3°4 T R A V E L S IN CH IN A .
an ardent fpirit diftilled from various kinds o f grain, but mod
commonly from rice, o f a ftrong empyreumatic flavour, not
unlike the fpirit known in Scotland by the name o f whiikey.
T he rice is kept in hot water till the grains are fwollen; it is
then mixed up with water in which has been diflolved a preparation
called pe-ka, confiding o f rice-flour, liquorice-root,
annifeed, and garlic ; this not only hadens fermentation, but is
fuppofed to give it a peculiar flavour. The mixture then
undergoes difiillation. The Sau-tchoo, thus prepared, may be
confidered as the bafis o f the bed arrack, which in Java is
exclufively the manufacture o f Chinefe, and is nothing more
than a Testification o f the above fpirit, with the addition o f
molafies and juice o f the cocoa-nut tree. Before difiillation
the liquor is fimply called tcboo, or wine, and in this ftate is a
ve ry infipid and difagreeable beverage. The vine grows extremely
well in all the provinces, even as far north as Pekin,
but the culture o f it feems to meet with little encouragement,
and no wine is made from the juice o f the grape, except by
.the miflionaries near the capital.
. "The manufadture o f earthen ware, as far as depends upon
the preparation o f the materials, they have carried to a pitch
o f perfection not hitherto equalled by any nation, except the
Japanefe, who are. allowed to excel them, not only in this
hranch, but alfo in all articles o f lacquered and varniihed ware,
Which fetch exorbitant prices even in China. The beauty o f
their porcelain, in a great degree, depends upon the extreme
labour and attention that is paid to the aflortment, and the
preparation-of the different articles employed. Thefe are in
‘ general
T R A V E L S I N CHINA . 3o j
general a fine fort o f clay called Kao-lin which is a fpecies
o f Soap-rock, and a granite called Pe-tun-tfe, compofed chiefly
o f quartz, the proportion o f mica being very fffiall. Thefe
materials are ground down and waihed with the greateft care ;
and when the pafte has been turned or moulded into forms,
each piece is put into a box o f clay before it goes into the
o v en ; yet with every precaution, it frequently happens (fa
much is this art ftill a work o f chance) that a whole oven
runs together and becomes a mafs o f vitrified matter. Neither
the Chinefe nor the Japanefe can boaft o f giving to the materials
much elegance o f form. With thofe inimitable model?
from the Greek and Roman vafes, brought into modern ufe by
the ingenious Mr. Wedgwood, they will not bear a companion.
And nothing can be more rude and ill-defigned than
the grotefque figures and other objects painted, or rather
daubed, on their porcelain, which however are generally the
work o f the wives and children o f the labouring poor. That
they can do better we have evident p ro o f; for i f a pattern
be fent out from England, the artifts in Canton will execute it
with fcrupulous exadnefs j and their colours are inimitable.
T h e manufacture o f glafs was totally unknown among them
until the laft century when, at the recommendation o f the Je-
fuits, a family was engaged to go from France to Pekin, for the
purpofe o f introducing the art o f glafs-making into the country.
T he attempt failed o f fuocefs, and the concern, at the death o f
the manager, was broken up. In Canton they melt old broken
glafs and mold it into new forms; and they have been taught
to coat plates o f glafs with filver, which are partially ufed as
r r looking