in worldly concerns, they are not less uncleanly in their persons and their apartments than those are whose time is taken up in providing for the necessities of life. The room, in which some of usshouldhave slept, was so full of scorpions and scolopendras, and they crept in such numbers into our beds, that we were fairly driven out and obliged to swing our cots in the open air between two trees. Here we were not much less annoyed by myriads of musquitoes and the unceasing noise of the chirping cicadas, which continued without intermission until the still more noisygongannounced the break of day, and summoned the holy men to their morning devotions.

Attentions paid to the Embassy—Observations on the Climate and Plains of Pe-tche-lee—Plants of—Diet and Condition of the People.—Burying-place—Observation on Chinese Cities—Trackers of the Yachts—Entrance of the Grand Canal.—The Fishing Corvorant—Approach to the Yellow River—Ceremony of crossing this River.—Observations on Canals and Roads—Improvements of the Country in advancing to the Southward—Beauty of, near Sau-choo-foo—Bridge of ninety-one Arches—Country near Hang-choo-foo.—City of—Appearance of the Country near the Po-yang Lake.—Observations in Proceeding through Kiang-see.—The Camellia Sesanqua—Retrospective View of the Climate and Produce, Diet and Condition of the People, of Pe-tche-lee—Some Observations on the Capital of China—Province of Shan-tung—Of Kiang-nan.—Observations of the State of Agriculture in China—Rice Mills—Province of Tche-kiang.—Of Kiang-see.—Population of China compared with that of England—Erroneous Opinions entertained on this Subject.—Comparative Population of a City in China and in England—Famines accounted for.—Means of Prevention.—Causes of Populousness of China.

Onthe 8th of October we embarked, for the second time, onthe Pei-ho in yachts, however, that were very different from those on which we had ascended the river, being much smaller but broader in proportion to their length, and so shallow andflat-bottomed, that they required little depth of water; yet we found them sufficiently commodious. Of the necessity of such a change in the accommodation yachts, on account of the low state of the river, we were speedily convinced, which, previous to our embarkation, had been by some attributed to a different cause. It was supposed that the men in office throughout the country, piqued at the refusal of the Embassador to submit to their degrading ceremony, would not fail to retaliate the affront by depriving us of every little comfort and convenience, and by otherwise rendering the long journey before us extremely unpleasant. The character of the people at large justified such a conclusion; and, I believe, every individual had laid his account of meeting with difficulties and disagreeable occurrences on the journey to Canton. In justice, however, to those who had the superintendence of the embassy, and particularly to the two most worthy charactersVanandChou, who were more immediately connected with its concerns, it is but fair to observe that no attention was wanting, nor expense spared, to render our situation as easy and comfortable as possible. Supplies of every kind were sent on board in the greatest profusion and with the most scrupulous punctuality. And as a singular proof of attention shewn to us in the commencement of this journey, our conductors, having observed that we used milk with our tea, had purchased two fine cows in full milk, which were put on board a yacht prepared for their reception, for a supply of that article. And, it was observed, that whenever the chief officers of the provinces, through which the embassy was to pass, prepared an entertainment in honour of the occasion, they hadgiven themselves all possible trouble to render it more acceptable, by endeavouring to serve it up, as they thought, in the English style. In some of those feasts we had hogs roasted whole, that could not have weighed less than fifty pounds; quarters of mutton, geese, ducks, and fowls roasted or boiled whole, a mode of cookery altogether different to the practice of the country, which is chiefly confined to that of stewing small morsels of meat with greens or rice. The awkward manner in which they were prepared, being generally burnt and glazed over with oil, was entitled to and found an ample excuse in the desire thus testified of pleasing.

From the time that we first embarked in August at the mouth of the Pey-ho, or White River, until our return, we experienced only a single shower of rain. It is observed, indeed, that during the autumnal months the northern provinces enjoy a cloudless sky; an advantage of which they avail themselves in thrashing out the different kinds of grain in the field, thus saving the labour of bearing it into barns or piling it into stacks. It is either thrashed out on clay floors with flails, similar to our own, beat out of the ear against the edge of a plank, or trodden by oxen or buffalos. The grain that we had noticed just striking into the ear, on ascending the river, was now generally reaped. It consisted principally of the different species of millet, as before observed, and a small proportion ofpolygonum fagopyrumor buck-wheat. A species ofDolichosor bean, that had been sown between the drills of the Holcus, or tall millet, was now in flower.

The range of Fahrenheit's thermometer in the province ofPe-tche-lee, during the month of August, was from 80° to 88° in the middle of the day, and during the night it remained generally about 60° to 64°. In September, the medium temperature at two o'clock was about 76°; and in October about 68°; but in the latter month, it decreased in the night sometimes to 44°.

