place of reason would therefore be supplied by the fist, or by any thing still harder that chanced to be grasped within it. The Chinese, not unprepared for the emer gency, and in full possession of their wits, would discomfit by dint of numbers, and drive the sailors down the lane; but these would presently return with rong reinforce ments; and so the tumult would grow, with successive charges and re-charges, and wounds deep and broad, until several individuals on either side were maimed or killed. The European commerce at Canton will be noticed specially hereafter. The amount of the native population of this city has been often discussed, but so little authentic information has ever been obtained on the subject, that it still remains a question wholly undecided. The sweeping calculations, however, by which some persons have endeavoured to make it amount to a million, do not seem to deserve much credit. As the whole circuit of the city has been compassed within two hours by persons on foot, it cannot exceed six or seven miles, and considering that the houses are not more than a single story in height, it seems difficult to imagine how such a monstrous number as a million can be stuffed within its precincts. Indeed a large portion of the manufacturing business of the place is carried on, not upon the spot, but at a place called Foshan, about ten or twelve miles higher up the river. This stream, which is of such magnitude opposite to the city as to float the largest junks, some of them equal to eight hundred or a thousand tons' burthen, loses much of its size at a town called San-shuey Hien, which is not more than thirty-six miles above Canton, and is so named from the river there forming "three streams," or branches, one of which conducts from the north, the other from the west, and the third, composed of these two united, leads down to the city. Nothing can exceed the beauty of the country along the sides of the river. The low country is interspersed with numerous well-wooded hills, planted chiefly with firs, which rise like islands above the cultivated flats by which they are surrounded. The banks of the stream are richly planted with fruit-trees, consisting of the peach, the orange, and the plantain; and experience has shown that their roots, imbedded in the rich mud which has been chiefly gained from the river, and constantly fed with moisture by the tides, succeed better in that situation than in any other. Not the least remarkable objects on the water, near Canton, are the immense rafts of fir which are constantly floated down to that place from the north and west. These are frequently many hundred yards in length, and consist often of systems of rafts lashed together, and extending to an incredible distance. They are guided down the river by means of long bamboo poles, managed by a few persons who erect their huts on the rafts, and make them their temporary abodes. A family of young children may frequently be seen sporting fearlessly, and in perfect security, on these huge plains of floating timber. It must be observed that no inconsiderable portion of what may be considered as the population of Canton exists upon the river, in the multitudes that inhabit the junks, barges, and small boats. A very large majority of the latter (as remarked in the "description" of the city) are Tân-kea, or "egg-house" boats, from their shape resembling the longitudinal section of an egg. They are generally not more than ten or twelve feet long, about six broad, and so low that a person can scarcely stand up in them. Their covering consists of a bamboo or mat tilt, shaped like that of a waggon, which is very light, and serves tolerably as a defence against the weather. Whole families live in these boats, and are considered as a distinct part of the population, being under a separate regulation, and not allowed to intermarry with those on shore. But for the method already described of sculling the river-craft, it would be physically impossible for such multitudes of vessels, large and small, to move about among each other without mutual impediment and confusion. The extreme order which reigned on the Canton river, notwithstanding its crowded state, particularly struck Captain Laplace, whom we have already quoted, and whose remarks on the subject are here translated, as the impressions of an individual altogether new to the place. "The greatest tranquillity, a perfect harmony, reigns amidst this aquatic population. All these boats, of forms and dimensions so varied, move peaceably about. No fights, and rarely any quarrels. Each boat carrying either passengers or goods, and sculled by a female surrounded by her little ones, meets everywhere with a good-humoured accommodation, in consequence of which, notwithstanding the rapid current of the river, accidents are extremely rare. What a lesson for the lower orders, so brutal, so coarse, among nations who pretend, at the same time, to be the most civilized in the world! In China, the knowledge and the arts, which have given such an impulse to the industry of France and England, are much as they were in Europe above a century ago; but I repeat that the Chinese are very much our superiors in true civilization-in that which frees the majority of long, about six broad, and so low that a person can scarcely stand up in them. Their covering consists of a bamboo or mat tilt, shaped like that of a waggon, which is very light, and serves tolerably as a defence against the weather. Whole families live in these boats, and are considered as a distinct part of the population, being under a separate regulation, and not allowed to intermarry with those on shore. But for the method already desc river-craft, it would be physical multitudes of |