for the sake of the camphor, and the timber is left to rot. Had we possession of this island, this might be made a valuable article of trade. Cotton grows in great luxuriance in many parts of China. From the rind of a species of sycamore, the Chinese manufacture some of their finest paper. There is a tree, also, from the pith of which, when dried, they produce a flour, used in culinary purposes. It is unnecessary to dilate upon the culture of the tea-plant, so much has been already written upon the subject. It grows wild in China, to the height of two or three feet, and bears a white fragrant flower; when cultivated, it attains the height of four or five feet. It is planted in rows, and weeded with the greatest care; the greater the care bestowed upon the plant, the finer is the flavor of the tea. There are many varieties; and the Chinese say, they have more than one hundred descriptions of the tea-plant. It is a most mistaken idea to suppose, that the green tea is made by the process of drying upon

very good salad, radishes, a species of cucumber, equal in flavor to ours, but of a different appearance altogether; I must not forget the truffles, which are not inferior to those of the continent, nor the capers, which are very good. The tobacco-plant is cultivated in China to some extent; but it is of an inferior description. The plant from which castor-oil is extracted, grows wild; but it is also cultivated with great care.

China is thus blessed in the fertility of her soil, and the produce of her silk-worms; but such prosperity is often arrested by one of the curses with which the Almighty formerly scourged the land of Egypt: whole provinces are sometimes entirely devastated by locusts. These voracious insects are peculiarly beautiful, of great variety, and some of a very large size, in China.

CHAPTER XI.

CHINA-GOLD

copper; as copper is never used in drying ARTS AND MANUFACTURES OF
it. But black teas are often made green
by coloring matter, which is very easily dis-
covered by chewing a few leaves, or breath-
ing upon a handful, when the green hue will
soon disappear; this tea is known as "Can-
ton Green." The green teas are a different
species from the black altogether. The fin-
est sorts of tea, which are used by the em-
peror and the wealthy mandaríns, are culti-
vated with the same care which we bestow
upon exotics. The younger the leaves are,
when gathered, the finer is the flavor of the
tea. The coarser kinds of tea, which are
used by the poor, are the old leaves, which
have been gathered, without any prepara-
tion. In the mountainous parts of China,
unsuitable to the cultivation of other crops,
a species of tea-plant is grown, called, by
the Chinese, "flower of tea." The flower
of this plant, they sometimes mix with their
finest teas, to impart a more fragrant flavor.
The Arabian jessamine is said to be some-
times substituted for this purpose. A very
superior oil is extracted from the nut of the
"flower-of-tea" plant.

AND SILVER TINSEL-PORCELAIN-SILKS-
DESCRIPTION OF THE CARVED IVORY BALLS
-COLORS AND BEAUTIES OF DYES-VISIT
TO THE ATELIER OF LUM-QUA, THE SIR T.
LAWRENCE OF CHINA-MANUFACTORY OF
PAPER AND PRINTING OF BOOKS-LITERA-
TURE OF THE COUNTRY.

AMONG the manufactures of China, the gold
and silver tinsels of Pekin stand in the high-
est estimation. Their chief value arises
from their possessing the property of never
tarnishing in any climate. In appearance
they resemble cloth of gold or silver. Va-
rious and frequent attempts have been made.
to discover the secret, which have all proved
abortive, much to the detriment of our own
manufactures, whose value would be consi-
derably enhanced by the discovery. Tin-
sels are wrought of various patterns, which
have all the appearance of being woven into
the cloth, and not stamped upon its surface.
They are constantly used in trimming their
silken robes.