In the neighbourhood of thePei-hoa light sandy soil chiefly prevails, with a mixture of argillaceous earth and slimy matter, interspersed with shining particles of mica: but not a stone of any magnitude, nor pebbles, nor even gravel occur in the whole extent of country through which this river is navigable. The surface, indeed, is so flat and uniform, that the tide, which rises only nine or ten feet in the gulph ofPe-tche-lee, flows to the distance of thirty miles beyondTien-sing, or one hundred and ten miles from the mouth of the river; and it frequently submerges the whole country, notwithstanding the great pains bestowed by the inhabitants in raising and keeping in order artificial banks. Such inundations, although frequently the causes of great fertility, are sometimes productive of general calamity, especially if they happen at a season when the crop is too far advanced. These plains exhibit the appearance of a more than ordinary incroachment of the land upon the sea. The general level of the face of the country, at high water, is not more elevated than two feet above the surface of the river, of which not only the bed, but also the substratum of the enclosing banks, are composed entirely of fine sand similar to that on the shore of the sea. The deepest part of thewide gulph ofPe-tche-leeexceeds not twelve fathoms, and the prodigious number of small sandy islands, just appearing above the surface, are said to have been created within the records of history. A great portion of the enormous mass of mud that is perpetually wafted down the Yellow River, and which was found by experiment to exceed two million solid feet in an hour, is borne by a strong current from the Yellow Sea into the gulph ofPe-tche-lee, where the stillness of the water allows it to subside. In the map of Marco Polo, which was most probably copied by him from one in the possession of Gengis-khan, or some of the learned men about his court,Tien-singis placed upon the sea coast; and a branch of the Yellow River, after traversing the provincesKiang-nan,Shan-tung, and part ofPe-tche-lee, in the direction nearly of the present canal, discharges itself into the gulph near thePei-ho. Were this branch of the river actually turned, the rapidity with which the gulph ofPe-tche-leeis filling up is the less surprising, as the only stream to keep its waters in motion at present is thePei-ho. It has been calculated that, by the simple turning of the great river that falls from Winandermere-lake, the estuary of Morecombe Bay, which it now crosses, would, in the natural course of events, be converted in a few years into a green meadow. If the abovementioned chart be correct, it would prove also that the Mongul Tartars did actually first bring the grand navigation of China to the state in which it now appears.

This uniform plain of China afforded little interest to the traveller. Few trees appeared, except now and then a clump of firs surrounding a temple, or the plantations contiguous tothe dwelling of some officer of government. In such situations were also large elms, willows, and a species of ash unknown in Europe. There were no hedge-rows. Property here is divided only by narrow ditches, serving at the same time for drains, or by ridges of unploughed ground, as in the common fields of England, which answer the purpose of foot-paths. These ridges were generally well covered with that family of running trefoil, known by the name ofMelilotos, intermixed with a species ofPoaor meadow grass,Avenaor wild oats, andBrizaor quaking grass. In the ditches, beside the common reed theArundo phragmites, were growing two species ofCyperus, and aScirpusor club-rush. None of the artificial grasses, usually so called, are cultivated by the Chinese. It is not an object with them to fodder their cows for the sake of obtaining a greater quantity of milk, this nutritive article of food being very sparingly used either in its raw state or in any preparation; and they are either ignorant of the processes of converting it into butter and cheese, or, for certain reasons, prefer to employ the little they make use of in its original state. Horses are rarely kept for luxury or for labour; and the few animals employed in agriculture, which are mostly asses, mules, or buffalos, subsist in the winter season on chaff and straw; and their chief support in the summer is derived from the strong grasses that grow in the ditches and the common reed, with which, in this part of the country, large tracts of swampy ground are covered.

On approachingTien-sing, we observed several large fields cultivated with a vegetable called by the Chinese thePe-tsai, or white herb, apparently a species ofBrassicaor cole; thoughinsipid in its taste, being not unlike that of the cos-lettuce, it is held in preference to all other vegetables; and the capital is most abundantly supplied with it in the summer season fresh from the gardens in its vicinity and, in the winter, salted and prepared somewhat in the same manner as theSour-Kroutof the Germans. We observed also in the gardens, carrots, turnips, black radishes, a species of asparagus, theSolanum Melongena, a species ofphysalisor winter-cherry, water-melons and musk-melons, pumpkins and cucumbers. Onions and garlic were common vegetables planted near every peasant's house. TheTrapaor water-caltrops grew in the ditches, the nuts of which, with the seeds and the roots of the Nelumbium, generally furnished out our desert; to which, indeed, sometimes were added tolerably good peaches, dry spongy apples not unlike quinces in appearance, and pears of an immense size but of a harsh and austere taste.

However unfavourable the country might be for an extended cultivation, which did not appear to be the case, the proximity to the capital would have led one to expect a corresponding population. Nothing of the kind appeared; the vast numbers we had observed in ascending the river were drawn from the distance of many miles out of mere curiosity; the inhabitants only of the vicinity now shewed themselves; and we were rather surprized at the fewness of these, as well as at the very ruinous and miserable condition of almost all the cottages. These mean huts were built, some of half-burnt bricks and others of clay, and they were thatched with the straw of grain or with reeds. Some were enclosed within walls of mud, or with a kind ofcourse matting made of reeds, or the stalks of theholcus sorghum, which enclosure generally contained the families of two or three generations, the cattle, pigs, poultry, and all the living creatures belonging to the establishment. The Chinese have a common saying, that "although there be poverty without Pekin, there is plenty within its walls." The appearance, indeed, of all the peasantry in this province was marked with every indication of poverty; nor was the condition much better of those who were employed about the vessels which carried the Embassador and his train. With the greatest thankfulness they received the offals of our allowance; and the tea-leaves, which we had used, were sought after by them with avidity and boiled up for their beverage. A little boiled rice, or millet, with a few vegetables, commonly thePe-tsai, and onions fried in oil, constituted their principal meals, of which they made only two regular ones in the day, one about ten o'clock in the morning, and the other at four or five in the afternoon. They generally however had the frying-pan on the fire at three or four o'clock in the morning. The wine or liquor, which we received in large jars, and which was so miserably bad as not to be used, afforded a great treat to the poor people, whose circumstances seldom allowed them to taste it. This liquor is brewed from a mixture of rice and millet, and from its quickly turning sour seems to have little strength, and to have undergone a very imperfect degree of fermentation. Theirhot wineis seldom used except by the upper class of people who, not satisfied with the strong empyreumatic flavour communicated in the distillation, drink it boiling hot in the midst of summer.

