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[57] It may be observed of almost all the writings of the missionaries concerning China, that virtues of so trifling a nature as hardly to deserve the name, have met their unqualified praise, whilst enormous vices have either been palliated or passed over in silence.
[58] The water-wheels still used in Syria differ only from those of China, by having loose buckets suspended at the circumference, instead of fixed tubes. "The wheels of Hama," says Volney, "are thirty-two feet in diameter. Troughs are fastened to the circumference, and so disposed as to fall in the river, and when they reach the vertex of the wheel, discharge the water into a reservoir."
[59] The simple boiling of the water indeed contributes greatly to the quick deposition of earthy particles, which may have been one cause of the universal practice of drinking every thing warm in China. They were surprised to see our soldiers and servants drinking the water of the Pei-ho cold, and told them it was very bad for the stomach and bowels. This complaint, in fact, attacked almost all the inferior part of the embassy, which Doctor Gillan did not hesitate to ascribe to the great impurity of the water. But the Chinese argued the point with the Doctor with regard to taking it cold, asking him why all the fluids of the body were warm, if nature had intended us to drink water and other liquids in a cold state! They seemed to have forgotten that all the warm-blooded animals, except man, must necessarily drink cold water.
[60] As these teas however were purchased by Chinese, I have no doubt they reserved to themselves a very large profit on the commission, for it is scarcely possible that this article, the growth and produce of the middle provinces, should bear a price so far beyond what the very best sells for in London.
[61] An old Frenchman (Cossigny) but a disciple of the new school, has found out that the Chinese are in possession of a new science, the existence of which was not even suspected by the enlightened nations of Europe. As he has the merit of making this wonderful discovery, it is but fair to announce it in his own words: "Je pense que nous devrions prendre chez eux (les Chinois) les premiers elements de la spermatologie, science toute nouvelle pour l'Europe, science qui intéresse l'humanité en général, en lui procurant des jouissances qui l'attachent à son existence, en entretenant la santé et la vigeur, en réparant l'abus des excès, en contribuant à l'augmentation de la population. Il feroit digne de la sollicitude des gouvernemens de s'occuper des recherches qui pourroient donner des connoissances sur une science à peine soupçonnée des peuples éclairés de l'Europe." He then announces his knowledge in preparing "des petites pastilles qui sont aphrodisiaques et qui conviennent sur-tout aux veillards, et à ceux qui ont fait des excès:" and he concludes with the mortifying intelligence that he is not permitted to reveal the important secret, "qui intéresse l'humanité en general."
[62] In the tenth volume of a very extensive agricultural work, is detailed the whole process of cultivating the cotton from the seed to the web. The author observes, "The cotton in its raw state affords a light and pleasant lining for clothes; the seed yields an oil, which, being expressed from them, the remainder is serviceable as manure; the capsules or pods, being hard and woody, are used for firing, and the leaves afford nourishment to cattle, so that every part of the vegetable may be appropriated to some useful purpose.
"The soil most favourable to this plant is a white sand, with a small proportion of clay or loam. The plant affects an elevated open situation, and cannot endure low marshy grounds.
"After all the cotton pods are gathered, the remaining stems and branches should be cleared away without loss of time, and the ground carefully ploughed up, to expose a new surface to the air and renew the vigour of the soil.
"When the plough has passed through the ground three times, the earth should be raked level, that the wind may not raise or dry up any part of it.
"——When there is an abundance of manure, it may be laid on previous to the use of the plough, but if it be scarce, &c. it will be preferable to apply it to the soil at the time of sowing the seed.
"The manure should be old and well prepared, and among the best ingredients for the purpose, is the refuse of vegetable substances, from which an oil has been expressed.
"In the southern provinces the cotton plant will last for two or three years, but to the northward the seed must be sown annually."
The author then enumerates nine distinct varieties and their comparative qualities; after which he proceeds to the choice of seed, under which head he observes, that if the seed be steeped in water, in which eels have been boiled, the plant will resist the attack of insects. He then describes the three methods of broadcast, drilling, and dibbling, and gives a decided preference of the last, though it be the most laborious.
"The ground being well prepared, holes are to be made at the distance of a cubit from each other, and the lines a cubit apart. A little water is first to be poured in, and then four or five seeds, after which each hole is to be covered with a mixture of soil and manure, and firmly trodden down with the foot. In the other methods a roller is to be used."
The next process is weeding, loosening, and breaking fine the earth.—He then observes, "After the plants have attained some degree of strength and size, the most advanced and perfect plant should be selected and all the rest rooted out, for if two or more be suffered to rise together, they will increase in height without giving lateral shoots; the leaves will be large and luxuriant, but the pods will be few." He next proceeds to the pruning of the plants to make them bear copiously—gathering the pods—preparing and spinning the wool—weaving the cloth.—This abridged account I have given to shew, that they are not deficient in writings of this kind.
[63] See the plate facing page 37.
[64] The East India Company pays from thirteen to sixty tales per pecul for their teas; some tea of a higher price is purchased by individuals, but seldom or ever by the Company. A tale is six shillings and eight-pence, and a pecul is one hundred and thirty-three pounds and one third.
[65] The measurement annexed to each of the fifteen ancient provinces was taken from the maps that were constructed by a very laborious and, as far as we had an opportunity of comparing them with the country, a very accurate survey, which employed the Jesuits ten years. I do not pretend to say that the areas, as I have given them in the table, are mathematically correct, but the dimensions were taken with as much care as was deemed necessary for the purpose, from maps drawn on a large scale, of which a very beautiful manuscript copy is now in his Majesty's library at Buckingham-house, made by a Chinese, having all the names written in Chinese and Tartar characters.
[66] One of the streets in the suburbs of Canton is emphatically called Squeeze-gut-alley, which is so narrow that every gentleman in the Company's service does not find it quite convenient to pass.
[67] The great advantage of a potatoe crop, as I before observed, is the certainty of its success. Were a general failure of this root to take place, as sometimes happens to crops of rice, Ireland, in its present state, would experience all the horrors that attend a famine in some of the provinces of China.
[68] In the Canton jargon, second chop Englishmen; and even this distinction the Americans, I understand, have nearly forfeited in the minds of the Chinese.
[69] There are several good manuscript Chinese dictionaries in England; one of which is under publication by Doctor Montucci; who, I understand from good authority, by many years of indefatigable application, had succeeded in writing the characters with great neatness and accuracy; and is well qualified in other respects for the undertaking, in which, it is to be hoped, he may meet with suitable encouragement.
[70] This was written at the close of the year 1803.
[71] The Lord Viscount Melville.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Travels in China, Containing
Descriptions, Observations, and Comparisons, Made and Collected in the Course of a Short Residence at the Imperial Palace of Yuen-Min-Yuen, and on a Subsequent Journey through the Country from Pekin to Canton, by John Barrow
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