The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1850-08-10
FTHW NJ WHTTHNTVI |N-T NITII7HII
CHINESE DESCRIPTION or THE
EARTH.

NHINiNE DESCRIPTION OF TIE
EARTH.
Another cvidcurc th1' tho rrupIroT CT'W
ar beginning tn open their cyv upon tho
outside world, !. ia thc ldrt tlAt they h1yo
at last tummcncCi studying gDoDaphy,-
Heretofore the millions have been made ta
believe that the Celestial Empire was no'
only the principal part OF tho terrestrial
sphere, hut that the sun and moon wcrc the
especial ,ifnot the cNclusiyC ministers of light
aud heat to their relatives of the l'luwrry
Kingdom. The study of geography is about
. To- cNtingui,h somU of these stars iu their pO-
ctical armament, and give them practical
realization Of some OF the more OPAQUE
planets that shcd their borrowed light
upon the earth They have now, thluks to
the facilities of travel aud the cNlu.ihn of
intercourse, gcuuiuc maker of Biographies,
who is disposed to tell them all lac know about
other countries than China.
lac Missionary Herald for July contains a
icilcr from Mr. Poet, giving lull account or.
a new (hiucsc geography, written hy the
Lieut.. Governor Of III" Fuh-Chdu PruN,urr.
and recommended 10y the tiuycuot- General
Is worthy Of confidence and patronage. II
vas commenced four or five years AGO, while
the author held a subordinate station at Nmoy
aud published soon after his prunwtiou,to his
present high office, II /, written ia the Chi
nrsc character, aud pnhrs lcp ,olumcs,which.
says Mr. icct, CORE pond Hv lo lruldh, more
nearly Ia bur chapters. T. slhr first three
the figure of the Garth is noticed the use of
mnps stated, aui The ,uuuiiivs oI A-it ,t\rrut
Chino, which "is too we'll known tp require
farther a.. '',''s,..''' .'...''
devoted Ia Africa, two in America, aub Toe
other four to Europe,
The author gives particular account of
the di.yu,ci,' uf America the general 'nturos
of the continent, il, inhabitants, original and
European. and of the situation, rNirli, muuu-
Trims, rivers. Sc, ul the United States. or
the maps / in number they are pronounced
in the introduction a. correct outlines OF
those made hy MuNcrn Ern.' First among
them is the map ttAilua rs that country 'is
,iys = T. t,st r1t-Ty t7rrrT tTT7J
al,o written ounaI, IN great abundance and
that "counlric, iNing to the West and North
have been dcscrbcd 10y Western men. The
author seems lp have rooi opinion of these
Western men," with some of whom, partiru-
luriv Mr. Ahcrl. the missionary, he hns had
frrIucut conversations" but lac cumi laIus ut
the difficulties ari,nc irua language,
II is very difficult to Distinguish the names
Of Western countries. Ten men would hr
ikclv 90 riyr a-.i many different words iur the
same thing. aud the same mnu will give ai
frst& different word from what hc docs sub
Scducutly, hccausr, IN Western laugu1gcs,
the samc sound does not hayd two words,
while in chinese, the same sound may have
several tens of words. In Western langua-
res, two or three letters unite in forming one
sound. but the Chinese language has no such
elements as these. Hence, in using the Chi
ucsc characters to cNprtss foreign words, IT Is
not possible for more than sCycn or clght-
tcnths of them to harmonic. Western men
residing in the Canton province, and u-lng
the vulgar dfNlCCt, CaUnOI rNpross tho C0TTV1V
sounds of the mandarin. WcstrrR men are
not able to distinguish in maudariu many
words which have dillcrcnt t0uC-. Tho tJns
..iia9Cs ~ Western nations are NOT the same
an1l arc not uuif5Fur t-rc English Tower
word, in tiansatiug into Chinese Chan the
Portuguese. Foreign names of persons and
places seldom consist OF singlc words but OF
ten include 'cght or ten. -fht7 Is un-r7ttetttt
10 the author, rs we'll as to his readers, but he
las rndcayorcd TO mark and dot these names
sn as to apprisc the reader and prevent ms
apprehension
Mr. Poet SAYS the work is interesting toior,
ciuncrs rs showing what the Chinese think,
-.tt,,l ,,,4 thee write. (+,ttt IT, ft+if'.i' 4-
Anitnng and confirming the correctness ~ "ar
5,i1r5r1ntury ;t7 well ~ the -ai,ttteFttt - t
histories over theirs; rs exhibiting moro def
9nitc and discriminating view ei the different
rrligions-of the world than has vet appcaftil
in the Chinese language, and As furnishing y
medium through which the light and bless
lngs of Christianity may find access to the
millions of bcnightrd China. He then pro-
cccds to give extensive trahslations illustr"1-
ing those sronts We copy a few OF them {"
TINS EARTH AND rTs FROZEN OCEANS
We knew In respect 70 n Northern frozen
ocean butnot a southern. So that when Yves
tern mon produced maps huviug frozen to
ccan at the extreme South, we supposed that
they had made a mistake in not understand
iug the Chinese language,and had placed thai
in tic South which should have been placed
uuiy in thr North. Bu, ~, inquilag OF IN n
merican, one Abec, he said that this doctrine
was verify true. and should not be doubted.
\ large portion of the kwang-tang, ! an
toni and Fuh-kccu provinces lies within''hT
Northrrn hwanstaon rtroPic, and compare,
with The Northern IrpNiHreA, The cold anu
heat are very tiilercRt Proceeding South
the heat increases till Gas was tnImcrly sup
posed, not knowing the suns An to be tue
carths ccntrc,) YOU reach thTSSpuh Fo'e,
where the stones, fused 10y the heat pour
down golden stream ,-
Frum Fuli-kccn and kwanG- -tunGA men 60
70 ing South 1--WE or six thousand lc, come to the
island of Burnco, part Of which lies directly
under the chilitaou, equator and where vac
winter IS like -un,mcr. fffgTttt' tt't'tH
south and west Ia the Southcrp extremity ni
Africa hail and snow are TO bp seen. 80 pro