removed from one place to another; and at different times, like the country itself, it has been called by different names, which it received either from its situation or from some passing occurrence. One of its earliest names, and one which is still used in books, was Yang ching, "the city of Rams." This designation was obtained from the following occurrence, viz :-Five genii, clothed with garments of five different colors, and riding on rams of five different colors, met at the capital; each of the rams bore in his mouth a stalk of grain having six ears, and presented them to the people of the district, to whom the genii thus speak :

Yuen tsze hwan hwae, yung woo hwang ke:

May famine and dearth never visit your markets.

Having uttered these words, they immediately disappeared, and the rams were changed into stone.

-From this same occurrence, the city is also called "the city of Genii," and "the city of Grain ;" and one of their temples is named "the temple of the Five Genii." This temple stands fear one of the gates of the city which is called "the gate of the Five Genii ;" and in it the five stone rams are to be seen to this day.-There are many other legends interwoven with the history of the city, but we need not stop here to narrate them.

During the reign of the famous Tsin Chewang, about two centuries and a half before the Christian era, the people of the south rose in open rebellion, and the emperor sent thither 500,000 men to subdue them. These soldiers were divided into five armies, one of which was stationed at Pwanyu. For three full years these soldiers neither relaxed their discipline, nor put off their armor. At length however, provisions failed; the people become desperate, and made a furious onset against their invaders; the imperial troops were routed; their commander slain, and the blood flowed several tens of le, or Chinese miles.-But these rebellious tribes

shortly after submitted to the founder of the Han dynasty, two centuries before our era. In the time of Woo-te, Nan-yuě included nine of the thirty-six keun, or principalities, into which China was then divided; and the city of Canton was called Nanhae keun, "the principality of Nanhae;" and Pwanyu was a distinct heen.

In the reigh of Keën-gan, A. D. 210, we first meet with Kwangchow, which was then the name of an extensive territory, and is now the name of the department which includes the city of Canton. During the two next centuries the changes and divisions were very frequent, and too numerous to be mentioned. In the time of 'l'een-keën,-or Woo-te, "the martial monarch"-whose reign closed A. D. 543, the people of Canton sent a piece of fine cloth as tribute to the emperor; but that hardy warrior was so displeased with its luxurious softness that he rejected it, and issued a mandate forbidding the manufacture of any more cloth of so fine a quality. During the reign of the same emperor, Kwangchow was divided; and a part of it was called Kweichow, which is now Kweilin, the capital of the province of Kwangse. In this division the Chinese find the origin of the names of the two Kwang provinces, namely, Kwangtung săng, or "the wide eastern province;" and Kwangse săng, "the wide western province."-It should be observed here, that this province was not actually called Kwangtung säng until a subsequent period. We first meet with the name Kwangtung in the reign of Shaouting of the Sung dynasty, about 1150. During the reign of the next emperor, and so until the close of the dynasty, it was called Kwangtúng loo; under the Yuen dynasty it, was called Kwangtung taou; and received its present name, Kwangtung săng in the reign of Hungwoo, the first emperor of the Ming dynasty. It was at the same time also (about A. D. 1368) that Kwangchow, the principal district of the

province, was first called a for; previously it had been usually called Kwangchow loo.

For three or four centuries previous to this time, considerable intercourse was maintained between the inhabitants of India and the people of Canton. But it was not until about A. D. 700, and in the time of the Tang dynasty, that a regular market for foreign commerce was opened at Canton, and an imperial commissioner appointed to receive the "fixed duties" in behalf of the government. "Extraordinary commodities and curious manufactures began to be introduced;" and in 705 the famous pass was cut by Chang Kewling, through the Meiling chain in order to facilitate intercourse between Canton and the more northern parts of the empire. Multitudes of trading vessels now flocked to Canton; but in 795, either because the extortions were insupportable, or from some failure in affording proper inducement to the merchants, they all deserted the place, and repaired to Cochinchina. Near the close of the next century, the Cochinchinese came by land, and made war on Canton ; provisions became scarce, and large vessels were built to bring grain from the province of Fuhkeën.