AtTien-singour principal conductorSun-ta-ginhad prepared for us a sumptuous entertainment, consisting of excellent mutton, pork, venison, and poultry of all kinds, a great variety of confectionary, of fruits then in season, peaches, plumbs, grapes, chesnuts, walnuts, and water-caltrops. We very soon found indeed that we were treated with more studied attention, with a more marked distinction, and with less constraint, than when we ascended the river. Our dignified conductor made no difficulty in allowing us to walk on shore as much as we pleased; but recommended us not to quit the banks of the river for fear of retarding the yachts or of being left behind. He hinted to us, at the same time, that the officersVanandChouwould be responsible at court for any accident that might happen to us, so long as we were under the protection of the Emperor.

In passingTien-singwe found considerable difficulty in getting our fleet through the immense crowds of shipping of every description that were collected there to remain for the winter; among which were about five hundred of the Emperor's revenue vessels with grain for the capital. TheEu-ho, or precious river, called also theYun-leang-ho, or river upon which grain is transported, falling from the westward, forms, at the head of this city, a confluence with thePei-ho. Our barges were at least four hours in getting through the multitude of vessels that were moored, for their winter-quarters, in this small river; which, however, is rendered important by its communication with the grand artificial canal.

Having passed the fleet of shipping and the suburbs, a plain extending beyond the reach of sight opened out on the left of the river, upon which were observed many thousands of small sandy tumuli, of a conical form, resembling those hillocks which in myriads are thrown up on the continent of Africa by theTermites, or white ants. In several parts of this plain were small buildings, in the form of dwelling-houses, but not exceeding four or five feet in height; in other places were circular, semicircular, and square enclosures of stonework, and here and there were interspersed small pillars of stone or brick and other erections of every variety of form. This was the first common burying-ground that we had observed, except a very small one atTong-tchoo; and the tumuli and the different erections marked out the mansions of the dead. In many parts of this extensive enclosure we met with massy coffins lying upon the surface, some new, others newly painted, but none in a mouldering state. It was explained to us, by our interpreter, that some of these coffins had been deposited there, until the proper advice should be obtained from the priest or the oracle consulted, or from casting lots, as to the most propitious place of interment, and the most favourable day for performing the obsequies; some were placed there till the pecuniary circumstances of the surviving relatives would enable them to bestow a suitable interment, and others were left to dry and moulder, to a certain degree, in order to be burnt and the ashes collected and put into stone jaw or other receptacles[53]. On no occasiondo the Chinese bury their dead within the precincts of a city or town, much less within the walls of their temples; but always deposit them at a proper distance from the dwellings of the living, in which respect they have more discretion than the Europeans; who not only allow the interment of dead bodies in the midst of their populous cities, but have thrust them also into places of public worship, where crowded congregations are constantly exposed to the nauseous effluvia, and perhaps infection, arising from putrid carcases. Yet so tenacious are the people of the privilege of interment within the walls of the church, in some countries of Europe, that any attempt to discontinue the imprudent custom would be attended with some degree of danger, as happened to the late Grand Duke of Tuscany who, having built a commodious and spacious cemetery without the city of Florence, to which it was intended to remove the coffins out of the vaults of the church, had nearly raised a rebellion among his subjects. InRender's tour through Germany, an instance is given of the fatal effects of burying in churches, the relation of which makes one shudder with horror.

The bank of the river, being one of the enclosing fences to the burying-ground, was ornamented with beautiful weeping willows which, with a few solitary cypresses interspersed amongthe tombs, were the only trees that appeared in this part of the country.

In a corner of the cemetery was a temple, built after the usual plan, with an altar in the center; and a number of deities moulded in clay were ranged on each side on stone pedestals. We observed no priests; but an elderly lady was very busily employed in throwing the sticks of fate, in order to obtain a lucky number in which, however, she failed. During the operation of shaking the cup, her countenance betrayed a greater degree of eagerness and anxiety than usually appears on the face of a Chinese; and she left the temple in a peevish and muttering tone, sufficiently expressive of the greatness of her disappointment which, it seemed, was no less than a refusal, on the part of the oracle, to hold out the hope of her being blessed with a second husband. Till this circumstance had been explained to us by the keeper of the temple, it was concluded that the old lady had been muttering imprecations against us for disturbing her in the midst of her devotions.

After two days' sail fromTien-singwe arrived at a city of the third order[54]calledTchien-shien. The surface of the interjacent country had continued the same uniform plain, without a pebble in the soil: the extent of cultivation by no means extraordinary; and the few scattered villages of mean houses indicatedno great degree of population; the dwellings that floated on the water were numerous and crowded with inhabitants. We observed several plots of young wheat rising in drills a few inches above the ground. Buck-wheat was in full flower and several plantations of the cotton plant,gossypium herbaceum, were in pod, some of them perfectly ripe. Fahrenheit's thermometer on the 14th, 15th, and 16th of this month stood at 52° and 53° in the morning, and about 70° in the middle of the day.

