north, and passing round to the west, south, and east. One of these gates is fifteen feet wide and twelve high! A few soldiers are stationed at each of the gates to watch them by day, and to close and guard them by night. They are shut at an early hour in the evening, and opened at dawn of day. Except on special occasions, no one is allowed to pass in or out during the nightwatches; but a small fee will usually open the way, yet always exposes the keepers to punishment.

"We must now extend our description so as to include the suburbs; the streets and buildings of which differ very little, if at all, from those within the walls. On the west they spread out nearly in the form of an isosceles right-angled triangle, opening to the northwest, having the river on the south, and the western wall of the city for its two equal sides. On the south they occupy the whole space between the wall and the river. On the east they are much less extensive than on the west. There are no buildings on the north, except a few small huts near the principal gate. Taken collectively, the suburbs are scarcely less extensive or less populous than the city within the walls.

"The streets of Canton are numerous-we have before us a catalogue containing the names of more than six hundred, among which we find the 'Dragon-street,' the 'Flying dragon-street,' the 'Martial dragon-street,' the 'Flower-street,' the 'Goldenstreet,' the Golden flower-street;' and among many more of a similar kind, we meet with a few which we should not wish to translate. There are several long streets, but most of them are short and crooked; they vary in width, from two to sixteen feet wide, and they are everywhere flagged with large stones, chiefly granite. The motley crowd that often throng these streets is very great indeed. At a busy hour of the day, the stout, half naked, vociferating porters, carrying every description of merchandise, and the nimble sedan-bearers, in noise and bustle, make up for the deficiency of carts and carriages; these, together with the numerous travellers, various kinds of retailers, pedlers, beggars, &c., present before the spectator a scene which we will not attempt to describe.

"Not a few of the visiters, and not a little of the merchandise, brought together here, are conveyed into the city by means of canals or ditches. There are several of these; one of the largest

of them extends along the whole length of the wall on the east of the city, and another on the west side. Between these two, and communicating with them, there is a third canal, which runs along near the wall on the north side of the new city, so that boats can enter on the west, pass through the city, and out at the eastern side; and vice versa. There are other canals in the eastern and western suburbs; and one in the southern. Into these large channels a great number of smaller ones flow: these the Chinese call the 'veins of the city.' There are also several reservoirs, but none of them are of great extent. Much of the water for the use of the inhabitants is supplied from the river and canals; wells are frequent; rain-water is employed also; and for tea, &c., fine wholesome water is plentifully furnished from several springs, which break out on the north of the city, both within and without the walls. There are several bridges, some built of stone, thrown over these canals."

CHAPTER XIX.

The empire of China-Unknown to the ancients-Its history involved in fable and tradition-Founded by Noah-Patriarchal form of government-Location, size, cities, towns, villages, monuments, libraries, &c.-Immense population-Observations on acclimating her productions.

THE Chinese empire, which, including its tributary states and those under its protection, is said to cover more than five millions of square miles, and is computed to contain more than three hundred millions of inhabitants-is, perhaps, less accurately known than any other kingdom of the earth. To the ancient historians, both sacred and profane, China was either entirely unknown, or she was, as it were, a 66 sealed book," into the contents of which the eye of curoisity was not permitted to pry; and though modern enterprise, with a freer and bolder spirit of commerce and inquiry, has been more successful in seeking to penetrate the mysteries of the "Celestial Empire," comparatively little additional light has been thrown upon the subject; or, at least, much still remains to be known. The Portuguese navigators, who followed Vasco de Gama round the Cape of Good Hope, after its discovery by Dias, were the first from whom the Europeans attained any tolerably correct ideas of the situation, extent, and character of this interesting country. And several subsequent embassies from Europe, though all of them failing in the grand object of their respective missions, together with the more recent and successful labours of the intelligent and enterprising missionary Gutzlaff, have tended in some measure to throw down the mysterious screen of national pride and jealousy, behind which the Chinese have ensconced themselves for so many centuries. Other Christian missionaries, also, so far as they have been permitted, have laboured hard, and somewhat successfully, in the same cause. Although Alexander the Great, who flourished three hundred and fifty years before the Christian era, is stated to have subdued all the then known world, and to have lamented that there were no more nations to conquer, we now know that the vast regions

of northern Tartary, China proper, and even further India, were not included in his conquests. This exception in favour of the countries just named, is supposed by some writers to be attributable to their early knowledge of gunpowder, and the use of artillery. Philostratus, as we have stated in a previous chapter, wrote under this impression in his Life of Apollonius Thyanæus.

