The Sun.
London, England, 1842-12-01 00:00:00

CENTRAL PROVINCES.
L'2lo-NA.N.

TOTAL POPULATION, 23,037,171. ;
The province of Ho-nan lies E. and S.E. with Nankin,
N. and N.E. with Pekin and some parts of Chan-tong, and
Hou-pe ; W. it borders on the province of
Sze-chuen and with the remaining part ofChen-si.
Ho-nan contains 8 great cities, and 100 small cities,
besides forts and castles. The population, according to
the toll-book of the Emperor, amounts to 589,296 families,
and 516,270 fighting men. The income of the revenue
amounts yearly to 2,414,470 bags of rice, 23,5091bs of
unwrought linen, 9,9591b5. of several sorts of silk ;
3411b5. of cottons, which are very scarce in this coun-
try.; an 4 lastly of 2,280,844 trusses of hay for the
King's stables. Ho-nan produces also fine copper. Kae-
fung-foo, the capital of this province, is situated on the
south bank of the Yellow River, andupon ground which
is lower than the water, especially when,. it is flooded.
In consequence of this, it has strong dykes around it,
by which the flood is restrained. The main bulwark
against the river is a strong embankment of nearly
100 miles in length. In any other country this dyke
would be looked upon as a stupendous work of art.
When the city was besieged by rebels in 1641; -the
Commander of the Imperial Army sent to relieve it,
ordered a breach to .be made in the dyke for the pur-
pose of drowning the besiegers. The breach was made,
and ithe 100,000 besiegers destroyed ' • but the flood came
down in desolation upon the city, demolished it, and
drowned .300,000 of those within the walls. As it is a
point of conveyance for several of the lines of road
that intersect the country, the city was rebuilt, but.on
an inferior scale, and it will probably never attain its
former magnitude and splendour. Ho-nan-foo is situated
westward of Kae-fung-foo, and on the same side of the
ricer, among craggy mountains.

Z
TOTAL PofErLRAT°IoUN,P27:37O,O9B.
This province, together, with Ho-flan, which lies im-
mediately south of it, are two divisions into which the
ancient province of Hoo-kwang has been arranged,,,in
consequence of its great extent and numerous population.
The inhabitants of Heu-pe are esttrinated at 27 millions,
though the province is not a very extensive one. It has
Sze-chuen on the W., Chen- si opiAhe N.W., Ngan-hoe
on the E., Keang-se on the S.E.; and Ho-nan on the S.
It is situated in the valley of". the Blue River,•but. chiefly
)on the north side of it, and the-Han-keang, one of the.
principal branches of the Blue River, and itself a river of
no mean magnitude, enters it near the N.W., and joins
the Blue River towards the east of the province. The
central part of the province is low, and abounds with
lakes. In consequence of the magnitude of thwßlue
River, and of the number of streams, lakes, and artificial
water-conveyances, this province,- the most central
in the whole of. China Proper, has even greater
advantage than if one side of it were riashed.by the sea.
Woo-chang-foo, the capital, which is situated on the
Blue River, near the confluence of Han-kiang, is a great
resort for Chinese merchants, and from the vast number
of vessels which frequent its harbour, it has much the
appearance of a sea-port. These vessels, though inferior
in size, and not fitted for so long voyages, are sometimes
even more numerous titan those in. the Thames at Lon-
don ; for the river is wider than the Thames, and six
miles in length of it are sometimes entirely ,Covered with
vessels. To possess a port, even for dothestie trade,
almost in the very centre of its land, is an incalculable
advantage, and it is an advantage which scarcely any..
country but China possesses. Taking the windings of
the river, the port is between 500 and 600 miles inland,

and, therefore, is completely out of the reach of any in
vadino• fleet, if the conductors of which were, as they
would be, ignorant of the shoals and other dangers of the
navigation.

1100-NAN.
TOTAL POPULATION, 1'3,652,517.