On the 17th, beside a great number of towns, villages and military posts, which are regularly placed at intervals of about three miles, we passed two cities of the third order, one of which, from the length of its walls, appeared to be of very considerable importance. No true idea, however, can be formed of the population and magnitude of a Chinese city by the extent of its enclosing walls. Few are without large patches of unoccupied ground within them which, in many instances, far exceeds the quantity of land that is built upon. Even in that part of the capital called the Chinese city, several hundred acres are under cultivation. The Imperial city, containing the palace and buildings for the officers of state, the eunuchs and artificers, occupies very nearly a square mile, more than two-thirds of which is a kind of park and pleasure grounds; and under the north wall of the Tartar city there is a pond or swamp covered almost with the Nelumbium, which appeared to be fully twice the dimensions of Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, or four times their space, namely near fifty acres. Such spaces of unoccupied ground might perhaps have been reserved for the use of the inhabitants in case of siege, as the means of supplying a few vegetables of the pungent kind, as onions and garlic, for the besieged, which are the more necessary for a people who use so small a portion of animal food, and little or no milk. Thus the cities of Babylon and Nineveh, which were so frequently exposed to the calamities of war and siege, had gardens and corn-lands within their walls.

On the 18th we passed two cities and a great number of towns and villages. The face of the country still level and entirely open; not a hedge-row appearing on any side and very few trees. Almost all the vessels that we met in the course of the day were laden with sacks of cotton wool. This being the night of full moon, we were allowed to enjoy very little rest. The observance of the usual ceremonies, which consist of firing their small petards, beating at intervals the noisy gong, harsh squalling music and fire-works, required that our vessels should remain stationary, and these nocturnal orgies ceased only with the appearance of the sun. There was, however, another cause of detention at this place. In sailing against the stream of theEu-ho, it was necessary the barges should be tracked by men and these men were to be pressed or forced into this laborious service from the villages bordering upon the river. The usual way of doing this was to send out the soldiers or attendants of the officers before the vessels, in the dusk of the evening, to take the poor wretches by surprize in their beds. But the ceremony of the full moon, by retarding their usual hour of retiring to rest, had put them on their guard; and, on the approach of the emissaries of government, all that were liable to be pressed into this service hadabsconded, so that, in addition to the noise of the gongs and the trumpets and crackers, our ears were frequently assailed by the cries and lamentations of persons under the punishment of the bamboo or the whip, for claiming their exemption from joining the yachts and acting as trackers. When the groupe that had been collected for this purpose was brought together in the morning, it was impossible not to regard it with an eye of pity. Most of them consisted of infirm and decrepit old men, and the rest were such lank, sickly-looking, ill-clothed creatures, that the whole groupe appeared to be much fitter for an hospital than for performing any kind of labour. Our companions pretended to say that every farmer, who rented lands upon the public rivers or canals, was obliged, by the tenure on which he held his lease, to furnish such a number of men to track the vessels in the service of government whenever it might be required; but that, on the present being an extraordinary occasion, they had resolved to pay them, as they called it, in a handsome manner, which was at the rate of something less than seven-pence a day, without any allowance for returning to their homes; a price for labour which bore no sort of proportion to that of the necessaries of life; and it was even doubtful if this pittance was ever paid to them.

Having cleared the fleet of shipping that was assembled at this place, a favourable breeze relieved our invalids and rendered their slender exertions unnecessary for the greater part of the day, in the course of which we entered the province ofShan-tung. In this province nothing worthy of notice occurred until the 22d, when we quitted theEu-hoand turning towardsthe south entered the grand canal, out of which we observed a gentle current flowing into the river. At this point of junction the pagoda ofLin-tsin, an octagonal pyramid, was erected, perhaps as a monument of this great and useful undertaking, which, however, in its present state, apparently had not stood many ages. In the hope of finding within it some inscription, that might point out its designation, we mounted with some difficulty upon the first of its nine stages or roofs (for the little door on a level with the ground was walled up with bricks) but it contained only the bare walls, not even a stair-case remained nor any possible means of ascending to the top, and the lower part was choaked up with rubbish. These pagodas (or as the Chinese name themTa) that so frequently occur in the country, seem to be intended only as embellishments to particular grounds, or objects to terminate villas or prospects. Sometimes, it is true, they appear as appendages to temples, but are never appropriated for the purposes of sacred worship. Whatever their intention might have been, it would seem the rage of building them no longer exists, not one of a late erection having appeared in the whole country, and more than two-thirds of those we saw being in ruins.

At the junction of the canal with theEu-hothere was no lock nor flood-gate; the gentle current of the former was interrupted only from place to place, by loose planks let down in grooves cut in stone piers. These dams seldom occasioned the difference of a foot in the level of the water; and at each was a guard-house with double the usual number of soldiers stationed, to assist in drawing up or letting down the planks,as occasion might require. The canal, which at the commencement was from sixty to one hundred feet in width, was contracted at such places by the stone piers of the flood-gates to about thirty feet.

