The Sun.
London, England, 1858-01-14 00:00:00

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disc4z44o tililLfg t-IW-flnit and 'theist iirdhft
of all ConditienSTf -pega dOThiut kii.owietkoWL•
of the country to take any substitute 'Or 'ft; —
to any modification.
Whenever we 'strivee to obtain sufficient Ypeeffia
facts whereby to map- a line of ae•ion were brought
up by the humiliahumiliatingcimvi
ctionthat ourignoriiime
aatnidtis thatthesommercial
its poprilAtionds m- -
p
of China is a -darkness that May be felt. - Efen of
tbatgreat conglomerate of cities on the Yanotse we
konioiwomlitotif central
e
variously- e4irnated at froth:five to eielt minions
-of sou-1. We know that it exists, and that is-if:ea-143;
rnr. titanC i i n that
ell we know. No'Crie has been theta except ilath.re
Ciliriaßeu-,,and.- Jesuit missionaries,
.There
some scattered _ notices of it in the. Stiatialea;eic,irst
I)749hagation, do la Foi (tow. and Hu& hie •
made mention Of it in his journey Trote-_,Tartarfte
Canton. The elder taiSsionary was toW;ed to
siasTn by the immensity of the number of prose c-
tive converts. For five leagues he saw nothing:
along the shores but the eloeely-panked!habitations
of men. For a still longer' Space the river, more
than a league:in' breadth, was crowded with beanti-
ful and' fenttstic vessels• passing and repaissing by
day and by night. Nearer to shore, where- these
vessels became fixed habitations, he enterod.at night
a w Ater way defined on each side by floating shops;
and for four liour-Aliejoutneyed through alabytinth
of lit streets, all resting on ih-rgurface of,the river.
In the morning liere•iichettlte,,shore but only to
find that Woachantydiffers frona other Chinese cities
only in its niattellousniagnitude. From a distance
he saw pagodas and yainuns -and highly .-cultivated
environs ; when he approllehed7he saw the usual
detAlls of an aggregate of - Chinese habitations,
banks worn away by inundations; ;workshops half
undermined by the stream, houses built upon piles;
no oi•clei, no breadth of thoroughfares, kit -nitro*:
slle3s, along which men and cattle and hogs:pressed
in's tare I oraNt/ing crowds.. - Th,:itc-ords i'-3ni&-
tioils of the tuffocatirig odours frOin
.-open
inat4ure buckets, just as I- have experienced at
&ianghai, floochau, K( shins, Shauhing, or
Ningp It seemed- a whole orebtiou of mankind,
all buying and selling an 4 bartering and chaffering,
a BAbel of trade, a struggling world of dealers and "
brokers.
This is the one great type of a thousand cities _
which differ only in dimensions. How can we tell
frem whiCh'it may-be safe to be excluded, or how
far a single eieeptiOn may :neutralise' the: benefit of
all we gain mid enable the cunning. savages to hold.
us ;check and keep us inahe wrong ?
e-capaeity-of- China is as -unmeasured as its
inteirualgeography is unknown. Na demand has
yet been made upon it which. has not been amply
.answered. Give us leave to go and talk to the
people; `and-there is nothing we want which they
cannot sell us. At Swatow you will be afile to:buy -
for 'a -dollar and a half per picul sugar which n.ovt -
costs you at the Manillas 3 dole. ; at FoenaosakcAr.
can obtain the same important commodity at the
Sande price, and rice and indigo in any quantity.
Coals can be loaded at that island for 3 deli. a ton,
and the carrying trade is upon'a scale which no one.
can appreciate who has not seen the enormous fleets
of junks -which now conduct it under- the terrible
risks of shipwreck- and piracy.
The facts Z have above stated respecting the -tran-
sit levies have not been gathered from books or ex-
tracted from returns—the figures are now for the
first time put in writing. They have been caught
- from the lips of those who have differed these ex-
actions and paid these duties with constant bat dis-
eontentedha.bitude. I may be wrongin. some matter
of pla,:e or district, for the obscure jargon in. which •
we talked-made geography difficult; but-a China.-
man has Engliiih for figurea and inionntii of
money. About the sums of these transit duties I
have no doubt; and the precise track or city wherein
they are levied is of no importance. Let we add
that these men are so harassed by doLuands'of be-
nevolence towards the expensep the civil war, or
by blackthail levied by tae rebels, that the oldest
merchants are ci shutting their books" as they ex-
press it.- Theele(* upon the presence and influence
of the uoglish as the only hope which commerce'
Las in China. Many -a-tale could I tell upon this
subject ;•but it is one dangerous to handle in much
detail. The Court of Pekin has sharp eyes and a
long land.' • -

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SHIPS. OF WAR ON THE CHINA. STATION;

AT HONGKONG.

British—The Algerine, gunboat; 3 gun-s, Lieutenant
Forbes, commander,; the Bittern,
.sloop, 12, Lieutenant
Goodenough ; the Bustard, gunboat,.2, Lieut. ilallowea,
the Clown, gunboat, 2, Lieutenant_ Vit_Lee,. the
Coromandel, steamer, 3, Lieutenant Douglas ; the Dove,
gunboat, 2, Lieutenant Bullock ; the Drake, gunboat, 3
, Lieutenant Arthur.; the Emptror, steam yacht, 4, Lieut.
Ward.; the 'Fifm; gunboat, Lieutenant Nicholas; the
Furious, steamer, 16, Captain Whom ; the Haughty,
gunboat, 2, Lieut. Pauli ; the Hercules, hospital, 10, Dr.
G. Burn ; the Janus, gunboat, 2, Lieut. W. H. Jones ;
the Kestrel, gunboat, 2, Lieutenant W. H. Raeon ; the
Minden, store ship, 4, Elks, master • the Opossum, gun
bout, 2, Lieut. Campbell, commander ; the Starling,
gunboat, 2, A. J. Villiers ; the Surprise, despatch
steamer, 4, S. G. Cresswell; Sybille, ship, 44, Commo-
dore Elliot ; the Tribune, steamer, 31, Captain Edgell ;
Volcano, steamer, 3, Hockley.
American.—The Levant, sloop, 18, Commander
Smith ; the Minnesota, steamer, 50, Capt. Dupont ; the
San Jacinto, steamer, 15, Commodore Armstrung,
Capt. Bell. ,
Fiench.—The Menrthe, steamer, 12, Commander M.
de Chenez.
• Duteb.—The Medina, steamer, 18, Capt. Fabius..
Sianish.--The Don J. Juan, steamer, 6, Brionnes.
AT Nti.ol.o.
Portuguese:—The Amazons, lorcha, 6, Capt. Escar-
niche ; the Mondego, brig, 20, Commodore Tavares.
American.—The Portsmouth, sloop, 16, Commander
-Foote.
Ruiiiin.=The America, steamer, 6, Coelm;liaier
Tschihatschoff. •