China : historical and descriptive /

Front matter

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PRINCETON, N. J.

Preface

the following pages all attempts at originality are ™ entirely disclaimed. The empire of China is a subject so vast in its dimensions that to treat it deservedly would occupy a score of volumes such as the one I now present to the reader. My only object has been to collect all the latest and most reliable information within reach, and to place such matters as seemed especially worthy of notice in an interesting form for the general reader. The student will find numberless volumes hearing at length on all the subjects that are only lightly touched on here. I have to tender my thanks to all the living authorities from whom I have derived information, as also to Messrs. Garnett and Granville of the British Museum, both of whom have always manifested the greatest kindness in supplying me with material.

The chapters on Corea are entirely from another pen, and written independently of the preceding portion of the volume.

C. H. EDER.

Contents

CHINA.

Chapter II. — Physical Aspect of China Proper, . . .17

Chapter III.— How the Becords are kept— Earliest Glimpses of Civilisation — Hea, Shang, Chow, Tsin, and other Dynasties, . 28

Chapter IV. — Kublai Khan — Ho quells an Insurrection — Purchase of Young Women — Description of Palace near Pekin — Disastrous Attempt to Conquer Japan — Termination of Yuen Dynasty, . 39

Chapter V. — Modern History — The Ming Dynasty — Tartars re-enter China— Discords in the Empire — Suicide of the Emperor, and Fall of Ming Dynasty, . . . . .56

Chapter VI. — The Ta-tsing Dynasty — Ancient Legend foretelling its Greatness — Constant Intestine Commotions — The Taeping Insurrection — Its Suppression — The Reigning Monarch, . . 67

Chapter YII. — An Account of the Intercourse between China and

other Nations from the Thirteenth Century to the Present Day, . 81

Chapter VIII. — The Emperor Paramount — His Titles and Authority

— Form of Government and Laws, . . . .94

Chapter IX. — Prisons, and Judicial Procedure, . . . 106

Chapter X. — The Army and Navy — The Religions of China, . 122

Chapter XI. — The Great Wall — Water System of China, . . 138

Chapter XII. — Peking, ...... 147

Chapter XIII. — Personal Appearance and Dress of the Chinese — Their Habits and Dwellings, ..... 159

Chapter XIV. — Domestic Habits — Food — Visiting — Women — Their Social Position — Coffins and Funerals, . . . .174

Chapter XV. — Public Festivals — Gamblers — Opium Smokers —

Pauperism and Beggars, . . . . . .193

Chapter XVI. — Literature — Extract from Chinese History, . . 206

Contents.

PAGE

Chapter XYII. — Poetry — The Drama — Fine Arts, . . . 226

Chapter XVIII. — Liberal Sciences — The Medical Profession— Its Practice — Want of Sympathy towards Sick or Wounded — Anecdote of a Ruffian’s Revenge, .... 237

Chapter XIX. — Agriculture — Famines — Vegetable Products — Lord Macartney’s Description of the Imperial Parks — Hong-kong — Conclusion, ....... 254

COREA.

Chapter I. — Sources of Information — Boundaries — Derivation of 1ST ame — Physical Geography — Mines— Climate — Products — N otes about Ginseng — Animals — Character of the People — Historical Sketch — -Yearly Mission to China, .... 281

Chapter II. — Form of Government — Kings — Royal Palaces — Royal Funerals and Tombs — Public Offices — Civil and Military Organisation — Nobles and their Privileges — Anecdote — Small Middle Class — Slaves — Their Number Diminishing — Condition of Women — Separation of Sexes, ..... 296

Chapter III. — Marriage Customs — Curious Anecdotes — Occupations of Women — Inequality of the Sexes — Fondness of the Coreans for their Children — Clannish Feeling among Families — Ceremonial Mourning and Funeral Obsequies — Religious Systems — Worship of Ancestors, ...... 308

Chapter IV. — Houses — Clothing — Head-dress — Industrial Arts — Impediments to the Development of Internal Commerce — External Trade of Corea — Present Attitude of Corea towards the Outer World, ....... 322

PAGE

Landing-place and Temple in the Inner Harbour, Macao. By Nam Cheong, ' . . . • . Frontispiece.