Towards the evening of the 23d, as we approached the cityTong-tchang-foo, we were much amused with a military manœuvre, which was evidently intended to astonish us. Under the walls of this city about three hundred soldiers were drawn out in a line, which, however, the darkness of the night had rendered invisible. But just as we were coming to anchor, each soldier, at the sound of the gong, produced from under his cloak a splendid lantern with which he went through a regular manual exercise. The following morning we observed, for the first time, a few hillocks breaking the line of the horizon to the eastward. The country appeared to be in a tolerable state of cultivation; but the mode of tillage exhibited no extraordinary degree of skill or of labour. Villages of considerable extent were erected along the banks of the canal, at intervals of about three miles from each other; and, in the gardens contiguous to these, grew in abundance the tobacco plant whose leaves were small, hairy, and viscous, and the flowers of which were of a greenish yellow passing into a faint rose colour at the edges of the petals. We observed also small patches of hemp. A greater use is made of the seeds and leaflets of this plant, as a substitute for or to mix with tobacco, than of its fibres for cloth, a purpose to which it is as rarely converted by the Chinese as by the Hindoos, being little esteemed for those valuable uses to which, since its introduction into Europe, it has been applied. The number of lateral branches, which in a warm climate each stem throws out close above the surface of the ground, breaks the length of fibre and renders it unfit for those purposes for which, in the northern regions of Europe, its tall branchless stem is so well adapted. The sow thistle, a plant that occurs in almost every part of the world, was nothing different here from its usual habit in Europe. We observed also a species ofChenopodiumand ofArtemisiaor wormwood; abundance of thePe-tsai, and other common culinary vegetables. In the small flower gardens, without which we scarcely observed a single cottage, were balsams, several kinds of beautiful asters, holy-hocks, two species ofMalva, anAmaranthus, and the showy and handsome shrub theNerium Oleander.

Having passed on the 26th October the walls of the cityTsie-ning, where a multitude of small craft were lying at anchor, we came to an extensive lake of the same name, navigated by a great number of sailing boats. From the east side of this lake the canal was separated only by an immense mound of earth. To the westward the whole country, beyond the reach of sight, was one continued swamp or morass, upon which were interspersed pools or ponds of water abounding with the Nelumbium, at this time in full flower. The morass being several feet below the surface of the water in the canal afforded the means of regulating the quantity; and, accordingly, at certain distances, we observed stone arches turned in the earthen embankment to let off the superfluous water that might be occasioned by the swelling of the feeding rivers. About this placealso, it was remarked, that the bed of the canal was carried in a line so nearly horizontal, that the water had a gentle current either to the northward or the southward, according as these sluices were kept shut or thrown open; this line being ascertained, perhaps, rather by the surface of the lake than by the assistance of instruments; for it was sufficiently remarkable, that no opportunity had been omitted in carrying this great work along the side, or through the middle, of lakes or other pools of water wherever it could be done.

The nature of the country admitted of such management for three days' journey, or about eighty miles fromTsie-ning. The whole of this extensive plain consisted in lakes or swampy ground half covered with water. On the former were constantly seen moving about vessels with sails and boats of every description, conveying an animated picture of activity, industry, and commerce. Almost all the lakes were studded with islands and these were covered with villages, that were chiefly inhabited by fishermen. Here, for the first time, we observed theLeu-tzéor fishing corvorant, thePelicanus Sinensis, diving after the finny tribe and seemingly no less anxious than its master to take them. This bird is so like another species of the pelican, called theCarboor common corvorant which in England, as naturalists inform us, was formerly trained for fishing, that it has usually been considered the same, but from several specimens brought home with us it appears to be a different species. The usual practice is to take ten or twelve of these birds, in the morning when fasting, upon a raft of bamboo poles lashed together, and to let one or two at most at a time dive for fish,which are taken from them the moment they bring them to the surface. These birds, not much larger than the common duck, will seize and gripe fast fishes that are not less than their own weight. When the proprietor judges the first pair to be pretty well fatigued, they are suffered to feed by way of encouragement on some of the fish they have taken, and a second pair are dispatched upon the water. The fish we observed them to take was a species of perch. In the course of three days' navigation, we saw several thousand boats and rafts employed in this kind of fishing.

Except on the water and the islands, the whole of the swampy country might be said to be uninhabited and totally void of any kind of cultivation. Sometimes, indeed, a few miserable mud huts appeared on the small hillocks that here and there raised their heads out of the dreary waste of morass; but the chief inhabitants were cranes, herons, guillemots and a vast variety of other kinds of birds that frequent the waters and swamps. Here too are great numbers of that singular and beautiful bird, theAnas Galericulata, usually known by the name of theMandarin duckwhich, like the gold and silver fishes, is caught and reared as an article of sale to the opulent and curious. The great extent of water had a sensible effect on the temperature of the air, especially in the mornings and evenings, when Fahrenheit's thermometer was sometimes below 40°.

Having passed the lakes and swamps, we entered suddenly, on the 31st, upon a most delightful part of the country, crowded with temples and villages and towns and cities, near all ofwhich, and on every part of the canal, were vast numbers of the revenue vessels, collecting the surplus taxes paid in kind, in order to transport them to the capital. Wheat and cotton appeared to be the two principal articles of culture. The surface of the country was now broken into hill and dale, every inch appeared to be under tillage, except the summit of the knolls, which were generally crowned with forest trees, and few of the detached houses or temples were without extensive gardens and orchards. Apples, pears, plums, peaches, apricots and pomgranates, were the common kinds of fruit, and the culinary vegetables were the same as those ofPe-tche-lee. The canal at this place is, perhaps, the grandest inland navigation in the whole world, being nearly a thousand feet in width and bordered on each side by stone quays, built with massy blocks of grey marble mixed with others of granite; and this immense aqueduct, although forced up several feet above the surface of the country by embankments thrown up by the labour of man, flowed with a current of three miles an hour nearly towards the Yellow River, to which we perceived we were fast approaching, by the bustle and activity both on shore and on the numberless canals that branched out in every direction from the main trunk; on whose banks, for several miles on either side, one continued town extended to the point of junction with this large river, celebrated in every period of the Chinese history. A village was particularly pointed out by the bargemen, whose name was derived from a miracle, which is most sacredly believed by the Chinese. Tradition says, that the famous astronomerHeuwas carried up to Heaven in hishouse, which stood at this place, leaving behind him an old faithful servant who, being thus deprived of his master and his habitation, was reduced to beggary; but happening by accident to throw a little prepared rice into the ground, it immediately grew and produced grain without chaff for his sustenance; from whence the place is calledSen-mee,rice growing ready dressed, to this day.

