The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1857-04-29
THE FISHING POPULATION.

ter addressed to the Registrar. General.
The letter was written in July, 1855.
THE FISHING POPULATION.
The multitudcs OF persons who live by
the fisheries in China afford evidence not
only that the land is cultivated to the
greatest possible extent but that it is in.
sufficient to supply the necessities Of the
overhowing population; for agriculture
is held in high honor7n China, aud the
husbandman stands next in rank to the
sage or literary man in the social hierar.
chy. 1t has been supposed that nearly
tenth of the population derive their means
ofsupport from fisheries. Hundreds and
thousands of boats Gro sd the whole coast
Of China-sometimes acting in communi.
ties, sometimes Independent and isolated.
There is no species Of Graf. by which a
fish can be inveigled which is not prac.
tised with success in China - every vari-
ETY. of net, from vast seines, embracing
miles, to the smallest handfilet in tho
care of a child. Fishing by night and
fishing by day.-fshing in moonlight, by
torchight, and in utter darkness, fish.
ing in boats OF all sizes, fishing by those
who are stationary on the rock by the
seaside, and by those who are absent
for weeks on the widest Of seas, fishing
by COMMUNICATING by 1ivers,-fsh-
ing with lines, with baskets, by every i'm
aeinable decoy and device. There is no
fisherman in bis craft There is no lake.
no pond, which is not crowded with fish,
A piece of water is nearly as valuable as
field of fertile land. At daybreak ev.
cry city is crowded with sellers of live
fish, vino carry their commodity in buck.
cts of water, saving all they do not sell
to be returned to the pond or kept for
another days service. And the lakes
aud ponds of China not only supply large
provisions of fsh-thcy produce consid
cradle quantities of edible roots and
seeds, which are largely consumed by the
people. Among these the esculent arum,
the water chestnut (Scirpats tuberoSNS),
and the lotus ('cIum'biunt), are the
most remarkable.
THE WATER POPULATION.
uC llNCt pOpuidtlOu Vi Oul-
na, who live only in boats, who are born
and educated, wEo marry, rear their fam
lies, and die-who, in word, begin aud
END their existence on the water, and
never have or dream of any other shelter
than the roof, aud who seldom tread ex.
eept on the deck or boards of their sam
pans-show to what an extent the land
is crowded, and how inadequate it is to
maintain the cumberers of the soil. In
the city of Canton alone it s estimated
that 800 900 persons dwell upon the sur
face of the river the boats, sometimes
twenty or thirty Deep cover some miles,
and have wants supplied by ambulatory
statesmen, who wend thoir way through
every accessible passage. OF this vast
population. some dwell in decorated riv.
er boats used for every purpose of license
and festivity-for theatres-for concerts
for feats-for gambling for lust--for
solitary aud social recreation some
crafts are employed in conveying goods
aud passengers, and are in a state of con-
slant activity; others are moored, and
their owners arc engaged as servants or
laborers on shore. Indeed, their pur.
suits are probably nearly as various as
those of the land population. The inn
nepse variety Of boats which are found
in Chinese waters has never been ade
quatel described. Some are of enor.
nous size, and are used as magazines for
salt or rice-others have all domestic
accommodations and are employed for
the transfer of the whole families, with
all their domestic attendants and accom-
modation from one place to another j.
some, called centipedes, from their be =
ing supposed to have 100 rowers, convey
with extraordinary rapidity the more
valuable cargoes from the inner ware
houses to the foreign shipping in the
ports-all these, from the huge and
cnmbrous junks, which remind one of
Noah's ark, and which represent the
rude and coarse constructions of the re-
motest ages, to the fragile planks upon
which solitary leper hangs upon the
outskirts OF society ty-boats of every form
and applied to every purposc-exhlbi'
an incaculable amount of population,
which may DO called amphibious if not,
aquatic. Not only are land and water
crowded with Chinese, but many dwell
ou artificial islands which float upon tho
lake-islands with gardens and houses
upon the RATS which the occupiers have
bound together and on which they cult,
vate what is needful for the supply of
lifes daily wants. They have their
poultry and their vegetables for use,
their flowers aud their scrolls for orna-
mcnt, their household gods for protec'
tion aud worship.
THE CHINESE AS AGRICULTURIsTs,
In all parts Of China to which we have
access We fiud not only that every foo.
of ground is cultivated which is capable
of producing anything, but that, from
the value OF laud and the surplus of la
Dor, cultivation is rather that of garden.
ers than of husban Omen. The sides of
hills iu their natural declivity often una
vailable. are, by succession of artidcia!
terraces, turned to a profitable account.
Every little Bit of sail, though it be ouly
few fee. in length and breadth, is turn.