Chinese War Vessel, ...... 22

Silver Island on the Y ang-tzse River, . . . .26

Native of Chinese Tartary, ..... 27

Chinese Changing Residence, . . . . .30

Mandarin’s Travelling Boat, . ... .38

Soldiers of the time of Marco Polo, .... 41

Chinese Trooper of present day, .... .43

Illustrations.

PAGE

A Chinese Belle, ......

Chinese and Tartar Ladies, ....

•

Triumphal Arch at Palace at Pekin, ....

Bank Note of the Ming Dynasty,

Wheelbarrow under Sail, .....

View in Ningpo, . .....

Chinese Junk, ......

Market at Tien-tsin, ......

•

Chinese Punishment, .....

Chinese Soldier, ......

The Cangue, ......

Chinese Mode of Punishment — Woman Feeding the Prisoner, The “ Fee-Loi-Tsze ” Monastery, on the North Paver, in the “

Tsing

Yune ” Pass, ......

Kiosk in the Court of a Mosque at Pekin,

Superior Bonze of a Buddhist Convent, .

Gong in a Chinese Temple, . . ...

Chinese Temple, ......

The Great Wall of China, .....

Chinese Junks, ......

Chinese Passenger Boat, . .

Chinese Lanterns, .....

Gate at Peking, ......

Flanging Garden (Part of Pun-ting-qua’s Garden at Canton),

Chinese Barber, ......

Chinese Military Mandarin, ...

Young Chinese of the Mandarin Class,

.

Types of Chinese Shopkeepers, &c.,

Chinese Villager, ......

Lady at her Toilet, .....

Hair-dressing, ......

Chinese Lady’s Feet, .....

Chinese Woman, . . ....

Chinese Sitting-room, .....

The Evening Pipe, ......

Chinese Chair in Cane, .....

Edible Swallow’s Nest, .....

Receiving a‘ Visitor, .....

Cantonese Woman, ......

Chinese Mother and Child, .....

Chinaman Burning Paper Money for the Benefit of Deceased

Relatives, ......

Magic Lantern, ......

Chinese Drinking Game, .....

Opium Smokers, ......

Mendicant, .......

Chinese Coolie, ......

Chinese Schoolmaster, .....

Illustrations.

PAGE

Chinese Writer,

Chinese Court of Justice,

. 219

Chinese Literary Man,

Reading hy the Way, .

. 228

A Chinese Play, .

Chinese Drums,

f

. 232

Chinese Artist,

Chinese Compass,

. 235

A Young Student,

Chinese Priest,

. 253

Chinese Agriculture,

Chinese Fishing Scene,

. 258

Festival of Labour,

Chinese Duck Boat, .

. 272

Chinese Coolie,

Canton Boat-woman, .

. 273

Canton Girls,

Chinese Sampan,

. 275

View in Hong-kong,

Chinese Praying Machine,

. 278

Corean Junk at Anchor, .

Corean Trumpets,

. 295

Corean Mace-bearer,

Corean Soldier,

. 300

Corean Noble,

Corean Servant,

. 304

Corean Porter,

Corean Peasant,

. 306

Corean Gong,

Corean Village Official,

. 324

Corean Official Visitors on the Quarter-deck of one of Her Maiesty’s

ships,

Curious Horse-hair Hat,

. 325

A Business Coterie in Corea,

China, Historical and Descriptive.

C H A P I E E L

Origin of Name “China ” — Its Geography and Boundaries — China Proper.