After the fall of the Tang dynasty, A. D. 906, there arose, reigned and fell, all within the period of about fifty-three years, five dynasties. To the first of these the people of Canton sent tribute of gold, silver, ivory, and various other valuable commodities, to the amount of five millions of taels. In consequence of this, the emperor created Lewyen, the principal person concerned in sending the tribute, king of Canton, under the title of nan-hae wang, "king of the southern sea." The court of Canton is represented, at this time, as having been cruel and extravagant in the extreme;" criminals were boiled, and roasted, and flayed, and thrown on spikes, and were forced to fight with tigers and elephants." The horrid tale of these awful cruelties shocked the founder of the Sung dynasty, who in the

fourteenth year of his reign, A. D. 964, declared it to be his duty to rescue from evil the people of this region. A prodigy was now seen in the heavens, "all the stars flowed to the north ;" and in the ensuing year the people obtained peace and tranquillity.

The first emperors of the Sung dynasty appear to have studied much the welfare of Canton, whose inhabitants then lived in a very barbarous state. Witches and wizards were prohibited; sorcery was interdicted; and the temples, which had been built for the practice of superstitious rites, were thrown down by order of government. The people were forbidden also "to kill men to sacrifice to demons ;" and to relieve the sufferers from the noxious diseases which were prevalent, dispensaries of medicines were established. Useless and extravagant articles of apparel were discountenanced; and pearls and ornaments of gold for headdresses were disallowed. government likewise forbade expeditions against Cochinchina, reprobating the idea of distressing the people from a mere covetous desire of gaining useless territory. territory. In 1067, during the reign of the fifth emperor of this dynasty, the city of Canton was inclosed by a wall, at an expense of 50,000 taels. This wall was about two English miles in circumference, and was built for a defence against the people of Cochinchina, who had frequently invaded and plundered Canton.

The founders of the Yuen dynasty, who became masters of the throne in 1279, rushed in upon the south of China like bloodhounds. Towns and villages were laid in ruins, and such multitudes of the people were slain, that "the blood flowed in sounding torrents." For a time the foreign commerce of Canton was interrupted; but when peace and tranquillity were restored, commerce began again to revive. In 1300, an "abundance of vessels came to Canton;" and not long afterwards the ports of the provinces of Chekeäng and Fuhkeën were also opened for the reception of foreign ships.

Fernao Peres de Andrade seems to have been the pioneer in European commerce to China by the cape of Good Hope. He reached Canton in 1517 during the peaceful and most prosperous times of the Ming dynasty. Spanish, Dutch, and English adventurers, soon followed the Portuguese. And the ports of Canton, Macao, and Teën-pih in this province; those of Ningpo and Chusan in Chekening; and that of Amoy in Fuhkeën, became large marts for European commerce.

We pass now to the time when the present Tartar family gained possession of the throne of China. In the third year of Shunche, A. D. 1647, the inhabitants of the city and province of Canton "had rest and tranquillity;" and the divisions and government continued as they had been during the time of the preceding reign. But this quiet state of affairs was not long to be enjoyed. Yungleih, endeavoring to revive the authority of the Ming family, raised the standard of rebellion; imperial armies, composed partly of Tartar and partly of Chinese soldiers, were dispatched from Peking; and the provinces of Fuhkeën, Kwangse, and Kwangtung soon submitted-excepting only the city of Canton, which resolved to try the fortune of war. The place was well prepared for defence, and the people for obstinate resistance. The river on the

south, and the ditches on the east and west of the city, rendered it accessible to the enemy only on the north; for the Tartars "had neither boats nor skill to manage them, but the city had both the one and the other," and a free navigation of the river southward to the sea. The garrison of the city too was strengthened by great numbers who fled hither for safety. For more than eleven mouths the Tartars continued to make frequent assaults, and were as often repulsed and driven back with great slaughter. The final capture of the city is described by Martin Martini, a jesuit who was at that time in the south of China, in the following words: