ever 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; petulent 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 duties of their office, or in worldly concerns, they are not less uncleanly in their persons and apartments than those are whose time is taken up in providing for the necessities of life. The room, in which some of us should have 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 noisy gong announced the break of day, and summoned the holy men to their morning devotions.

Tt

CHAP. IX.

JOURNEY FROM TONG-CHOO-FOO TO THE PROVINCE OF CANTON.-FACE OF THE COUNTRY, AND ITS PRODUCTIONS.BUILDINGS AND OTHER PUBLIC WORKS.-CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE-STATE OF AGRICULTURE.-POPULATION.

Attentions paid to the embassy.-Observations on the Climate and Plains of Petche-lee.-Plants of.-Diet and condition of the people.-Burying-place.— Observations 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.-Improvement 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 Kiangnan.—Observations on 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 the populousness of China.

On the 8th of October we embarked, for the second time, on the 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 and flat-bottomed, that they required little depth of water; yet we found them sufficiently commodious. Of the necessity of such a change in the accommodationyachts, 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 characters, Van and Chou, 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 had given 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 Pei-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 buffaloes.

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 of the polygonum fagopyrum or buckwheat. A species of dolichos or 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 of Pc-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 the Pei-ho a 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 of Pe-tche-lee, flows to the distance of thirty miles beyond Tiensing, 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 encroachment 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, is composed entirely of fine sand similar to that on the shore of the sea. The deepest part of the wide gulf of Pe-tche-lee exceeds 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 gulf of Pe-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-sing is placed upon the sea coast; and a branch of the Yellow River, after traversing the provinces Kiang-nan, Shang-tung, and part of Pe-tche-lee, in the direction nearly of the present canal, discharges itself into the gulph near the Pei-ho. Were this branch of the river actually turned, the rapidity with which the gulph of Pe-tche-lee is filling up is the less surprising, as the only stream to keep its waters in motion at present is the Pei-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 above-mentioned 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 to the 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 of Melilotos, intermixed with a species of poa or meadow grass, avena or wild oats, and briza or quaking grass. In the ditches, beside the common reed, the arundo phragmites, were growing two species of cyperus, and a scirpus or club-rush. None of the artificial grasses usually so called, are cultivated by the Chi

nese.

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