THE great Orientalist, Sir William Jones, in speaking of the inhabitants of the country of which I propose to give a brief description, says, “By some they have been extolled as the oldest and wisest, as the most learned and most ingenious, of nations ; whilst others have derided their pretensions to antiquity, condemned their government as abominable, and arraigned their manners as inhuman, without allowing them an element of science, or a single art, for which they have not been indebted to some more ancient and more civilised race of men.”

From the variety of information gathered on the spot, and the carefully recorded impressions of modern European travellers, it seems that the student of Chinese history would do well to keep himself aloof from the ranks of these extremists, and, by adopting a middle and moderate course, gain a just and unexaggerated insight into the laws, literature, manners, and customs of a vast empire whose

10 Origin of Name.

inhabitants comprise nearly one-third of the known human race.

Before proceeding to examine the physical features of China, let us see from whence its designation is derived, for a Celestial would be utterly nonplussed were he told that he rejoiced in the privilege of being a Chinaman. To illustrate this, I cannot do better than quote the following from the Abb4 Hue, whose residence in the country extended over a great number of years.

The AblA had been giving much information concerning the countries of Europe to a young Chinese prefect, when the latter “ bethought himself to ask us how we called his country in our language. When he heard that we gave it the name of China, and its inhabitants that of Chinese, he could hardly recover from his astonishment. He insisted upon knowing what these words meant, the sense attached to them, why the words China and Chinese should have been chosen to designate his country and countrymen. ‘ We,’ said he, ‘ call the happy inhabitants of your illustrious country Si-yang-jin; now Si means west, yang sea, and jin man, so that the words mean “Men of the Western Seas;” that is the general denomination. To designate the several nations, we transcribe their names as faithfully as our characters will allow of. Thus we say Fou-lang-sin, that is to say, Homme-far an-gais. When we speak of the Westerns, we sometimes seize on a striking trait of the people whom we wish to point out. Thus we call the In-ki-li (English) Houng-mas-jin, that is, “Men of Bed Hair,” because it is said they have hair of that colour;

Ancient Designation. 11

and we give to the Ya-me-li-kien (Americans) the name of “ Men of the Gaudy Banner,” because it is said that they carry at the mast of their vessels a flag striped with various colours. You see that all these denominations have a sense, a meaning for the mind. That must be the case also with your words China and Chinese ; since those words do not belong to our language, they must necessarily signify something in yours.’ ”

The ancient name for China, and one which is still used, is Tien-sha, signifying under, or inferior only to heaven ; but the natives usually speak of their country as Tchung-quo, the middle kingdom ; an appellation erroneously supposed by the French missionaries to arise from the pride of the inhabitants, who assert that their country is placed in the midst of the earth’s square surface, whereas its real origin is owing to the Emperor Tching-wang having fixed his residence at Lo-yang, in the Province of Honan, when he changed the name of the former to Tdiung-quo, which from its central position is undoubtedly appropriate ; and this name gradually embraced the whole empire.

But none the less do our words China and Chinese find their birthplace in the country itself, owing to a habit always prevalent amongst the Chinese of bestowing upon the empire the name of the reigning dynasty; thus the achievements of the Emperor Ran and his successors caused the people to call themselves Ean-jin, or “ Men of Han and when the Thang dynasty eclipsed the glories of the Ran, the people abandoning the former name designated themselves Thang-jin, or “Men of Thang.” When the

China a Malay Name.

Manchoo conquerors assumed the throne they adopted the title of Thsing (pure), and their subjects hastened to call themselves Thsing -jin, or “ Men of Thsing in fact, it was precisely as though the English had taken in succession the names of Plantagenet men, Tudor men, Stuart men, and Guelph men, according to the reigning dynasties of the kingdom.

The name of China comes to us from the Malays, who first became acquainted with the empire when its inhabitants bore the name of Thsing-jin. It so happened that the Malay alphabet was short of the letters required for the exact expression of the word, but they did their best with the means at hand, and turned Thsing into Tchina. The descendants of these Malays designated the great empire thus in describing it to the Portuguese, and through the latter the name of China — for the T was soon dropped — became current, with slight modifications, amongst European nations. By the Eastern Russians and the inhabitants of Northern Asia it is called Kitai or Katai, from whence the ancient name “ Cathay.”

