c 9z y
domeftic ufe and employment. Before the doors o f the ffiopY) wooden»
pillars are eredled^ from which an awning I's fufpended during the:ddyr
to protedt not only the paifengers ,,,hut*5ïKe ffiopkeepers themfelvès,
from the lays o f the fun : feme o f thefe pillars are considerably higher
than the houfes 'before which they ftand; and^arërfoot" only gilt and
painted, but decorated’with dreamers, which ferve as fignsto denote
the commodities o f the particular Shops: the tops o f them pro'are
frequently mounted with a wooden figure, 'which Serves as a^hreétidn
to the fpot.
As tö Variety jehh é r in the form and dimenfions o f the houfes or
fhops/ ffiere^fe noife:f ! fe^ an ahnoft univerfal famenefs- prevails in
the ftreets o f this extenfive c ity : they differ, indeed, in breadth;
and the inhabit^nts o f thofe which are narrow, fpread matting from
the tops o f the houfes quite acrofs the ffireet, which is-a very agreeable
ciiyumftance in the hot feafbns : there is alfo, for the' convenience of,
foot paficngers, a pavement o f four feet in breadth óri èach fide of.
eyciy flreeti
Glafs is not any where ufcd in China for windows, and the common
fuhfUtute for vc% a thin glazed paper, which is palled ion foe
mfide o f a wooden lattice: filk, however, is employed for this. pur-
pofe in the houfes o f the higher daflbs o f the people.
Tong-tchew is a place o f great trade, as 'appears from thé vaft
number o f junks which, we ,faw lying in the river before-at‘j 'ddd the
aftonifhing number o f fes inhabitants; which is very generally ‘believed,
as I was informed by fome o f the refidenC merchants, to
amount, atleaft, to half a million o f people.
During the fummer and the autymn months foe heat here is very
fultry and opprefhve : foe winter, however, brings inclemency along
with it, as ice o f thirty inches thick is preferved here, in fubterranean
5 caverns,.
c I p )
eavemsy till the fummer. It is^gonfidered as an article o f great luxury
■ among th§^eoplef|who mix it with their drink, to give it,a refreffiingj
rirjSqlnefs in foefo^e feafdps'of foe year.
In & e yCpurfe o f my excurfions through foe city, I endeavoured to»
make myfelf acquainted with the stature u|||its municipal government.-
Offoisji^nportant jfuhfea it-is not .to-be fuppofed that I could learn’foueh:
fipffife. however, in oneiw|y' or o thu, mule ta^Mjerftand, that all civil-
caufes are determined by a certain number o f inferior mandarins expressly
appointed to the judicial office; JDutitBat theiftfecifions are fubjedfc
t^ tl^ jg y iew o f the-chief-mandarm,of-*-foe m a c e g ‘ diftridt, who may»
confirm or »reverfe them-..at pleaffire: th4V©|feeoand his dec^jwj, aid
alfo fubjedt to foe Vicefay o f foe province, from whom,, in all civile
eaufes, foereisv,no appeal. ‘
, / Irfcaplt^l pffeUges,, foteffinal determination reffe wifo the: Emperor
algne';,, though it is .very rare injde'ed“, that a criminhlVis ^tntcnccd to*
die: but i f fuch, a circumflance foould happen in foe moft remote,
comer o f foe empire, application mufEbe made to foe Emperor him-
i felf to.annul; to mitigate, or enforce foe feptdice.,' Executions, however,
.are '\seiy feldom, feernin China. I Was very particular and*
Jcuridus’in riiy inquiries, on this fubjedt,- wherever I had ;an opportunity:
to make them, and not qhe perfon that was queftiomed on ’the occa-
fion, ancMfopie o f them were, at'leaft, feventy years of-age, had eve*^
feen or known o f a capital execution. »-Mbr are the leffer crimes fo’
frequent as might fee expedited in fuch a populous and commercial coim-
t iy ; gs the irfore obnoxious claiies o f them, at leaft, are kept down5
by the vigour o f the police“, and foe promptitude o f puniffiment, -
which follows conviction-wifoout foe delay o f ai-moment:—*a regulation
which tfiight, in many cafes, be adopted with the bell dffe&s by
the;boafted judicature o f Great Britain. Nor-ffiaJl I hefitateto obferve, ■
that whatever may be- foe defedts or excellencies o f foe Chinefe govern- *
ment, o f which I am not altogether qualified to judge, the people o f ,
China