tends for about 700 miles in a southerly direction. There can be little doubt that this great plain-three times as large as England—has been formed in the course of ages by the mud brought down by the Yellow River, or Hoang-ho, and to some extent by the Yang-tse. The delta is still increasing, for towns which a thousand years ago stood on the sea-shore are now many miles inland. The greater portion of the plain is below the level of the Yellow River; hence the disastrous inundations which often accompany the rise of that river. 7. Between the place where it enters the Great Plain of China and the sea, the Yellow River has so often changed its course that the Chinese know it by the name of the "Sorrow of Han." In 2,000 years it has altered its course nine times, flowing into the sea by as many different beds. In 1851, and the two following years, it overflowed its banks, submerging a strip of country twelve miles wide, and, forcing its way into the narrow channel of the Ta-tsing river, discharged its waters into the Gulf of Pe-che-lee, 240 miles north of its former mouth. 8. The Blue River, or Yang-tse-Kiang, rises in the table-land of Tibet, to the west of its sister river, the Hoang-ho. It is navigable for steamers for 1,200 miles from its mouth. Above this, the rapids of the mountain gorges effectually bar the way. 9. The Grand Canal-one of the many canals in China-was constructed about the seventh century, and, as in all parts of its course there is a perceptible current, it is classed among the rivers of the Celestial Empire. It traverses 700 miles of the Great Plain from Han-chow, on the inlet of the sea of the same name, until it unites Iwith the river Pei-ho. It varies in breadth, but is connected with so many off-shoots and branches, that it plays a most important share in the commerce and agriculture of the country. Its banks are lined with cities, towns, and villages; and, owing to its richness of soil and the easy means of communication which the canal affords, the plain of the Grand Canal is one of the most thickly populated in the country. Of late years some parts of this, the greatest of all the public works of China, have been allowed to fall into decay, with the consequence that regions once prosperous now look arid and barren; and villages and towns which for hundreds of years were the busy hives of the most industrious of men, are now falling into decay, and, in some instances, are almost deserted. 10. On all the rivers of China there is an immense local traffic. They are covered with boats, and, near the cities, with thousands of floating dwelling-houses, in which are born, live, and die, a large population, whose habits and modes of existence form some of the most curious features in the strange life in China. 11. The lakes of China are numerous, and not only do they drain considerable tracts of country, but, as in the case of the Tong-ting and Po-yang, they unite with the great Yang-tse-Kiang, and aid in increasing the noble network of water-ways which permeate the most populous provinces of China. In the rainy season, when it receives the surplus waters of the Yang-tse and other rivers, the Po-yang is said to be 300 miles long. It is then a wild stormy water, and much of the country in its vicinity is a perfect morass. In the dry season its waters abate so rapidly, that in the course of a few weeks it resembles not so much a lake as a river, winding its course towards the Yang-tse-Kiang between low banks of mud. This lake abounds in wild fowl-geese, ducks, teal, divers, and pelicans which are captured by the native fowlers, and sold in the cities which stud the banks of the great rivers. 12. The Tong-ting lake is studded with islands, one of which, much visited by the pious Chinese, contains many temples in honour of Buddha, and is the abode of numerous priests. On the "Golden Island" the tea-plant is grown in great abundance, and as the tea produced in this locality is considered to prolong life, a portion of it is sent every year to the imperial palace at Pekin, for the use of the Emperor and Court. Tai-hoo is another large lake, surrounded by a pleasant country producing large quantities of cotton, green tea, silk, and plastic clay, of which some of the best "china is made. 13. The coasts of China, bordering the Great Plain, are flat and low, and in some places swampy. Southwards from the Yang-tse to the Canton river, the shores are steep and rocky, and bordered with rocky islets. The two larger islands are Formosa and Hai-nan. The central and eastern portion of the former are still in the hands of the barbarous aboriginal and Malay tribes. The latter island has been more completely subdued, but in the mountainous interior the submission of the aboriginal tribes is only partial. LESSON XII. THE CHINESE EMPIRE.-CHINA PROPER.-II. 1. Extending as it does through twenty degrees of latitude, China possesses a climate which varies greatly from this cause alone. We have also to bear in mind its variations of level, from the low plains of the coast to the mountain fringes of the central Asiatic plateau. With the exception of a small strip on the south, China lies wholly within the temperate zone. In general, however, it may be said that the climate is more extreme and the temperature lower than in the European countries lying in the same latitude. It rather resembles the climate of corresponding latitudes of the American continent. For instance, though Pekin is a degree south of Naples, its mean annual temperature is ten degrees lower than that of the Italian city. 2. In the northern provinces the winter cold and the summer heat are both severe. In July, August, and September, the interior and coast-lying towns in the southern provinces are almost furnaces; and this is the period at which the dreaded hurricanes, called typhoons, arrive, as well as those virulent and epidemic diseases for which the country has obtained so unenviable a notoriety. The typhoons rage from south to the east, but are unknown north of the port of Shanghai. On the estuary of the Canton river the authorities cal ulated that in 1862, 60,000 persons were drowned, or killed by falling houses, during one of these dreadful hurricanes, which lasted fourteen hours. In the extreme south, the southern monsoon begins to blow in March or April, and continues till October. It brings with it moisture from the heated ocean in such quantities that the rainfall averages seventy inches per annum. From October to February, during the north-eastern monsoon, little or no rain falls in this region, and the cold is sometimes severe. 3. We may distinguish three zones of climatenorthern, central and southern. The northern, characterised by extremes of winter cold and summer heat, yields European grains, vegetables, and fruit. The central region enjoys a more equable temperature, and is the largest and richest portion of China. The chief productions are tea, silk, rice, wheat, cotton, hemp, sugar, and the bamboo. The southern zone has an almost tropical climate. Oranges, mangoes, and bananas, ground nuts, sweet potatoes and yams, besides rice, are the staple fruits and vegetables. The opium poppy is cultivated in the interior provinces. 4. Most of the wild animals have long been extirpated, but the elephant, tiger, and rhinoceros, are still occasionally met with in the south-western provinces. The domestic animals are similar to our own; but the dogs are of one variety, of a pale yellow colour, and in form resembling our spaniel. 5. China has mineral resources far surpassing those of Europe. The coal fields of North China alone have been estimated to occupy an area of over 80,000 square miles, which is nearly seven times as great as those of Great Britain, and more than two-thirds those of the United States of America. So abundant are coal and labour in the province of Ho-nan, that the best anthracite coal is sold in some parts at less than a shilling per ton at the pit's mouth. The lower part of the basin of the Yangtse may also be described as being one immense coal field. Iron-ore of various kinds is found in every province, and in great abundance; whilst copper, lead, tin, silver, and gold, are so plentiful that scarcely a district |