Having arrived at the origin of its name, let us now turn to the geography of China. The Empire, situated in Eastern Asia, comprises the eighteen Provinces of China proper, Manchooria, Mongolia, Chinese Turkestan, Kokonor, and Thibet, whilst the Isthmus of Corea and the Loo-clioo Islands are among its nominal dependencies. It is bounded on the north and north-east by Asiatic Russia, whose territory on the Pacific recently acquired from China touches the Corean frontier; east and south-east by the

Boundaries.

Yellow and China Seas; south by the Gulf of Tonquin, Assam, Siam, and Burmah; and south-west and west by India and the States of Independent Tartary. The northern bend of the Amoor River, in latitude 53° 1ST., is the limit of the Empire in that direction; and the junction of the Amoor and Usuri Rivers in longitude 136° E. is its most eastern point. The Bay of Galong, in the Island of Hainan — latitude 18° N. — is the southern extreme, and Kara-tag, to the westward of Yarkand — longitude 72° E. — is the western limit of this enormous Empire, whose area is variously estimated at from 5,000,000 to 5,559,564 square miles, or about a third part of the continent, and a tenth of the habitable globe. With the exception of Russia, it is the largest state which has ever existed.

But with the tributaries and dependencies of the Empire we have little to do in these pages. In many of them the supremacy of the Emperor is merely nominal, and they are almost virtually independent. Perhaps its very vastness may eventually prove fatal to the integrity of the Empire, for a wily and aggressive neighbour is always watching its frontiers, and an insurgent body of Mahommedans are in possession of portions of China proper, to which I propose confining the present volume.

China proper extends from longitude 98° to 123° E., and from latitude 18° to 43° N., and is bounded on the north by the Great Wall, which separates it from Manchooria and Mongolia ; on the east by the ocean ; on the south by the Gulf of Tonquin, Assam, and Burmah ; and on the west by Thibet and Chinese Tartary. Its area is estimated by Sir

Area.

George Staunton at 1,500,000 square miles, inclusive of the Province of Liaotong, which lies beyond the Great Wall; by M'Culloch at 1,348,870 square miles; by the Abbe Hue at 2,835,000 square miles ; and by Martin, in the Statesman’s Year Boole for 1876, at 1,534,953 square miles. The latter is probably the most correct, being of recent date and based upon Chinese official returns. Altogether, China proper may be regarded as about seven times the size of Prance, or half as large as all Europe.

It may not be out of place here to notice that, notwithstanding the enormous extent of frontier possessed by the Chinese Empire, amounting to at least ten thousand geographical miles, no foreigner, whether Russian, Affghan, Hindoo, Burman, Englishman, or American, has been able to cross the boundary of this extraordinary country without the knowledge and sanction of its jealous Government.

Under the head of China, the Encyclopaedia Britannica says, “ A singular instance may be here mentioned of the inviolability of the frontier, notwitstanding the perseverance of the individual who attempted it, owing to the unwearied vigilance of the Government. Mr. Manning, an English gentleman of property and education, went to Canton many years ago, with the view of proceeding into the interior of China, and of domesticating himself foxsome time among the people. On his arrival there he adopted the Chinese dress, suffered his beard to grow, and sedulously applied himself to the study of the language, both written and spoken.

“When the time approached that his appearance,

Exclusiveness.

manners, and language were considered to be sufficiently Chinese to escape detection, it was communicated to him, under a sort of demi-official message, that his intentions were known, and it would be in vain for him to make the attempt, as measures had been taken to make it impossible for him to enter the Chinese territories beyond the limits of the English factory. He alleged that his views were innocent, that he was simply an individual, urged solely by curiosity and a desire to mix among the people, and to witness the happy condition of this far-famed nation, and wholly unconnected with any political, commercial, or religious views ; and he particularly urged that he was no missionary of any kind, as those of that character had of late given uneasiness to the Government. But he urged his suit in vain.

