CHINA.
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According to a return of the Imperial Customs authorities, the total number of foreigners in China was 3,817 at the end of 1877. Among them were 1,851 nati.es of Great Britain and Ireland, 383 of the United States, 353 of Germany, and 176 of France, all other nationalities being represented by very few members. More than one-half of the total number of foreigners resided at Shanghai, the remainder being scattered over the other ports open to foreign commerce.
In addition to China proper there are its dependencies. The principal of thear are Mongolia, with an area of 1,288,035 square miles, with some 2,000,000 people; and Manchuria, with an area of 362,313 square miles, and a population of 3,000,000, The latter is being steadily and rapidly colonised by Chinese, who will soon outnumber the Manchus in their own land. Thibet, which is also practically a dependency of China, has an area of 643,734 square miles and a population of 6,000,000 souls. It is ruled by the Dalai Lama, but subject to the Government of Peking.
Of all the numerous kingdoms that formerly acknowledged the suzerainty of the Dragon Throne and paid tribute to the Emperor, Korea is the only one that still yields willing allegiance. The Chinese Government has, however, no control over the internal affairs of Korea. The Japanese induced the Korean Government to enter into treaty relations with them in 1876. In May, 1882, Commodore Shufeldt negotiated a treaty with Korea on behalf of the United States (since ratified by the Washington Government), and Korea concluded a treaty with England on the 26th November, 1883, and has since also entered into treaty relations with Germany, Russia, Italy, and Austria. The area of Korea is 90,300 square miles, and the population is variously estimated from 8,000,000 to 10,000.00).
ARMY AND NAVY.
The standing military force of China consists of two great divisions, the first formed by the more immediate subjects of the ruling dynasty, the Manchus, and the second by the Chinese and other subject races. The first, the main force upon which the Imperial Government can rely, form the so-called troops of the Eight Banners, and garrison all the great cities, but so as to be separated by walls and forts from the population. According to the latest reports, the Imperial armny comprises a total of 850,000 men, including 678 companies of Tartar troops, 211 companies of Mongols, and native Chinese infantry, a kind of militia, numbering 120,000 men. The native soldiers do not as a rule live in barracks, but in their own houses, mostly pursuing some civil occupation.
The Chinese navy is in process of formation. It consi ted, prior to the Franco Chinese war of 1884, mainly of small gunboats built at the Mamoi Arsenal, Foochow, and at Shanghai, on the foreign model, and the entire navy was manned by about 6,000 sailors and carried 280 guns. Included in these were the revenue cruisers, several of which were built in England. The principal vessels in point of size were two wooden frigates, 2,800 tons builder's measurement, after which came the Yang Woo, a wooden corvette of 1,300 tons builder's measurement, 11 guns. [This vessel was sunk by the French at Foochow, together with eight gunboats, in August, 1884.] The most formidable vessels now possessed by China unquestionably are the ironclad turret ships Ting Yuen and Chen Yuen, built in 1888, and the Tsi Yuen in 1884 at Stettiu, and two gun-vessels, the Chao Yung and Yung Wei, built on the Ty....... sent out to China in the autumn of 1881. These vessels have a displace of 1,350 tons, are built of steel, and are propelled by twin screws driven by compound engines of, together, 2,600 indicated horse-power. They each carry two 26-ton breech-loading guna, one mounted forward as the other aft, four 40-pounder breech-loading guns, two 9-pounder breech-loads, two Nordenfelts, and four Gatlings. They are both armed with a formidable steel knife-edged ram, ami carry steam-cutters fitted with spar torpedoes. An armoured cruiser, called the Nam Thin, built in Germany in 1883, and a steel corvette, the Nan Shuin, launched at Kiel in January, 1884, are the most recent additions to the navy. After these come the eleven gunboats named after the letters of the Greek alphabet from Alpha to Lambda. The frst four are 118 feet 6 inches long, with a draught of 7 feet 6 inches, and a di-place. ment of 400 tons. They each carry a 271-ton gun. The next four, which arrived in