The Sun.
London, England, 1842-11-30 00:00:00

TOTAL POPULATION 19,174,030

This province stretches along the south coast from the
middle of the northern shore of the Gulf of Tonquin,
to nearly opposite the island of Formosa. The widest
part of it is traversed by the Canton river, along which
the road crosses the Mei-ling mountains to the interior.
The island of Hainan belongs to it, and there are very
many smaller islands and shoals along the coast. The
surface contains about 90,000 square miles. The great
plain in the vicinity of the capital is nearly one hundred
miles in length and of considerable breadth, the whole" in
a state of the highest cultivation. Besides the capital,
the province contains nine first-class cities ; and those of
the lower rank, especially the third one, are almost in-
numerable. Though the rice and sugar ground of this
province are low and flat, they are far from unhealthy.
The coast, with its numerous bogs and little islands, fish,
and also mollusca, crustacea, tortoise, and other pro-
ducts of the sea, is, as indeed is the case not only in all
the inland but also the maritime provinces, with its
waters almost as fertile as the land, and as many inhabi-
tants derive subsistence. Thu inland boundaries of

Kwan-tung, taken in their order from east to west, are
formed by the provinces of Kwe-chow, Ho-nan,Kwang• se,
and Fuh-kien.

As the province of Kwan-tung is a maritime province,
and the furthest distant from the Court, its Government
is one of the most considerable of the empire. 1. The
first city is Canton, of which we speak largely else-
where. 2. Chaou-tcheou-fou, situated at the con-
fluence of two navigable rivers ; it has six cities of the
third order within its jurisdiction ; within a league of it
is a monastery of Bonzes, which they say formerly con-
tained a thousand of them. 3. Nan-hiong• fou ; a
large trading city, seated at the foot of a mountain,
which separates the province of Kwan-tong from
Kiang-si, from which run two greet rivers, one south, the
other north. This city has but two cities of the third
order under its jurisdiction ; between Nan-hiong, the
last province of„Kwan-tung, and Nan-ngan, the first of
the province of Kiang-si, a remarkable road leads over
the mountain Mei-lin,' being a distance of ten leagues
from one place to the other. 4. lioei-tcheou-fou; this
city is almost surrounded with water, and built in the
most fertile part of the whole province ; it has eleven
cities in its district, one of the second order, and ten of
the third ; it has two remarkable bridges, one of which
has 40 arches, the other crosses a lake which is a league
in circuit, and waters the walls of the town. 5. Tchao-
tcheou-fou. This city .is situated near the mouth
of the river Han-kiang, where the tide ebbs and
flows ; it has a .fine bridge on the east ; there are
11 cities in its district. It is separated from Fuh-kien
by mountains. 6. Tchao-king-fou--the best built city
in the province, and the residence of the Tsonton of the
two provinces of Kwang-tung and Kwang-si. It is situ-
ated on the river Tali°. There is a tower of nine stories

high, east of the city. The haven is very spacious, and
is at a place where three rivers or canals meet, one of
which runs to Canton. From Tchao-king to Canton,
both sides of the river are lined with villages, one of
which, Fochan, contains 1,000,000 of souls. 7. Kao-
tcheou-fou. The tide flows and ebbs as far as this
town, so that the Chinese barques go up to it. This city
has within its district one city of the second order, and five
of the third. It is surrounded on one side by the sea,
and on the other by mountains. 8. Lien-tcheou-fou.
This city is a very convenient harbour for the Chinese
barques. It has but one city of the second order, and two
of the third. It lies on the borders of Tong-king, from
which it is separated by inaccessible mountains. Here is
a pearl fishery. 9. Loui-tchemi-fou. The territory of
this city is the most fine and fertile of all the western
cities of this province. It is almost all surronnded by
the sea, and is separated from the island of Hainan by a
small strait. Within its district are only three cities of
the third order.

INLAND BORDER PROVINCES.
Z. CHEN-51.
TOTAL POPULATION, 10,207,256.
Chen-si is situated among the northern dominions,
and lies about 30 degrees west, Part of the kingdom of
Tartary bounds it on the west, the Great Wall and forts
making the separation. The remaining parts of the
country borders on the bank of the river, end is open
to extensive dry and barren sand-fields ;• the Yellow
River and sufficient fortifications defend the rest. To
the south run very high mountains, which are strong
bulwarks, and separate it, from the provinces of Holum
Sze-chuen and Chan-si. Want of rain makes this country
very dry, but yet it produces great store of wheat,
barley, and Turkish corn, but very little rice. The
beasts feed all winter upon eorn. There are several gold
mines in the country, but they are not suffered to be
opened by the Emperor.
Chen-si contains 8 capital cities, and 107 small cities,
besides castles and forts. The chief forts are eight, and
there are fourteen small ones of consequence.
The Chinese Register reckons the number of families
in this province to he no less than 831,651; and 3,934,176
fighting men. _ _ _

—The—taxes which Chen-si pays, are 192,957 bags of
wheat ; 3,650,0001 b. weight of linen ; 9,218 pounds cf
all sorts of wrought silks ; 17.2701 b. of cotton ;
827,7701 b. of calicoes ; besides 1,514,749 trusses of hay
for the King's stables.

XL CHAN-SI.
TOTAL POPULATION 14,004,210.
This province lies westward of Pekin, and though nei-
ther so large nor so populous, is more fruitful and of
more antiquity, for it is from thence that the Chinese
derive their rise and origin. On the north this province
has for its confines the Great Wall, which reaches from
east to west through the whole country. The west side
of the province lies upon the Yellow Myer, and is sepa-
rated by it from the province of Chen-si. This province
produces the sweetest and fairest grapes of all Asia, but the
Chinese make no use of them, but only dry them, and
thence carry them through all China to the market.
Throughout the whole of this country are naptha springs,
in the same manner as there are water wells in Europe,
which the people use for dressing their meat in this man-
ner. The mouth of the well is stopped very close, and
only a place left open to set the pot upon, by which me-
thod the pot boils without any trouble. This province
likewise produces stores of coal as good as that which is
dug out of the hills of England, and used by the ,inhabi-
tants for fuel, who also use stoves in their houses as we
do. Chan-si contains five capital cities 92 small cities,
and several forts, of which 14 are remarkably strong. The
poll or register-book of the province reckons 589,959 fa-
milies, and 58,415 fighting men. In taxes the country
pays to the Emperor yearly 2,274,022 hags orrice, 501bs.
of fine silk stuffs, 420,000 weight of salt, and
3,544,850 bundles of hay, besides several other taxes.,