“ He next tried Cochin-China, but with no better success — the same kind of political jealousy prevailing in that country as in China. Determined, however, not to be thwarted in his object, he proceeded to Calcutta, travelled to the northern frontier of Bengal, found means to penetrate through Bhootan to Sassa in Thibet, and was on the point of realising his long-deferred hope by a journey along the Tartar frontier to the capital of China, when he was detected by the Chinese authorities, and ordered immediately to quit the country — so utterly impossible is it to deceive that watchful Government.”

The coast-line from the Isthmus of Corea to the Island of Hainan is about seventeen hundred miles long, being bold and rocky to the south, and abounding in numerous

Provinces.

islands, bluff headlands, and sheltered inlets, lurking-places for pirate junks. From the mouths of the Yang-tse-kiang northward to the Shan-tung promontory the land is low, and continues so beyond the promontory until the mountains east of the Gulf of Liaotong are reached. The general appearance of the southern coast is barren and uninviting, being destitute of vegetation, and the same may be said of the Shan-tung promontory ; but the islands of the Chusan Archipelago are decked with green, and forests line the shore near the Corean boundary. China proper contains eighteen Provinces, named as follows : —

Pi •ovince.

P&-chi-li (“ The Supreme Province”),

Shan-tung (“ East of the mountains”), ...

Shanse (“ West of the mountains”),

Ho-nan (“ South of the river”), ...

Kiang-su (“The country of the happy river”), ... Ngau-whi (“The Province of peace and plenty”), Kiang-si (“West of the river”),

Che-kiang (“ The country of the winding river”), Fokien (“The consummation of happiness”), ... Hoo-pe (“North of the lakes”),

Hoo-nan (“South of the lakes”),

Slien-se (“ West of the Yellow River”),

Kan-su (“ The Province of profound peace”), ... Se-chuen (“ The four streams”),

Kwang-tung or Quang-tung (“ The east plain”), Kwang-si or Quang-si (“ The west plain”), Kwei-chow or Quei-chow (“ The honourable division”),

Yun-nan (“ South of the clouds”),

Capital.

Peking.

Tsinan.

Tai-yuen.

Kai-fong.

Nanking.

Ngan-king.

Nan-chang.

Hang-chow.

Foo-chow.

Wo-chang.

Chang-sha.

Si-quan.

Lan-chow.

Ching-too.

Canton.

Quei-ling.

Quei-yang.

Yan-nan.

From the above list it will be seen that in naming their Provinces the Chinese have recognised the geographical position, and particularly the water-supply, of each.

CHAPTER II.

Physical Aspect of China Proper.

O attempt any minute description of the topography of

A China would require far more space than I have at my command, and I shall therefore only give the most prominent features of the country, by classing it in natural divisions, which will convey to the reader a clearer idea of its physical aspect than if the arbitrary political boundaries were strictly adhered to.

Commencing at the north-east corner of China proper, we find a large tract of land embracing the Provinces of Pe-chi-li, Shan-tung, Kiang-su, and Ngan-whi, which district is known as the Great Plain. Its boundaries are, roughly, as follows: — To the north the Great Wall, commencing at the Gulf of Liaotong, in lat. 40°, the windings of which it follows westward to long. 1 14 E. Then striking due south the boundary reaches the Yellow Eiver, and continues in a south-easterly direction to the banks of the Yang-tsze-kiang near Xgan-king, from whence it runs in an easterly line to Hangchow Bay.

In the Province of Pechili lies the present capital of the

The Great Plain.

Chinese Empire, Peking, from which fact it derives its name, “ The Supreme Province.” It is flat and marshy as a rule, containing several lakes and rivers. Marble, granite, and coal are found in considerable quantities within easy distance of the capital.