The beauty of the Chinese porcelain is The vegetable productions of China are well known, and could we introduce their not only those peculiar to a tropical climate, colors into our manufactures, we might rival such as brimjals, yams, occus, sweet-pota- those of France. The finest specimens toes, and pumpkins, but also potatoes come from the manufactory near Pekin. (though of an inferior description), peas, The beautiful transparency and brilliancy Windsor-beans, French-beans, turnips, and of the white ground is supposed to be procarrots, equal to our own. I have frequent-duced by an incombustible stone or earth, ly had at my own table, an excellent white- employed in its manufacture. If this be cabbage, which is unknown in England, true, and the locality (which is said to be

most masterly manner. There is, however, charge. There is, however, charge. "The last stage (of life) in this a want of life and expression, which no doubt eventful history," represents the mandarin these ingenious people might soon rectify. on his death-bed, surrounded by a numeI possess the interior of a Chinese dwelling, rous family of weeping wives, sons, daughpainted in oil by this master, which for ters, grand-children, and other relatives, chasteness of composition, accuracy of per- while near him is placed a coffin exquisitely spective, truthfulness of design, and sub- decorated. The last drawing exhibits the dued tone of coloring, has never been sur- deceased mandarin borne to the grave, prepassed by any master of the ancient schools. ceded by innumerable banners, on which are What renders this painting so remarkable, inscribed his manifold titles, and various is the diversity of subject. The figures and good qualities, followed by a train of sedan costumes are perfect; and the objects of chairs, occupied by mourners and attendstill life, animals and flowers, are delineated ants. The beauty of coloring in this series with Chinese accuracy. I was not previous- of drawings is inimitable, and an extraordily aware of their proficiency in oil-painting, nary likeness is preserved in the face from nor do I believe it is generally known. the infant to the dying mandarin. The Their water-color drawings have often been whole of the accessories appertaining to each imported to Europe. The late Doctor epoch are faithfully delineated, and the Adam Clarke possessed a series of great backgrounds are most delicately stippled in. beauty, representing all the legends of their The accuracy and fidelity of the Chinese mythology. There is something very pecu- artist contrasts amusingly with the attempts liar in the preparation of their oil-paints. made by our own artists to represent ChiOn one occasion I watched with an artist, nese customs and manners. In representwho was in company with me, the opera- ing a criminal receiving the bastinado tions of a pupil who was mixing some English draftsmen represent the feet held paints. When Lum-qua observed us, he by two Chinese, dressed in boots and wearinstantly stopped his progress, nor did he ing mandarins' caps and feathers. Execuallow him to resume his occupation during tioners were never graced with such appenour stay. I purchased some colors from dages. This cap and boots never are, and him, and mixed them in our manner, and dare never be worn except by mandarins. although they appeared the same as those The peacock's feather is rarely conferred by which he was using, the tints were totally the emperor, and then only as a mark of different. I tried to induce him to give or distinction for some public service. On sell me some prepared colors; but neither some rare occasions, an individual of merit fair words nor money could persuade him may receive the distinction of three feato accede to my request. Here I saw some thers. It is considered nearly as great an highly-finished water-color drawings upon honor to receive this feather, as to obtain rice-paper, representing human beings, ani- from the emperor the gift of some of his mals, flowers, and birds. But the most personal appendages-such as a fan and remarkable of these drawings were a series fan-case, or his purse, which is the highest which, corresponding with Shakspeare's distinction known. Seven Ages of Man, represented the life The manufacture of paper is said to have and death of a mandarin. The first in been discovered in China many centuries order exhibited an infant just born, whom earlier than in Europe. Tradition affirms the female attendants immerse in his first that the invention is due to a mandarin, who bath. Next his father leads him by the mixed silk and pulp of trees together, hand, and conducts him to school. Then which he spread in the sun. The very inhe appears in the house of a mandarin, to ferior description of paper which is produced whom he presents certain writings. Next, in China, seems a tacit contradiction to this having been just married, he attends to claim of priority, as it is almost incrediwelcome and receive his bride at his own ble, that a nation which has brought other house. Now, habited as a soldier, be knocks arts to so great perfection, and where litehis head before the emperor, who confers rature is so highly prized, should so long upon him the button of a mandarin, as a re-stand stationary in an art so useful. Their ward for military services. Arrayed in mandarin robes, and surrounded by numerous attendants, he proceeds to pay a visit to his schoolmaster, to thank him for the successful education he received under his

best and finest paper is made of the pulp of the sycamore tree, and their coarser paper from paddy-straw, the fibre of hemp, and the barks of various trees; that which we erroneously call rice-paper is made from

a very fine description of bark; but the best paper comes from Nankin.