But whatever credit may be attached to this historian, there are strong reasons for believing that the empire of China was totally unknown to the ancient Greeks, as it is not mentioned or even alluded to by Homer, or Herodotus, the great father of history. It has been conjectured, however, from a passage in Quintius Curtius, the Latin historian, who wrote the Life of Alexander the Great, that the Macedonian hero had attained some knowledge of the Chinese during his conquests in India, about three hundred and twenty years before Christ, and that it is to them the historian refers in these words-hinc in regnum Sophitis perventum est. Gens ut barbari sapientia excellit, bonisque moribus regitur. In confirmation of this conjecture, it is added that Strabo, the great Latin geographer, calls this kingdom of Sophites, Cathea, a word which is supposed to bear, a resemblance to Cathay, the name given to China by the Tartars. The Jews are supposed to have found their way into China, after Alexander, by his conquests in the east, had opened a communication with India; and their arrival in the country is said to be noticed in the historical records of China. The date of that event is fixed by some in the year two hundred and six, and by others in the year two hundred and fifty-eight before Christ. They abound chiefly in the silk provinces.

The ancient history of China is too much enveloped in darkness, fable, and extravagant tradition, to furnish us with any data on which to erect a plausible hypothesis respecting its origin. Some of their writers have claimed an antiquity for the nation of more than ninety millions of years! The more moderate and reasonable of them, however, are content to ascribe their origin to the immediate survivers of the general deluge, and suppose that Noah himself was the actual founder of the empire!

This supposition has been ingeniously sustained by some European writers, particularly by the authors of the "English Universal History." It is suggested that the patriarch Noah, whom the Chinese call Fohee, and whose ark they suppose may

have rested on some mountain in Great Tartary, becoming justly offended at the impiety of his degenerate descendants, about two hundred and thirty years after the flood, separated himself from them; and with a select number of adherents, travelled eastward, where he planted a colony which ultimately became the foundation of the Chinese empire.

In the meantime, his disobedient and refractory descendants, who, with those that accompanied him, comprised all the human race, took an opposite direction, and travelled to the west until they reached the banks of the Euphrates. Here a striking analogy is obvious between the tradition and that passage in Genesis which says "And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and dwelt there." Here they attempted to "build a tower, whose top should reach to heaven," which impious enterprise was defeated by the miraculous confusion of tongues, which led to their dispersion over all the earth.

Another argument, which has been adduced in favour of this hypothesis, is derived from the fact that there is a striking resemblance between the Chinese government and that which has been generally called the "patriarchal form," from which it is supposed to have originated.†

But after all that has been conjectured and written on the subject, the knowledge of the origin, history, and condition of this extensive and extraordinary empire, is still extremely imperfect and uncertain. It was only at a late period that the nations of Europe became acquainted even with the existence of the country; and even then the peculiar nature of the language, and the careful exclusion of foreigners by the government, prevented, and still in a great measure prevents, that degree of intercourse with

* It is a curious fact, that the celebrated Swedish theologian, Swedenborg, asserts in his writings, that the "Book of Enoch," quoted by Moses, still exists in Tartary. This he says was a divine revelation made to the antediluvians.

"The Emperor of China possesses the most unlimited authority, and can issue new laws, or abrogate old ones, as he pleases. He is the undisputed master of the lives of his subjects. To his revision every verdict is subject, and is of no force until it receives his confirmation. All his own sentences are executed without delay; and all his edicts are acknowledged throughout the empire, as if they were the mandates of Deity."-Ed. Enc.