This province, which is rather larger than llou-pe, is
the southern division of the old province. Its bounda-
ries are summit-levels all the way round, except toward
the N.E., where the large lake Tung-ting-ho empties its
waters into the Blue River, at a point where that stream
takes an extensive curve to the south. All the rivers
which water the province, flow into this lake ; vast
quantities of rice grow on the low grounds, and cotton
on those that are more elevated. The mountains, like
almost every mountain-ridge in China, are rich in mine-
rals. Chang-chow-foo, the capital, is situated on the.
bank of one of the rivers which empty th9mselves into
the lake, but it is not a city of first-rate importance.

xv XXANG-SI.
TOTAL POPULATION, 30,426,999.

This province lies eastward of Hoo.nan ; its extent is
estimated at. 27,000 square miles, and its population at
more than 30,000,000. The soil is in general clayey and
of a rich alluvial character near the Po-yang Lake, though
the immediate banks of this great and stormy piece of
water are muddy and sterile to a great extent. ;`The
centre of the province is watered by the main stream of
the Kan-keanz, which must not be confounded with the
river of the -Itme name in 1-lou-pe. The great • road
from Canton passes along the bank -of this river, the na-
vigation of which, as soon CS it begins to be available, is
employed for the conveyance , of merchandise, which is
borne thence down the Blue River, and so by the Impe-
rial Canal, to the naVigation of the rivers. in Pe-fiche-le,
along which it is borne to Pekin.
This navigation is interrupted by a portage between
the Canton rivers; and the main .stream of this province;
-the of great domestic commerce.
but excepting this, there is water-carriage across 'rho,
whole empire from S. to N. Nan-chgno:-foo, the capital,
carrying,
arilp,elar,ceand is' riot wiry an entrepot in
None of the produce of the soil, excepting rice, is ex-
ported, the people finding entire subsistence on what the
province furnishes. The village of King-te-ching„ to the
eastward of thwyo-yang lake, and on a navigable river
which empties*waters into that lake, is the principal
tr
seat of
.porcelalii!inanufaeture in the province ; though
loantlijo-na. vißll)a,gmeeianupsoionft of
fe riversan
rani;, it is a great city in popn-
and lake this or other
commodities can b. conveyed to all parts of the interior,
or it may be sent to the coast, down the Blue River to
Nankit2 portage,southwtao Fu chow.rdtooC.anton, or south-eastward by the
road ofoo
in
Fuh-kien.

