Directory_and_Chronicle_1888 — Page 384

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CHINA.

In addition to China proper there are its dependencies. The principal of these are Mongolia, with an area of 1,288,035 square miles, and some 2,000,000 people; and Manchuria, with an area of 362,313 square miles, and an estimated population of 15,000,000. The latter is being steadily and rapidly colonised by Chinese, who greatly 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. 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 army 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 consisted, 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, but has since been greatly strengthened. The most formidable vessels now possessed by China unquestionably are the ironclad turret ships Ting Yuen and Chen Yuen, built in 1883, and the Tai Yuen in 1884, at Stettin, and sent out to China in 1885; and two gun-vessels, the Chao Yung and Yung Wei, built on the Tyne in 1881. These latter vessels have a displacement 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 guns, one mounted forward and the other aft, four 40-pounder breech-loading guns, two 9-pounder breech-loaders, two Norden-felts, and four Gatlings. They are both armed with a formidable steel knife-edged ram, and carry steam-cutters fitted with spar torpedoes. An armoured cruiser, called the Nan Thin, built in Germany in 1883, and a steel corvette, the Nan Shuin, launched at Kiel in January, 1884, are also recent important additions to the navy. Two more Armstrong cruisers arrived out last year, and also another cruiser from Stettin. After these come the eleven gunboats commonly known as the "alphabetical" gunboats. The first four are 118 feet 6 inches long, with a draught of 7 feet 6 inches, and a displacement of 400 tons. They each carry a 27-ton gun. The next four, which arrived in China in October, 1879, are built of steel, and are double-ended, the stern lines being exactly after the model of the bow rudders. They measure 127 feet in extreme length and 125 feet at the water line, with 29 feet beam, a depth of 12 feet 3 inches, mean draught of 9 feet 6 inches, and a displacement of 440 tons. The main feature of these boats is the 11-inch 35-ton muzzle-loading gun carried by each. They are further armed with two 12-pounder breech-loading Armstrong guns and four Gatlings. The last three, which arrived in China in July, 1881, are almost identical in style with their immediate predecessors, and each carry one 35-ton gun, but are also provided with two 13-pounders, two Gatling, and four Nordeufeldt guns. They were all built on the Tyne by the Elswick Company. Lu Shun Kou, re-named Port Li, in honour of the Viceroy of Chilli, on the south coast of Shingking, has lately been selected as a naval depôt, and is being strongly fortified.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY.

Great Britain has, in virtue of various treaties with the Chinese Government-the first and most important signed August 29th, 1842-the right of access to the following ports and cities of the Empire :-Canton, Hoihow (in Hainan), Pakhoi, Swatow, Amoy, Foochow, Takow and Taiwan-fu, Tamsui and Kelung, Wenchow, Ningpo, Shanghai, Chinkiang, Wuhu, Kiukiang, Hankow, Ichang, Chefoo, Tientsin, and Newchwang. Under the provisions of the Chefoo Convention, permission is also accorded to British merchants to trade at Chung-king and Yunnan-fu, at which places British Consular