South of Pechili comes the Province of Shan-tung, the eastern part of which is so mountainous that portions of it . remain uncultivated. The Imperial Canal flows through the western portion, and every foot of ground in its vicinity is diligently cultivated; thus the Shan-tungese are enabled to supply their neighbours with vegetables and tobacco.

South of Shan-tung lies the Province of Kiang-su, within whose boundaries are gathered together the three great water-ways of China. Not long ago this was esteemed the most flourishing portion of the great Empire, but the Taeping rebellion completely ruined it, and Nanking, its capital, was almost deserted. Now, however, it is slowly recovering.

Ngan-whi is situated to the westward of Iviang-su, of which it once formed a part. Like its sister province, it is level, abundantly watered, and very productive.

These four provinces constitute the expanse of flat country known as the Great Plain, which extends 600 miles from Peking in the north to Hangchow in the south, and varies in breadth from 200 to 300 miles. To the north-east the tract is abundantly watered by the Peilio, and the south portion contains the delta of the enormous streams the Yang-tsze-kiang and Yellow Eiver. At times

NANKING.

i

“ China 's Sorrow."

it suffers terribly from the overflowing of these great water-ways, notably the latter. That portion of the plain which Jies south of the Yang-tsze is intersected by innumerable canals, and is protected from floods by raised dykes and sea-walls, whilst in many places the surface has been rendered fit for cultivation by excavating canals and ponds, and employing the outcome to raise the level of the land. At different epochs of time the Yellow River has altered its course, and caused such devastation by its floods, that it is now known by the inhabitants of the region through which it flows as “ China’s Sorrow.” In the year 1872 the Peiho overflowed its banks and caused much destruction.

The next great natural division comprises the Provinces of Shan-se and Shen-se, the north part of Honan, and the east of Kansu. It lies west of the Great Plain, and south of Inner Mongolia, forming what perhaps may be called the mineral district of China.

Shan-se and Shen-se are both rugged and mountainous provinces, and abound with good anthracite coal, copper, gold, iron, cinnabar, jasper, lapis-lazuli, marble, porphyry, and salt. The northern portion of Honan and the eastern portion of Kansu are similar in their appearance and productions.

South of the mineral district lies Central China, or the lake district, consisting of the Province of Hoo-pe, the south-west part of Honan, and the north of Hoo-nan. The Yang-tsze traverses this district, which is further drained by the river Han towards the north. As its name imports,

Hoo-pe.

the “ lake district ” is covered with ponds and marshes, of which even the industrious Chinese can make but little use. Speaking of Hoo-pe, the Abb4 Hue says — “ The. villages have in general a very poor and wretched appearance. The inhabitants have an unhealthy and rather wild aspect, and are frequently affected by cutaneous diseases. We have nowhere else noticed so much baldness or so many scald-heads, and there is little doubt that these infirmities proceed from the stagnant waters amongst which these unfortunate people pass their lives, and still more from the unwholesome diet to which they are confined. It is said that in the province of Hou-pe the harvest of a year is seldom sufficient for a month’s consumption. The great populations of the towns are supplied from the neighbouring provinces, and especially Sse-tchouen, which cannot in ten years consume the produce of one. We remarked, nevertheless, in the province of Hou-pe, some tolerably fine plantations of indigo, cotton, and hemp, besides the numerous rice-fields that border the lakes and rivers.”

Se-chuen, although only a single province, is of such extent and wealth that it may justly be regarded as a fourth division of the Empire. It is a large tract consisting of plains and undulating lands, bounded by mountains. The Yang-tsze flows through the province, watering enormous areas covered by rich harvests of wheat and other corn, as well as the white, pink, and lilac flowers of the poppy, for opium is one of Se-chuen’s principal products, and one writer is of opinion that, in the course

The Broken District.

of time, the produce of this province will affect the prices of the Indian drug, if it do is not render its supply needless. The population in 1812 was computed at twenty-seven millions, which has probably much increased, since civil war has never devastated the district. It, however, bears rather a bad name for local insurrections.