THE. FIVE PORTS. . .
..
SHANG-HAE (or . CHANG-IIAI) FOO-CHOW-
FOO, CANTON, AUOY, AND NINGPO.
The magnificent prospects opened up to British enter-
prise and commerce, by throwing open these five great
ports, will be understood by the general reader in a
clearer point of view, from the following detailed account
of each, drawn up from authentic sources ;--
SELO2SM-14AE (O Cll Al
The city Shang-hae is situated on the right bank of the
Woo-sung, about twenty or tmeht,,,,_nte patio tip. The
anchorage at the mouth of 16 riser is iu lat. 31
deg. 25 win. north; lot, lca deg. 1 min. 30 see. east. It
has been several limes visited by foreigners since 1332,-
when the Lord Amherst first touched there.
Shan;-Lae is approached immediately from the sea by
the Tchang-Ilai channel, . which is of considerable
breadth. Woo-sung lies at the entrance of the river, and
the side opposite is defended by ti range of forts. It
possesses the means u €'!:!nlmunication with the great
Tai Lake, the brolas of which are peeuliarly rich in the
character or their soil, and extensively laid out in luxe-,
riant rice .j Imperial Canal, which passes by the margin
r,,-,;unds, and silk districts. Hang-tehou, situ-
of the Tai Lake, has a large depot for :ills and silk-
at°q., on the
weaving, and Sou-tchou also carries on a very important
ti ready means of acCeS3 to Nanking, and the cotnitry
trade:or the same article, andjapartned goods, It forms
everyw herb ithilind is the finest imaginable for produc-
tilti!&4l, The salt-pits of Shang-hae yield a very large
Wupply, and the trade carried 911114chiE) commodity is far
from limited,
.. The best .appt:ttti,ill id Aluttig--6,; inaneasterly dime-
tien; la by the Y'atiosae-liiang jiver; the banks of Which
*WWII out t'd a tat distatieb ; the Water about it; how-
ever; eat beingiih i
dfe }bur feet n depth, but With very
rnslilitt soundings. Pilots from hence conve.. vessels to
the Shang-hae river, the low coast of which; a ter a short
sailing, is -rendered conspieitoila by it grove 0 .trees near
the shore. TM peak Of a stall island, the most
,iir,
northerly of the archipelago, and
which tied. by the Chinese
Sen-Kaug4htt!i; iS tile WAY lalidiiiir - which On
steering Mr this ;gland. This possesses a sate intoner-
tige, and many of the junks destined to Shantg-hae 7,4
in this harbour for a favourable Wind: .Steerdid from
hence is made in' a liditth4kteril direction, and arrival
isgenellillY made in ,W
a ,c1)8Or truer itt the mouth of the
Woe-sung river, which A to, Slialig-lidei On, till the
bank.;, t& peVerA lEtiaLli.a. tit 6 year, there is flesh
wittot.) ea sd tong as ne. re filar pildtage is established,
And no survey of the 134nks '-~lion; the entrancevililcen-
tin.de to be daii.eibili toi shiPs. So extensive an erdpo-
MAI, 'owever, it has been remarked, well deserves the
attention of hydrographers, if the spirit of, mercantile en-
terprise can give a stimulus 0 dig aft cif ilioJiaVl44tOr:
The 9eost *!?t-tfkiVlieN tin the aPproach to Shang- hae is
the ti.ei,Wliese titi.aoe It liiii4bh 11(.40il; tldssitig ; a
It-4 41‘d tkhrfottiL TwO forge built °A rititr shore of
conSickeillslA Ailiii..ei
giins. The entrance is about six
fA.thidnis in depth, but towards the right shore the water,
shoals, so as to leave only a channbl tbr the tiaskiii di'
sea., well 'etiltiVittid, anal
tqiii a western directioii.
vessels. On the left is 'ii. k'6.,lii'.'; a Canal leading to Nan-
kin branch**
Me ispeet atilt Cenntry.in the vicinageioflSliaing7hae
is generally a &idle flats hot Miieli iihel."..e the 'Orel of the
~ . .
ravtkvs becasioned by inuadatiOns are verY great, as no
banks of the loamy
alnlclestoe marsh
soil can resist trill swollen river.
without the least hill. The
marshy
which requlres tt idtili ar4 iiiiii4t .i.:6il. 'ro cultivate this
tgtiTituntelir
itcktahtstner
tottahltie.otleiajto;..ettit.tiriaicine:
commodity; ai'isk to -f*....-isn their tribute of srain to the
capital; Whit in these parts is 'very Colislderitble, the
people direct all their energy aikti aft enabled to raise
two crops of grantfioM thi.tu rffle soil—one of rice and
another O't ii,l4.,At.
Shang-he, as a trading town, ranks 'after Canton in
ithportance. Though it may not be the only emporium-
near the Yang-tsze-Kiang, and thus, the only place for
importation to Keang-nan, the junks from all the southern
provinces are prohibited from proceeding to the harbours
north of this river. _ .
The trade here carried on is always brisk i and now
that Europeans are admitted to its port, it will no doubt
increase to a miraculous degree. The consumption of
foreign articles, among the many millions who inhabit
Central Asia, is very great. Owing to this circumstance,
the imports far exceed the exports ; the latter consist
chiefly of raw silk, silk stuffs, and teas, besides manufac-
tures fabricated by the. skilful hand of the Keang-
nan people. Ships bo Ind to this port can touch
at Cha-poo in Che-jiegt,lo province, Hang-ehoo
district, and at Soo-chow, a little south of IfiVoo-sung
river. - This latter'plaee is one of the most populous and.
delightful districts of the whole Chinese empire, -and
might • fully claitn the poetical name of Arcadia. That
so large a field for mereantile.enterprise has been hithert o
overlooked is
surprising. The fear of infringing Chine ie
laws has deterred ships from even attempting to op en
commercial intercourse. . . . ........, -.
The hamlets scattered everywhere over the elltril'ai