if approved of by him, he attains the highest honors. It would appear that genius or The Chinese also lay claim to the inven- originality is not so much admired in China tion of printing, at an equally early period. as memory. The power of reciting the From the nature of the language, however, greatest number of the sayings of their anthis art does not appear capable of much cient sages, is considered the acme of learnimprovement, since the Chinese language ing. Every literary honor confers the rank consists of between seventy thousand and of a mandarin on its possessor; and each eighty thousand characters, each character grade is distinguished by its peculiar dress, representing a distinct word. It seems al- Although honors are not hereditary (even most impracticable to use moveable types; the emperor selects whom he pleases, as his and therefore they adopt the plan of cutting successor, from the royal blood), yet the in relief all the characters of the work to descendants of men of learning are treated be printed, on slabs of a very hard wood. with the greatest respect. In proof of this, The printer daubs these over with a prepa- the descendants of Confucius, who died ration of Indian ink, and the paper, being more than two thousand years ago, are pressed upon them, receives the impression. treated with the greatest consideration by One coating of the printing fluid is sufficient all classes, from the emperor to the lowest for two or three impressions, but the paper coolee. So highly is learning prized, that, being of too porous a nature to receive im- very frequently, deceased ancestors are enpressions on both sides, it becomes neces- nobled, in compliment to the attainments sary to fold the paper. These doubled of their descendants. The emperor causes sheets are then stitched together, the fold a book of merit to be kept, in which are is at the outer edge, with two coarser sheets recorded the various titles and descriptions of paper to form a cover. But the wealth of the mandarins, the causes of their preier classes are as particular as we are, in ferment, and all their actions which are detheir bindings, which are of beautifully fig-serving of praise. Should, however, a. ured silks and satins, sometimes of gold or silver tinsels. The Chinese being a very reading nation, never destroy the slabs on which the characters of a work are cut, which are laid by with great care, and the place of their deposit is referred to in the preface of the work.

mandarin be degraded (which frequently occurs) the reason of his punishment is stated with equal accuracy. Gazettes, by the emperor's command, are commonly published at Pekin, which contain imperial grants of land, remission of taxes, public acts, &c., &c. The day which is selected by the emperor for all public executions is notified by means of this gazette. The degradation of mandarins is here announced; and the events of war are bombastically set forth, which invariably represent the deeds of the nation as successful. The official reports contained in this gazette, during the late war, of the thousands of Fanquis who were daily slain, and driven before their conquerors, were truly astound

Books are sold at so cheap a rate that they are within the reach of all. But it is deplorable to witness the depravity of taste so publicly exhibited in China, by the circulation of an enormous number of obscene publications and indecent engravings, which are eagerly sought after. The taste for reading may very cheaply be gratified in China, by means of itinerant circulating libraries, which are carried about by their proprietors, in boxes slung over their shoul-ing. ders. In no part of the world is education so universal as it is in China. In such estimation is literature held, that literary attainments form the only passport to the highest offices in the state. Each province is furnished with officers appointed to examine claimants or aspirants to state preferment, who go their circuits twice in each year. Each candidate must submit to repeated examinations previous to the distinction of being placed upon the books for preferment. When a man has reached the highest class of literary attainment, he is

CHAPTER XII.

EVILS OF OPIUM TRADE-EFFECTS ON ITS VO-
TARIES, AND ON MERCHANTS-A-CHOU-Y-
OK-DUTY OF ABOLISHING THE OPIUM
TRADE-NEW TREATY SUGGESTED-IN-
TERCHANGE OF AMBASSADORS DESIRABLE
-SUGGESTIONS ON TRADE-FURS.

examined by the Emperor in person, and THE trade in opium is of the most fearful

nature. To furnish poison to the multi- "The rooms where they sit and smoke are tude, whatever may be the gain, is a crime surrounded by wooden couches, with places for against humanity. Opium not only en-devoted to gambling. The pipe is a reed of about the head to rest upon, and generally a side-room is

slaves its votaries, but destroys their boan inch in diameter, and the aperture in the bowl dies; it commits such fearful ravages in for the admission of opium is not larger than a its progress, that the mental powers are pin's head. The drug is prepared with some kind wholly paralysed, and the consumers are of incense, and a very small portion is sufficient to conducted onwards from one crime to an-charge it, one or two whiffs being the utmost that other.

