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of Chinese works, a few poetical collections, romances, and less important treatises. When Admiral Roze captured the capital, he found carefully preserved in one of the buildings a library of upwards of four thousand books, bound in green and crimson silk. One volume, evidently highly valued, consisted of a series of marble tablets united by copper-gilt hinges. Each tablet was embedded in a cushion of scarlet silk, and the letters were of encrusted gold. The native language is of the so-called "Turanian" family, but it is now much mingled with Chinese words, which, however, are made to undergo the regular Corean declension.*

The religion of the country has also undergone a metamorphosis at the hands of the Chinese. At one time it was Buddhism, but since the introduction of the doctrines of Confucius, in the fourteenth century, they have been gradually displacing the older faith, until at the present time they are almost universally adopted, though with the admixture of various indigenous superstitions, from which the purer form of worship practised in China is exempt. The educated classes have even further advanced, until their religion mainly consists in the worship of ancestors, with the attendant ceremonies connected with births, deaths, funerals, and mourning. Soothsayers are, however, held in high repute, and as blind men are supposed to have prophetic power, the sightless people of the country have formed themselves into a regular professional guild, whose services are greatly in demand, to use Mr. Webster's words, "for the discovery of secrets, the foretelling of the future, and the exorcising of devils. In this latter operation they trust principally to noise as a means of frightening the spirits, whom they ultimately catch in a bottle and carry off in triumph." The Coreans, as both the Americans and the French learned to their cost, are no despicable enemies. Their cannon were found to be well-finished breech-loaders, and though their boats and junks are fastened together without a metal nail, they are very fair specimens of Oriental vessels. At the present time a great deal of illicit trade goes on between the Chinese and the Coreans at the palisade-gate, and other places on the frontier, and much Manchester cotton finds its way into the country. Indeed, the Coreans themselves declare that at one time they imported thirty thousand pieces of foreign manufactures yearly, and as they cannot possibly produce goods as cheaply as we could sell them to their planters in exchange for raw material, there may in time be a chance of opening up a trade with this exclusive people, their exclusiveness, however, being more artificial restrictions put on them by their rulers than any desire on their part to keep apart from the world.

Their mines are undoubtedly rich, and their other products quite equal to those of China and Japan. Their cotton is, indeed, not much inferior to that of the Carolinas, and would doubtless command a ready market. One of their chief articles of trade with the Chinese would, however, experience a less eager demand. This is human hair, the abundance of which is accounted for by a curious Corean custom. The boys' hair is allowed to grow until it can be divided in the middle and the hind portion plaited into a "tail." At marriage the tail is cut off and sold to the Chinese.

On the borders of Corea and China, safe from either in their mountain fastness, live a peculiar semi-savage Mantchu race, who employ themselves in collecting medicinal roots and * Medhurst: "A Translation of a Comparative Vocabulary of Chinese, Corcan, and Japanese” (1835).

in cutting down trees, which they float down the rivers to the Ya-lei-kiang, in the valley of which some of them also live. They appear, likewise, to find gold in abundance, for they invariably pay the balance in their dealings with the Chinese and Coreans in that metal.*

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MANTCHURIA.

The founders of the present or Tsing" dynasty of Chinese rulers-who ascended the throne in 1641-were originally chiefs of the Mantchu Tartars-semi-savage nomads who roamed in the country north and east of China. This region of Mantchuria is still a part of the Chinese empire, and, owing to its being the natal country of the emperors, is especially favoured by them. It is divided into three provinces, though one of

these-viz., Southern Mantchuria, or Shinking-is almost a part of China proper, and in our notice of that part of the empire has been briefly touched upon (p. 40). Central Mantchuria, known as Kirin, or Tchilin, is less incorporated, while Ho-lung-chiang, or Northern Mantchuria, is the Chinese part of the Amoor country, the greater part of which we have seen (pp. 6-10) has been absorbed by Russia. These regions are usually known as Tung-san-shêng-the "three eastern provinces." The first-named division, also sometimes called Liao-tung, having been already noticed, may in this brief sketch be dismissed. Kirin, or Central Mantchuria, is usually represented on the map as being bounded for some distance on the west by a palisade or stake defence. This is, however, something very different from the famous great wall which was built across the provinces of Pe-chili and Shanse to keep out the Tartars, and which still, in greater or less integrity, remains. In truth, "the barrier of stakes," which is pourtrayed with such circumstantiality on all the maps of China, exists merely in the imagination of the Emperor and the chartographers. There is, according to the report of Mr. Williamson, only "a sort of gate at the passes, and a ditch or shadow of a fence for a few yards on either side." The whole area of the country may be estimated at 135,000 square miles, and like Southern Mantchuria may be divided into two portions-one prairie and the other mountainous-the first being, however, only a small area compared to the north-east corner "within the link of the Soongari" river. The mountain region is very fine, some of the peaks rising to the height of from 10,000 to 12,000 feet, and covered all the year round with snow on their summits. Often also in the middle of the plains may be seen conical peaks, isolated from every range, and appearing at a distance "like a number of dish-covers on a large dining-table." Through it course the Soongari, Hurka, and Usuri, the waters of all of which eventually find their way into the Amoor. Indeed, it is doubtful whether the first should not be considered the continuation proper of that river. Central and Northern Mantchuria may thus be considered "one huge basin, corrugated by several mountain ranges, with their respective streams, the mouth of the basin

