435
43
42
REPORT ON
Population, Character, &c.-The population of the island of Chusan is stated by the Rev. Dr. Gutzlaff to be at a maximum 270,000, exclusive of the islands. Lieutenant Sargent of Her Majesty's 18th Regiment was out four months with Captain D'Haviland, engaged in surveying the interior of the island, and indicated to me one hundred thickly-populated towns and villages as marked on his map, which are stated by Lieutenant Sargent to contain each from 1000 to 5000 inhabitants. He considers the island thickly peopled, and it appeared so to me in my excursions. The density of the population may be inferred from the circumstances of the females being equal if not exceeding the males in number, and from the great abundance of children everywhere observable.
There is now before me a census of the town or city of Tinghae, the capital of Chusan, made by the Rev. Dr. Gutzlaff in 1843; in which each house is numbered, the occupation of the proprietor stated, and the men and women, boys and girls, enumerated. According to this document, the inhabitants of Tinghae city are,-
Men. Women, Boys, Girls. 9,842 7,870 4,961 3,477
Total 26,150
The number of houses is given at 4,556, which, divided among 26,150 inhabitants, would give nearly six persons to each dwelling ;--- a small average for China.
In robustness of form the men of Chusan, who are of an underset build, are quite equal to those of England, and they travel easily with a weight on their shoulders, slung from either end of a bamboo, which the strongest London porter would find it difficult to raise from the ground. They are industrious, civil, inquisitive, ready to supply any of our wants, and to imitate anything we require to be made.
The population is chiefly agricultural. There is much apparent comfort in the farm-houses; abundance of pigs, poultry, and goats round every farm. The people are comfortably clothed, lodged, well fed and housed. There is no extreme poverty, no beggars, and few large estates, the proprietorship of land being very much subdivided. There is great honesty among all classes, who are in general peaceable, orderly, and well conducted. Captain Bamfield, the magistrate of the island, to whom great credit is due for the preservation of social order, informs me that there has not been a case of homicide in the island since the peace of 1842, and that he does not know of any other part of the world where there is so little crime in proportion to the popu lation. Indeed, the petty offences which take place are committed by strangers to the island; by persons from the main land.
The police for the whole island does not cost 100 dollars a-month;
necessary to be unremitting in his exertions, and to make application to the admiral direct, if aught was wanted. The surgeon recommended that a ship should be laid apart as an hospital ship, and that another should be given to take a portion of convalescents to sea for change of air. Unfortunately, however, there were no ships available at that time."
CHUSAN.
and the amount of property stolen and not recovered does not amount to 150 dollars a-year. There is frequently a clear jail, and of the eigh- teen or twenty prisoners now there most of them are confined for selling samshu (spirits) to the soldiers. In civil cases regarding money or land the people cheerfully submit their suits to Captain Bamfield's arbitration, and almost without exception the defaulters admit the claims made on them, and readily consent to arrangements for liqui- dating the debt in time, according to their means. The debts of ancestors are always recognized.
The people seem attached to our rule; they imitate our customs, and have great confidence in our veracity*. In many parts of Tinghae the name and designation of the shopkeeper is neatly painted in English over his door. Our language is being acquired very rapidly; particu- larly by young people, and they take great delight in their proficiency. Idolatry or superstition seems to have little hold on them; veneration for the manes of their ancestors, and the performance of various funeral rites at picturesque or neatly sculptured tombs, constitute their principal religious creed and ritual.
Although spies have been sent from the mainland by the mandarins to watch and intimidate those who might be friendly disposed towards us, yet many have not hesitated to avow their anxiety for our retention of the island, and to express their dread of the restoration of mandarin authority and all its "squeezings" and indefinable exactions.
A revenue might easily be derived from Chusan, adequate at least to the payment of its civil government. It is stated that, during the Chinese occupation of the island, the land revenue was 13,500 leangs of silver annually; the leang at Ningpo is equal to 2000 cash. There was also paid 6 measures of rice at 23 cash per measure, and 15 catties of grain at 16 cash per catty on each mow of cultivated land. The tax was levied in coin, and paid into the imperial treasury. Among other taxes, there was a stamp on deeds, on the registration of property, &c. There was also a tax on the "foundation of houses," which may be con- sidered a ground-rent. There could be little difficulty in raising a sufficient revenue from such an extensive population, spread over a highly-cultivated country.
Animal Food, Fish, and Vegetable Productions.--Of beef, mut- ton, and pork, there is a regular supply, at an average price of fourpence per pound. The grazing ground is good, and. under European manage-
* In a letter from Chusan, dated 30th May, 1845, from a very intelligent and close observer, who has the best means of judging of the feelings of the people, there is the following passage:-
"Nothing could exceed the peaceful and friendly disposition evinced by the natives. At Chusan, in particular, their favorable feeling is evinced by the extra- ordinary number of buildings, which, in the last seven months, have been crceted in the immediate vicinity of the barracks. And to the eastward of Flag-staff Hill, a space extending 400 yards along the bund, and about 100 yards in depth, has been laid out in streets, covered with buildings, and is now a busy town, where nine months ago you saw a mere swamp.
"With regard to the health of the foreign residents, I believe there is nearly, if not quite, as little sickness among them, as in any community of the same size in England."