Before our barges launched into the stream of the Yellow River, which rolled in a very rapid torrent, certain ceremonies were conceived to be indispensably necessary. In the practical part of religion (which indeed may be considered as nearly the whole) a Chinese is not less solicitous to avert a possible evil, than to procure an eventual good; and of all evils personal danger is most apprehended. It was therefore deemed expedient, that an oblation should be made in every vessel of the fleet to the genius of the river. The animals that were sacrificed, on this occasion, were different in different yachts, but they generally consisted of a fowl or a pig, two animals that were very common in Grecian sacrifices. The blood, with the feathers and the hair, was daubed upon the principal parts of the vessel. On the forecastle of some were placed cups of wine, oil and salt; in others, tea, flour and salt; and in others, oil, rice and salt. The last article appears to be thought by the Chinese, as well as by the Hebrews, a necessary accompaniment to every sacrifice. "Every oblation of thy meat-offering shalt thou season with salt: neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the Covenant of thy God to be lacking from thymeat-offering." As, however, the high priest and his friendswere to feast on those parts of the meat-offering, which were considered as unworthy the acceptance of heaven, which parts, by the way, were always the best of the victim, one might, perhaps, assign a reason for the strong injunction of offering salt, this being a scarce article in many countries of the East and the best preservative of meat against putrefaction[55].

The cups, the slaughtered animal and several made-dishes remained on the forecastle, the Captain standing over them on one side and a man with a gong in his hand on the other. On approaching the rapid part of the stream, at the signal given by the gong, the Captain took up the cups one by one, in order that, like the Greeks of old, he might "perform the rites and pour the ruddy wine," which he did by throwing their contents over the bow of the vessel into the river. The libation performed, a quantity of crackers and squibs and gilt tin foil were burnt, with uplifted hands, whilst the deep-sounding gong was incessantly struck with increasing violence as the vessels were swept along with the current. The victim and the other dishes were then removed for the use of the Captain and crew, and the ceremony ended by three genuflexions and as many prostrations. The Emperor is never satisfied with less than nine.

Our fleet consisted of about thirty sail, and from each vessel there proceeded, on its launching into the stream, such a din of gongs and crackers and such volumes of smoke from the burnt offerings, that the deity of the river must have been in a very surly humour if he was not pleased with such a multitude of oblations. The safe arrival, on the opposite bank, of the whole squadron was a proof of his having accepted the homage, and accordingly he was again addressed in a volley of crackers as a token of thanks for his propitious and friendly aid.

The width of the river at this place was full three quarters of a mile; and the stream, where strongest, ran with the rapidity of seven or eight miles an hour; and the water was as thick and muddy as if the heaviest torrents of rain had just descended, whereas, in fact, there had not fallen a shower for many months.

The length of that part of the canal which lies between theEu-hoand the Yellow River, and which we had now sailed over, is about two hundred English miles. The natural slope of the country being from North to South, the projectors of this work seem to have fixed upon the middle point, or nearly so, between these two rivers for the commencement of their operations: so that from this middle point to the northward, or rising part of the country, they have been under the necessity, in order to preserve their level, of cutting down to the depth of thirty, forty, and even to seventy feet, below the surface; whilst from the same point to the southward, or descending part of the country, they have been obliged to force up thewater between immense banks of earth and stone, far above the level of the flat surface; consisting almost entirely of lakes, swamps, and morass. The quantity of human labour that must have been employed, in amassing together the different materials that compose this immense aqueduct, could not have been supplied, in any reasonable length of time, except in a country where millions could be set to work at the nod of a despot. The greatest works in China have always been, and still continue to be, performed by the accumulation of manual labour, without the assistance of machinery, except on very particular occasions, where some mechanical power may be absolutely necessary to be brought in aid of human strength. Thus, where canals are carried over surfaces that are too hilly and uneven to admit of one continued level, they descend from place to place, as it were by steps, at each of which is an inclined plane; the height from the upper canal to the lower being generally from six to ten feet; and the angle of the plane from forty-five to fifty degrees. All vessels navigating such canals must be hoisted up these planes by the assistance of upright capstans, without which it would scarcely be possible to get those of large demensions, together with their cargo, out of one canal into the other; and they are gently lowered in the same manner. This awkward contrivance may, perhaps, less imply the ignorance of locks or other methods practised elsewhere, than the unwillingness of the government to suffer any innovation that might be the means of depriving many thousands of obtaining that scanty subsistence, which they now derive from their attendance at these capstans. However slightly such a notion may be held in Europe, there can be no doubt that a general introduction of machinery into China, for the purpose of facilitating and expediting labour would, in the present state of the country, be attended with the most pernicious and distressing consequences; were it only for this simple reason that, despising, as they affect to do, all foreign commerce, the demand for the products of machinery, however much they might be reduced in price, would not be encreased, whilst that of manual labour would considerably be diminished.

