{ 2532. |l
<®f prepatalion for building, junks i a prineip^ihufiaefsi o f the place%
It muft, indeed, be a principal bufinefs o f the country at large,;;
for whenr'the internal commerce China isr considered, and that
iflmoft the wholp'of it is carried- on in thefe veflels, on the-numerous
riyers and canals which every and farm- a^ qw w n ication
through the greateft part o f this extenfive kingdom ;the quantity
■ of tixnbet ufed1, - and the number o f a^fioer^ epiplpyêd, in the. con*
ftruöion q£ them, muft render any attempt at calculation ap idle pre»
fumption in a perfoa under fuch confined cfrcumftances a«- myfrlfr
Thé quantity, of gunpowder, expended in paying, military rpfpedl:
*0: the diplamalie fleet, has, I fear, been already: repeated but J ca iv
not cwnk that the. Amhaffador re§eived, thisday, mcye thanufn4 hqnpdf
from the artilléty of May-teujatgo,. awery cnnfiderable fortrefe on the
, bank o f the river.
. On the other fide o f fibe water yery ftately pagod3* bwlfcflp an
elevated ipefc, with a fmall. viflagq fcattesed alout it. It mfy he fup*-
poled to belong to the mandarin, whofe country- rcfidence is at a .fmall .
diftance from it.
Art.and nature; have,.equally combined to fiorsn the^fqgijery.qf
charming place; but the molt diftinguifhing circumftance -pf it is.ifr
contiguity to a clufter o f three cities, which -are not feparated by-the
interval o f a. quarter o f a mile from each .other, j Thefr naroes'$re,
Too Dichean, Morrirm Dow, and Chic-a-foo. TheJattef is built on a
large farid bank in the middle o f the river, but they are, all p f them,
more remarkable for their fituation than - their extent j or., as-it appeared,
their commercial importance. O f brick-kilns, indeed, there were plenty
about them; and at a fmall diftance • I faw vaft columns o f frnoke,
which rofe, as I was informed, from the furnace of a Porcelain manu-
In the evening we arrived at the city o f Chinga-foo, where, from the 1793.
crowd o f .people, thebuftle made by the attendants of the mandarin, ^^mbëtv
with the difcharge bf artillery, and the firing of rofekets, fuch a fcene
o f noife and confufibh-' teh^^lacej ^ vfould have alarmed , the whole
Britilh embafly on its firft arrival in this' eoüntry.
Several temporary buildings were erefted on purpofe,as it appeared,
to difplay a compliifleniaty illumination of great magnificence,..whicni •
was fornied by a ,pr8fufion, or lampbandies, and flambeaux.
% prefect o f Bruit and cónfèftidnSry concluded the attentions wfricbi
tyere received during our anchorage before this city*
iy
e FT A P