Directory_and_Chronicle_1868 — Page 614

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GEOGRAPHICAL AND STATISTICAL.

331

The above population, giving 283 souls per square mile throughout the empire, appears to be excessive, considering that some of the outlying portions of the immense territory are by no means densely inhabited. Nevertheless, later returns than those of 1812, likewise said to be official, give still higher figures. It is stated that in a census taken in 1842, the population of China was ascertained to number 414,686,994, or 320 per English square mile. Since the accession of the present dynasty, a census, or rough enumeration of the population, takes place every ten years, but the results are not always, and never completely, made public. From what has become known of these computations of the people, it would appear that China nearly trebled its population in the hundred years 1742 to 1842, and that it doubled in the seventy years 1772 to 1842.

The standing military force of China consists nominally of four divisions--the Manchoos, in 678 companies of 100 men each, the Mongols, in 211 companies, and 106,000 Chinese, all cavalry, and 500,000 native infantry, besides 125,000 irregular troops or militia, in all, 829,900 men. Besides these, many irregular troops are stationed in the provinces of Mongolia, Turkestan, Tibet, where the government is military, and in all considerable cities there is a garrison of Tartar troops. But recent reports state the Chinese army to be composed of only 600,000 men! scaitered over the surface of the empire. A standing army, in the European sense of the word, is not in existence. The soldiers do not live in barracks, but in their own houses, pursuing as chief business some civil occupation, frequently that of day-labourers, and meeting only on certain occasions, pursuant to orders from the military chieftains.

Trade and Commerce.

The first attempt on the part of Great Britain to open a trade with China was made in 1637, when four merchant vessels arrived at Macao; but through the intrigues of the Portuguese there established, the enterprise failed. Afterwards the East India Company carried on a small traffic at the different maritime ports, and chiefly at Canton. In 1792, Lord Macartney's embassy attempted to put the trade on a more liberal basis, but with little success. In 1816, Lord Amhert's mission for a similar purpose also failed, though thể English trade continued for the next twenty years. In 1834 the exclusive trade of the East India Company with China terminated, and the country was thrown open to general traders. The total value of the principal articles imported from China into the United Kingdom in each of the years 1861, 1862, and 1863, is given in the subjoined table :—

Imports from China into the United K'dom.

1861.

1862.

1863.

Canes or sticks, of all sorts,....................

£13,782

£8,342

Cassia Lignea,...................

1,231

936

£13,984 5,462

•

China or Porcelain Ware and Earthen-

ware,......

10,297

11,579

17,269

Cotton Raw,...............

d

101,736

1,125,220

piece goods,.

1,400

3,610

210

Ginger, preserved,..

8,733

4,953

1,747

Hemp......

13

5,519

28,006

Japanned and lacquered ware,........

3,167

2,538

4,205

Mats and matting,

10,309

3,440

1,838

Rhubarb,.........

6,463

19,985

16,158

Silk, Raw,..

2,300,338

3,028,009

1,611,385

waste..

17,395

"

"J

thrown,...

12,407

18,991 3,162

34,036

684

manufactures—

Crape shawls and scarfs,.

7,264

4,837

10,068

Pongees and pongee handkerchiefs,... Unenumerated,

8,475

14,268

6,503

3,116

2,219

2,069

Sugar unrefined,...........

7,960

8,165

10,182

Tea,

6,141,084

8,418,194

9,869.722

War, vegetable,

2,023

5,463

Wool, sheep and lambs',.

3,694

All other articles,..

49,458

10,958 28,523

15,277

47,249

Total....

£8,608,609

£11,699,964

£12,826,757

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