+ Williamson: "Journeys in North China," Vol. II., p. 303. Corea is known to the natives as Chosien (Tso-sjon); to the Chinese as Kaoli, and to the Japanese as Korai, hence our name of Corea. It is one of the least known countries in the world, our information regarding it being extremely scanty. The chief source for our data is M. Dallet's "L'Eglise de la Corée" (1874); see also Oppert: "A Forbidden Land" (1880).

lying towards the north-east." The extremes of climate are more marked than in Southern Mantchuria, but as the shortness of the summer season is compensated for by the rapidity of the growth and maturity of the crops, the weather does not interfere with agriculture. Mr. Williamson, from whom we derive nearly all our knowledge of this part of China, describes the country from Pet-tua-na eastward as a level plain, only broken by insignificant undulations, and covered for the most part with a waving sea of tall grass, varied by a

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little brushwood, a few trees, and cultivated patches in the vicinity of hamlets. monotony of the prevailing scenery is, however, more than compensated for by the variety, beauty, and frequent boldness of the mountain districts, and the ever-changing aspects of the hills and valleys, woods and streams, and the extreme luxuriance of the temperate vegetation. The contrast between this region and Shan-tung, further south, is remarkable. In the former province (p. 33) the tops of the hills are bald: in this part of Mantchuria they are as green as in Scotland, and in places cultivated to the summit. the tops of every high ridge are found oaks, elms, and willows of such huge size that they look as luxuriantly clothed as some of the islands in the Indian archipelago. Here the

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severe winter frosts freeze the moisture in the soil, so that when the summer heats come with all their force the vegetation is supplied with abundance of water. In the regions further south the contrary prevails. In Shan-tung there is little frost, and accordingly the rain which falls on the soil is evaporated rapidly, leaving little for plant life

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at the period when it most requires it. Socially, Mantchuria is really only an extension of China, for the greater portion of the inhabitants are emigrants from the northern provinces. They get land at nominal prices, and their industry not being left behind in the land of their birth, they are gradually converting waste lands into rich farms, and are likely in course of time, owing to the better climate and the more abundant supply of food, to turn out a finer race than their relatives in China proper. There is, however, such an

enormous tract of country to be settled that it will be ages before much impression can be made on it, and under good government it ought to attract much of that immigration which is flowing into foreign countries.

In addition to the Chinese, there are a considerable number of Mohammedans settled in Mantchuria. They are the proprietors of many of the best restaurants in the towns, and their lodging-houses for the traveller are usually kept much more cleanly than those of the Sinetic infidel. Their religion also keeps them apart, physically and socially, from the Chinese, but to foreigners they are well disposed. The Mantchus, curiously enough, are now in a minority, and so rapidly has the process of amalgamation been going on that there is at this day some difficulty in distinguishing between them and the Chinese. In the central province they are for the most part agriculturists, and in dress, manners, customs, and language are Mantchu no longer. They are, indeed, gradually dropping their own tongue, and it is only the youths, who from their position or prospects are expected to cultivate the ancient language, who take the trouble to go to the Mantchu schools established in some of the larger towns. Nomad Mantchus are few; indeed, Mr. Williamson in all his journeys met none, and is inclined to think that their nomadic propensities have died out. Even the soldiers drafted from Northern Mantchuria, though wilder in appearance than their brethren from the south, are, when at home, agriculturists. Yet there is plenty of room for vagabond propensities did these exist, for the land is great and the population small.

Most of the settlements are along the lines of travel, but away from these the country is thinly dotted with farms and villages. Altogether, Mr. Williamson calculated nine years ago the population of central Manchuria to be about 2,000,000, and the official statistics, or rather rather estimates, for the three provinces put it at 12,000,000. Of the cities, Kirin Oola is one of the finest, and perhaps one of the most beautifully situated in China. Built on the banks of the majestic Soongari, at the foot of a range of hills which form about three-fourths of a circle around it, it could not be better placed as regards picturesqueness. But the narrow, unflagged streets, and the low-roofed, poor houses, stamp it as a town of third-rate rank architecturally. Many of the squares are, however, tastefully ornamented, and some of the streets are paved with blocks of wood. Its chief commerce consists in the building of junks and boats, for which industry the abundant supply of wood gives it great facilities. The country is, as a rule, fertile, the soil being over great tracts a deep fat loam, apparently formed by the decay of vegetation, so that after the brushwood and trees-where they are found are cleared off, little labour is needed to secure good crops. Pulse is the chief crop. Maize is also cultivated extensively, and the surplus wasted in distilling a kind of whisky; but wheat, barley, and potatoes, though grown to some extent, are not highly appreciated. Another crop, which has only been introduced within the last few years, is now attaining ominous and alarming properties. This is opium, now considered the most profitable occupant of the soil; and though illegal, its growth here, as in other parts of the empire, is winked at by the corrupt mandarins. Its effect, not only on the parts of the country into which it is sent, but on the growers themselves, is described as being impossible to exaggerate. Men and women are becoming almost universally

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