The fifth natural division of China proper lies to the south-east, and includes the southern and eastern portions of Kwang-si and Hoo-nan, the whole of Kwang-tung, Fo-kien, Che-kiang, and Kiang-si, and the southernmost parts of Ngan-whi. It embraces a tract of country a thousand miles long by four hundred in breadth, and may not inaptly be styled the “ Broken District,” for throughout an area of three hundred thousand square miles there are found no extensive plains or table-lands, but a succession of mountain ranges, whose continuity is continually broken, and whose altitude is not remarkable. The mountains follow the trend of the coast, breaking off into short and irregular ranges, through which the streams find their way and drain the country ; and these water-courses, of which there are several hundreds, form the highways of this part of China. With the exception of the West River, which debouches near Canton, not one of them is fit for navigation to any distance inland. Even at the coast, where they are broadest, innumerable obstacles exist in their beds and impede the navigation, but the inhabitants are perfectly content with the existing state of things, and continue to unload whenever they come to a trifling shallow, which a month’s labour would remove, with the characteristic

Tropical China.

patience of their race. In this division is raised most of the black tea that is imported into Europe.

The sixth and last natural division of China consists of the south-western provinces Yun-nan and Kwei-chow, which are generally broken and hilly, though in Yun-nan there are found table-lands of considerable extent, and low-lying flats containing small lakes. The latter province is

Water System.

at the south-west extremity of the Empire, and is bounded by Burmah. Its rugged surface is thickly covered with dense jungles, the habitat of elephants, tigers, and other large animals. This region is far more tropical in the nature of its climate and productions than the district east of it, and is considered by the Chinese unhealthy, owing to which less has been done than in any other part of the Empire to subject the soil to tillage.

Such are the principal natural divisions of China, and we now come to its rivers, which vie in number, length, and grandeur with the extent of the mighty country through which they flow. As this little volume cannot pretend to enter into geographical and topographical details, I shall content myself with saying that the water system of China is, perhaps, more perfect than that of any other country on the globe. Two of the largest rivers in the world flow through it, and with their affluents, aided by innumerable artificial canals and water-courses, leave scarcely any portion of the Empire capable of cultivation without the boon of irrigation and water-carriage.

The Hoang-ho, or Yellow River, rises in the mountainous region of Thibet, some twelve hundred miles in a straight line from its mouth in the Gulf of Pechili. I may here observe that in the generality of our maps it is represented as debouching to the southward of the Shan-tung promontory, but it has altered its course, and now flows into the Gulf of Pechili, taking a channel which is marked on the maps Ta-tsing-ho. This great river wanders north, east, south, and then east again for two thousand miles

The Yellow River.

amidst the rugged wilds of Tartary, before quitting the broken lands and settling down into a peaceable and navigable stream. An American, writing of this river, says— “ Down through the alternating table-lands and gorges of this tract it pours floods which are charged with a peculiar brownish-yellow loam, called by Mr. Pumpelly terrace deposit, and by Baron Richthofen loess. In its original state it is of such constitution that, when a stream of water cuts down into it, vertical banks are left. Throughout the districts where it is found the inhabitants make houses in the cliffs, whole villages being constructed in this way completely out of sight of the traveller upon the plains above. When a river washes the foot of a wall of loess, the earth softens at the water’s edge, and after a time a cleanly-cut section of the superincumbent mass drops into the flood, to be carried along until first the sandy and then the finer particles are deposited upon the plains below. A more slowly moving stream would be less charged with the loess, and would deposit it more rapidly. But the Yellow River can only carry the mass to the level country, and then struggle with the shallows and banks which it forms. The result is that the river is almost useless for navigation, and its floods, which are numerous, become peculiarly dangerous to the lower country. At low water there is about four feet of water on the bar at the mouth of the river, and there is no part of its course where steam vessels, excepting those of very light draught and small burthen, could be used.”