Sensible as the Chinese seem to be of the advantages derived from an easy communication between the different parts of the empire, by means of canals, it is the more surprizing what the motives could have been that, till this moment, have restrained them from facilitating an intercourse by means of good roads, in such parts of the country as have no inland navigations. In this respect they fall short of most civilized nations. Except near the capital, and in some few places where the junction of the grand canal with navigable rivers is interrupted by mountainous ground, there is scarcely a road in the whole country that can be ranked beyond a foot-path. Hence it happens that in the northern provinces, during winter, it is impossible to travel with any degree of ease, convenience, or safety; all the canals to the northward of the Yellow River, which runs from 34° to 35° latitude being frozen up. It is equally surprizing that their ingenuity has not extended itself to the invention of sledges or some sort of carriages suitable for travelling on ice,which other nations have converted into the best of roads[56].

The continuation of the Grand Canal, from the Yellow River to theYang-tse-kiang, was constructed upon the sameprinciples as that part between the Yellow River and theEu-ho. The country being level and abounding with lakes and marshy grounds, it was carried upon a mound of earth kept together by retaining walls of stone the whole distance, which is about ninety miles, being in parts not less than twenty feet above the general level of the country; and the sheet of water it contained was two hundred feet in width, running sometimes at the rate of three miles an hour. Canals of communication supplied it from the westward; and the superfluous water was let off upon the low marshes. The tops of the walls ofPao-yng-shienwere just on a level with the surface of the water in the canal, so that if the bank opposite to it were to burst, the whole city must inevitably be inundated. Very little cultivation appeared in this low marshy country, but abundance of towns and villages, the inhabitants of which subsisted by fishing. A prodigious extent of low country on each side of the Yellow River, perhaps not much less than the surface of all England, is liable to inundations. The Chinese say, the overflowing of this river has been more fatal to the country than war, pestilence, or famine. The EmperorKaung-shee, in order to distress a rebel in the province ofHonan, ordered a bank to be broken down behind a city he had got possession of; but the inundation was so great, that not only the rebel forces were destroyed, but almost half a million of people were completely swept away; and among these were several European missionaries. Vast sums of money are expended in confining this river within its banks. The same Emperor in his last will declares, that the sums of money issued annually from the Imperial treasury for the embankments to prevent inundations, were never less, during his whole reign,than 3,000,000 ounces of silver, equivalent to one million sterling.

On approaching theYang-tse-kiangthe appearance of the country improved, just as it had done in the vicinity of the Yellow River. The town ofSau-poo, extending along the quay of the canal, consisted of houses that were generally two stories high, apparently well built, white-washed with lime and kept in neat and clean order. The inhabitants were also better cloathed than we had hitherto been accustomed to see them. The women were less shy in their advances; their complexions were much fairer and their features more soft and handsome than any we had yet observed in the northern provinces.

The walls and gates ofYang-tchoo-foobore marks of great antiquity, being partly in ruins and almost entirely overgrown with moss and creeping plants. A thousand vessels, at least, of different descriptions were lying under its walls. Here we remained for the night; and the following morning, being the 5th of November, we launched into the grand and beautiful river called theYang-tse-kiang, which at this place was about two miles in width; but the current was so gentle, that no oblation to the presiding deity was thought to be necessary. The numerous islands rising out of the river and covered with verdure, the multitude of ships of war, of burden and of pleasure, some gliding down the stream, others sailing against it; some moving by oars and others lying at anchor; the banks on either side covered with towns and houses, as far as the eye could reach, presented a prospect more varied and cheerful than anythat had hitherto occurred. Nor was the canal, on the opposite side, less lively; for two whole days we were continually passing among fleets of vessels of different constructions and dimensions, those belonging to the revenue department being the largest, each capable of carrying, at least, two hundred tons. Cities, towns and villages were continued along the banks without intermission: and vast numbers of stone bridges were thrown across the canal, some having one, some two, and others three arches. The face of the country was beautifully diversified with hill and dale and every part of it in the highest state of cultivation. The chief produce was that particular species of cotton, of a yellowish tinge, known in Europe by the name of nankin.

The suburbs ofSou-tchoo-fooemployed us full three hours in passing before we reached the walls of the city, where a multitude of vessels were lying at anchor. The numerous inhabitants that appeared upon and without the walls of this extensive city, were better dressed and seemed to be more contented and cheerful, than we had yet observed them in any other place. For the most part they were cloathed in silk. The ladies were here dressed in petticoats and not in trowsers, as they had hitherto appeared to the northward. The general fashion of the head-dress was a black satin cap with a triangular peak, the point descending to the root of the nose, in the middle of which, or about the centre of the forehead, was a crystal button. The whole face and neck were washed with a preparation of white lead and the cheeks highly rouged; and two vermillion spots, like wafers, were particularly conspicuous, one on the centre of the under lip and the other on the chin. Theirfeet were universally squeezed down to an unnatural size. Few females were seen among the immense crowds that the novelty of the sight had brought together, but great numbers had assembled in the houses and particularly on board the pleasure or passage yachts, with the intention of satisfying their curiosity. The superior style of dress and the appearance of the women in public at this place, so different from the general custom of the country, could only be explained to us by the writings of the Christian missionaries, who observe that the concubines of mandarins and men of property are chiefly procured from the cities ofYang-tchooand ofSou-tchoo, where they are educated in the pleasing arts of singing, music and dancing and every other accomplishment suitable to women of superior rank, in order to render them the more agreeable and fascinating. That such women are generally purchased by persons engaged in the trade, in different parts of the country, and trained in these cities, where they are disposed of to the highest bidder, "this being the principal branch of trade that is carried on in those two cities." How do these holy men reconcile so infamous a traffic among a people whom they have adorned with every virtue? a people whom they have rendered remarkable among nations for their filial piety! Is there on earth a crime more revolting against civilized nature, or more detestable to civilized society, than that of a parent selling his own child and consigning her, expressly and voluntarily, into a state of prostitution? Those unfortunate wretches who, in Europe, have by any accident reduced themselves to that degraded and deplorable condition of becoming subservient to the pleasures of a man, whom they probably detest, are generally the objects ofpity, however their conduct may be disapproved; but a parent, who should be the cause of reducing them to such a state, would be execrated; but the assertion is as absurd as ridiculous, and the writer must have been very credulous to suppose, that theprincipal tradeof one of the largest cities in the world, whose population cannot be less than a million of souls, should consist in buying and selling ladies of pleasure. Buying females in the legal way is certainly the greatest branch of trade throughout China, as every woman there is bought and sold. These reverend gentlemen likewise inform us, with great indifference, that if a man be desirous of having a male child and his wife should happen to be barren, he will purchase one of these concubines for the sole purpose of getting an heir; and, when this is accomplished, he either provides her with a husband, or turns her adrift. Such are the moral virtues of the Chinese, compared with whom all other nations have been accounted barbarous[57].

