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The city of Canton is one of the oldest cities in this part of the empire; and, since its foundations were first laid, has undergone numerous changes. It is not easy, and perhaps
and perhaps not possible, to determine its original site and name, or to ascertain the time in which it was first built. But although it is not important to decide either of these questions, it may be interesting to the reader to have a brief account of what the Chinese themselves narrate, respecting one of their largest and most populous and wealthy cities. *
The historians of Canton are able to trace the origin of this city to the time of Nanwáng, one of the last emperors of the Chau dynasty, who reigned 2000 years ago. The city, which was then called nán wú ching," the matial city of the south," was surrounded by nothing more than a kind of stockade, composed of bamboos and mud; and perhaps was not very much ́unlike some of the modern “ strong holds " of the Malays. It was at first of narrow dimensions, but was after- wards enlarged, and seems to have been more than once 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 yáng ching, "the city of rams." This designation was obtained from the following occurrence': Five genii, clothed with garments of five different col- ors, 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 spake:
Yuen tsi hoán hoái, vung trú hoảng kí;
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 near 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 his- tory of the city, but we need not stop here to narrate them. ***
That part of the city which is surrounded by a wall is built nearly in the form of a square, and is divided, by a wall running from east to west, into parts. The northern, which is much the largest part, is called the old city; the southern part is called the new city
Accord-