sufficiently explains why, except the Great wall, there are few ancient monuments in China. Their edifices. are far from being of a solid construction, the columns being in most cases of wood, and the climate throughout the country subject to the greatest vicissitudes of moisture and dryness, as well as of heat and cold. The nine-storied buildings called pagodas, being of good solid brick-work, are among the most lasting. That of Nanking is at the head of these monuments, which are of a religious nature, and, like the steeples of churches, were at first attached to temples. Several still remain with the religious establishments to which they belong, besides the one at Nanking, a printed representation of which, with a description attached, was purchased by some of the embassy while in the neighbourhood. Its dimensions are nearly two hundred feet in height, the ground-plan being octagonal, and the spiral staircase built through the solid part of the wall, which surrounds a hollow space in the centre that is carried to the summit of the building. In niches at the sides of the stair are placed images of Budh, or of the goddess Kuân-yin.

Nanking being situated in lat. 32° 04', the excellence of the climate, joined to its proximity to the great Keang, still renders it a populous place with a very considerable trade, however fallen from its former splendour. Besides its silk manufactures, and the cotton cloth which takes its name, the Chinese highly esteem the paper, and the squares of ink which are made here. The pithy substance, in England vulgarly called rice. paper, is likewise prepared in this neighbourhood from a leguminous plant called Tung-tsaou, which like the rush inhabits marshy places. When the pirate Koshinga ravaged the eastern coasts, he sailed easily up

the mouth of the Keang to Nanking; and there is reason to suppose that, to a European fleet, it would be one of the most vulnerable parts of the empire, as the canal opens into the great river, a little below the city towards the sea. To blockade at once the mouth of the canal and of the Yangtse-keang, could scarcely fail to distress the empire, and especially Peking, which is fed by supplies from the southern provinces.

Nanking stands pretty nearly midway between Peking and Canton, the two most important extremes of China on the north and south. Notwithstanding the very considerable difference of climate which must be produced by no less than seventeen degrees of latitude, the general character of the cities and towns throughout the empire, and of the houses which they contain, is surprisingly uniform. The most striking features are the lowness of the houses, and the narrowness of the streets, which are usually paved with flag-stones, and calculated only for the passage of people on foot, or of those who are carried in sedan-chairs. The way is sometimes crossed by those triple gateways of an ornamental structure, which have been improperly styled triumphal arches, but which are of a square construction, and appear to have been usually erected to the memory of individuals celebrated for their talents or virtues. Another species of memorial, of the same kind, is a large stone slab, called She-pae, being about eight feet in height, two in breadth, and half a foot in thickness, covered with inscriptions, which record some honour conferred by the Emperor, or the merit of some eminent person. These are always erected perpendicularly on the figure of a tortoise, of the same stone from which the slab is cut.

The portion of Canton in which the European factories are situated, being a mere suburb, does not contain any of the decorations above described; but the arrangement and architecture of the streets and shops is precisely the same as within the walls of the city. The shops are commonly quite open towards the street,-that is, those appropriated to Chinese customers; for the few streets devoted to European trade are rather on a different plan, the shops being of a closer structure, and less exposed to external observation. The several streets are commonly devoted to distinct trades. There is Carpenter-street, or rather square, as it is carried round a parallelogram; Curiosity-street (as the English call it) is devoted to the sale of antiques, real and factitious; and Apothecary-street is full of druggists' shops, the drawers in which are neatly arranged and lettered, but filled principally with simples. By the side of each shop is suspended from on high a huge ornamental label of wood, varnished and gilded, on which are inscribed the particular calling of the tenant, and the goods in which he deals. This label being hung like the sign of one of our inns, with its edge towards the street, and inscribed on both sides, can be read by all who approach the shop in either direction; and the vista of these numerous variegated sign-boards, glittering with gold and varnish, gives to the better streets a very gay appearance.

The inscriptions in the shops are sometimes amusing, and at the same time highly characteristic of the keenness and industry of the people as traders. We have seen the following:-" Gossiping and long sitting injure business." "Former customers have inspired caution, -no credit given." "A small stream always flowing."

"Goods genuine, prices true." "Trade circling like a wheel," &c. Either the police must be very good, or the populace tolerably abstemious; for some of the shops, which are pretty richly supplied, appear to be much exposed towards the street. But the inhabitants of each division generally combine into a system of watch and ward for the common protection; and, during the night, the streets are closed at each end by doors, which are guarded by the regular police.

The principal shops connected with European and American trade are those occupied by dealers in silks, lackered and carved ware, and all those smaller articles that are not restricted to the Hong merchants, who have the exclusive privilege of trading in tea, cotton, and other chief commodities. When the latter feel occasionally inclined to push their monopoly beyond its established limits, and to encroach on the sufficiently narrow trade of the shopmen, these usually combine for the purpose of opposing them with some chance of success. At the close of 1834, the Hong merchants showed a disposition to exercise the whole weight of their exclusive privileges against the English free-trade, and even to add to them by depriving the shopmen of their accustomed dealings. A considerable ferment was created among the latter, which gave rise to a species of trades' unions, composed of manufacturers and dealers, who combined to plague the Hong merchants and petition the government, and succeeded, at length, in retaining such portion of the trade as they had before possessed.

The silk-weavers and dealers are much in the habit of forming combinations to maintain the rules of their trade, and the prices of work as well as goods. The forfeit for violating the laws of the combination is, to be

at the sole expense of a dramatic exhibition, which lasts for three days, and to pay half the value of the commodity sold contrary to rule, for the support of the tradesmen's Hall, of which there is generally one in every principal city, belonging to each wealthy corporation of traders, if they may be so termed. The embassy of 1816 observed at Kan-chow-foo, a principal city of Keang-sy province, that by far the most considerable buildings were the commercial halls, belonging to the associated merchants and dealers. The principal room in the Exchange of the green-tea merchants (who pass by this on their way to Canton) was named Hychun Tâng, or "Hyson hall." In the appropriation of these edifices, observes a private journal of the embassy, there is a singular combination of religious with commercial objects. They generally contain a temple of Budh, or some local divinity, and at the same time are used as an exchange, and house of entertainment and lodging, for the society of merchants to whom they belong.

The worshipful corporation of silkmen of Canton, having been of opinion in 1833 that some of their fraternity had been unfairly dealt with by an American, in a contract for silk piece-goods, forthwith exhibited a rather amusing placard against him. "In conducting commercial transactions (said the paper) the Chinese and foreigners are generally the same; in buying and selling with justice and equity, there is no difference between them. When the goods are delivered, the money is immediately paid; there are no perverse difficulties made, nor cutting deductions inflicted. But there is now living in the Swedish factory, No. 2, an