To the west ofSau-tchoo-foois a range of mountains higher than any we had yet seen, well covered with wood; and an extensive lake stretches along their base, famed in China for its picturesque beauties and for its fish. We would gladly have made a party of pleasure to this delightful spot, but innumerable objections, as usual, were started by our conductors, on the score of delay that such an excursion would occasion.

The two great products of this part of the country are rice and silk; the former of which, at this time, they were busily employed in reaping. Plantations of the mulberry tree were extended on both sides of the canal and into the country beyond the reach of sight. They appeared to be of two distinct species; the one, the common mulberry,morus nigra, and the other having much smaller leaves, smooth and heart-shaped, and bearing a white berry about the size of the field strawberry. The latter had more the habit of a shrub, but the branches of neither were suffered to run into strong wood, being frequently pruned in order that the trunk might annually throw out young scions, whose leaves were considered to be more tender than such as grew from old branches. Another reason was also assigned for this operation. A tree, when left to itself, throws out the greatest part of its leaves at once, in the spring of the year, but if the thick wood be cut out from time to time, new leaves will continue to push below the parts so cut off during the whole season; and, accordingly, the Chinese are particularly attentive to prune afresh in the autumn, in order to obtain a supply of young leaves in the after spring. The thermometer at this place, on the 9th of November at sun-rise, stood at 64°, and at noon in the shade at 70° degrees.

It was in this part of the canal where the bridge of ninety-one arches, mentioned in the sixth chapter, was thrown across the arm of a lake that joined the canal. I lament exceedingly that we passed this extraordinary fabric in the night. It happened to catch the attention of a Swiss servant who, as the yacht glided along, began to count the arches, but finding them increase innumber much beyond his expectation and, at the same time, in dimensions, he ran into the cabin calling out with great eagerness, "For God's sake, gentlemen, come upon deck, for here is a bridge such as I never saw before; it has no end." Mr. Maxwell and I hastened upon deck and, by the faint light, could sufficiently distinguish the arches of a bridge running parallel with the eastern bank of the canal, across the arm of a vast lake, with which the navigation thus communicated. From the highest point, or what appeared to us to be the central arch, I counted forty-five to the end; here they were very small, but the central arch I guessed to be about thirty feet high and forty wide; and the whole length of the bridge I calculated to be about half a mile. The construction of such a bridge, in such a situation, could obviously have been employed for no other purpose than that of opening a free communication with the lake; and, at the same time, of avoiding the labour and expence of accumulating materials sufficient for making a solid embankment.

After sailing a great part of the day through a forest of mulberry trees, planted with much regularity, we arrived on the 10th at the city ofHang-tchoo-foo, the capital of the province ofTche-kiang. Here that branch of the grand canal which communicates with theYang-tse-kiangterminates in a large commodious bason, at this time crowded with shipping. From this bason a number of smaller canals, passing through arches turned in the walls and intersecting the city in every direction, are finally united in a lake beyond the western wall called theSee-hoo. The natural and artificial beauties of this lake farexceeded any thing we had hitherto had an opportunity of seeing in China. The mountains surrounding it were lofty and broken into a variety of forms that were highly picturesque; and the vallies were richly cloathed with trees of different kinds, among which three species were remarkably striking, not only by their intrinsic beauty, but also by the contrast they formed with themselves and the rest of the trees of the forest. These were theLaurus Camphoraor camphor tree, theCroton sebiferumor tallow tree, and theThuia Orientalisor arbor vitæ. The bright shining green foliage of the first, mingled with the purple leaves of the second, and overtopped by the tall and statelytree of life, of the deepest green, produced a pleasing effect to the eye; and the landscape was rendered still more interesting to the mind, by the very singular and diversified appearance of several repositories of the dead, upon the sloping sides of the inferior hills. Here, as well as elsewhere, the sombre and upright cypress was destined to be the melancholy companion of the tombs. Higher still among the woods, avenues had been opened to admit of rows of small blue houses, supported on white colonnades which, on examination, were also found to be mansions of the dead. Naked coffins of extraordinary thickness were every where lying upon the surface of the ground.

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