The habitual use of this drug terminates the smoker's life in about five years. The offspring of the opium-smoker, may always be known by his emaciated appearance and imbecile mind. Unborn generations are thus doomed to suffer for the sins of their parents, and the aggrandizement of heartless traders. In the empire, the smoker, to evade the penalty of the law, is compelled to use the opium-pipe in secret. A wealthy smoker provides himself with a subterranean chamber, where he may indulge his suicidal propensity without molestation. We cannot penetrate into these narcotic caverns, or witness their sepulchral horrors. Whole streets are devoted to licensed opium-shops, from which the colonial government derives a large revenue. It is even a more shameful crime to fill the treasury of a colony from the produce of such a trade, than to traffic in slaves. Prudery has exclaimed against our French neighbors for taxing gambling and prostitution; but we should look more at home before we boast of our morality, and not suffer our colony to turn this murderous and soul-destroying drug into a source of

revenue.

Man degraded into an opium-smoker cannot be better described than in the words of Lord Jocelyn, who says :—

"One of the objects at this place (Singapore) that I had the curiosity to visit, was the opiumsmoker in his heaven, and certainly it is a most fearful sight, although, perhaps, not so degrading to the eye as the drunkard from spirits, lowered to the level of the brute, and wallowing in his filth. The idiot-smile and deathlike stupor of the opium debauchee has something far more awful to the gaze than the brutality of the latter. Pity, if possible, takes the place of other feelings, as we watch the faded cheek and haggard look of the being abandoned to the power of the drug; whilst disgust is uppermost at the sight of the human creature levelled to the beast by intoxication.

can be inhaled from a single pipe; and the smoke is taken into the lungs, as from the hooka in India. On a beginner, one or two pipes will have an effect, but an old stager will continue smoking for hours. At the head of each couch is placed a small lamp, as fire must be applied to the drug during the process of inhaling; and from the difficulty of filling and properly lighting the pipes, there is generally a person who waits upon the smoker to perform the office. A few days of this a pallid and haggard look to the features, and a fearful luxury, when taken to excess, will impart few months, or even weeks, will change the strong and healthy man into little better than an idiot skeleton. The pain they suffer when deprived of the drug, after long habit, no language can explain; and it is only to a certain degree under its influence that their faculties are alive. In the hours devoted to their ruin, these infatuated people may be seen, at nine o'clock in the evening, in all the different stages. Some entering, half distracted, to feed the craving appetite they have been obliged to subdue during the day; others laughing and talking under the effects of the pipe; while the couches around are filled with their different occupants, who lie languid, with an idiotder the influences of the drug, to regard passing smile upon their countenances, too completely unevents, and fast merging into the wished for consummation. The last scene in this tragic play is generally a room in the rear of the building, a species of morgue, or dead-house, where lie those who have passed into the state of bliss the opiumsmoker madly seeks an emblem of the long sleep to which he is blindly hurrying."

The British merchant is unquestionably entitled to every protection in the prosecution of his legitimate trade, and should receive every encouragement and assistance in his political relation. As an inhabitant of Hong-Kong, every assistance and protection should be rendered to him in the honest exercise of his calling, while exchanging European commodities for the teas, silks, and dyes of China; yet that protection should be withdrawn when he becomes an opium-smuggler. Descending from an honorable position, he then brands "One of the streets in the centre of the town is devoid of all the better feelings of human himself with infamy, and proves that he is wholly devoted to shops for the sale of this poison; and here, in the evening, may be seen, after nature. Yet, strange as it may appear, the labors of the day are over, crowds of Chi-a tacit sanction is given to any of our mernese, who seek these places to satisfy their depraved appetites.

chants who choose to embark in this dishonorable trade, prohibited alike by the