town, and the labours of its artisans are wholly directed to the supply of articles for the home consumption. All, or nearly all, of the trades which are practised in the kingdom are under the direction and superintendence of their respective guilds, or corporations; and this circumstance is said to operate as a severe restriction upon the exercise of industry, as well as greatly to fetter individual enterprise. The native mechanics have never been celebrated for their skill or ingenuity; they are paid at a high rate, but they are slow at their work, and display little taste in the execution of it. The manufacture of woollen cloth is necessarily one of the most considerable; for the country is well adapted to the rearing of sheep, and the article is one which forms an essential part of the people's dress. The number of hands employed in the woollen manufactures of Copenhagen is very considerable; and there is, besides the private establishments, a government manufactory, for the supply of the army and navy. This was established by Frederick the Fourth; it furnishes employment to 1200 persons, and yields annually between 140,000 and 150,000 ells. About seventy looms are employed in the manufacture of stockings, night-caps, mittens, and other articles of woollen hosiery; but of these a considerable supply is furnished by the peasants of Jutland, whose occupation during their long Winter evenings consists in making stockings, partly for their own use, and partly for sale. In the neighbourhood of Copenhagen there is a manufactory of Manchester cloths, which was established upon the English plan by a Swede; it is well conducted, and gives support to about two hundred people. The refining of sugar also furnishes employment to a considerable number of workmen; for the greater part of the produce of the Danish West India Islands comes to Copenhagen. The distillation of spirits has always been an important branch of manufacture in this capital; for in this country, as indeed, throughout the whole of the northern part of Europe, the consumption of that article is large. A few years ago, there were reckoned no fewer than 240 distilleries in Copenhagen, and brandy used to be exported to a considerable amount; but the manufacture is said to have declined of late. The principal articles of manufacture besides those which we have enumerated, are leather, soap, tobacco, porcelain, ironware, and linen. COMMERCE We have already remarked on the advantages which this capital possesses as a place of traffic. About the beginning of the last century, its commerce became considerable; yet though it continued afterwards to prosper, it did not increase rapidly until the war of the French revolution. The principal maritime countries of Europe were then involved in hostilities; but Denmark remained neutral, and enjoyed a lucrative carrying-trade, which extended not only through the European seas, but to India and China. A large quantity of business and capital was thus transferred to Copenhagen; and the advantages which the merchants of this city derived were very extensive. This commerce, however, together with the other branches of the Danish trade, was wholly destroyed by the hostilities which broke out in 1807 between Great Britain and Denmark. From that period till the end of the war, the mercantile interest of Denmark suffered severely; and it has never recovered the advantageous position which it previously held. At present the commerce of Copenhagen is not very considerable, and it has even recently declined. The imports into this capital are, anchors, pitch and tar, from Sweden and Norway,-flax, hemp, masts, sail-cloth and cordage, from Russia,-West India produce from the Danish possessions in the West Indies,-tobacco from America,--wines and brandy from France. From England, the principal articles of direct import are, coal, earthenware, and salt; and in 1830, the quantity of coal sent was a hundred thousand tons, and of salt a million of bushels. The principal part of the trade between the Danish West India islands, (or rather St. Croix, which is the only one among them of value,) and the mother-country, is in the hands of the Copenhagen merchants; and the number of ships which arrived at the capital from St. Croix, in 1831, was twenty-three, of the aggregate burden of 5772 tons. The trade to the settlements in the East Indies is in the hands of an exclusive company, but so trifling in its amount, that only one ship has latterly sailed from Copenhagen in the year. The exports from this city cousist chiefly of articles which are the produce of the soil, such as grain, butter, cheese, beef, pork, hides, horses, cattle, and rape-seed, of which a large quantity is sent to Holland LONDON: Publishe1 by JOHN WILLIAM PARKER, WEST STRAND; and sold by all Booksellers. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE CHINESE. | Marco Polo, who visited China in the latter part of No. VI. CHINESE BOAT-TRACKERS. THE vast empire of China is intersected in every direction by rivers and canals, which form a more extensive system of water-communication than exists in any other country. From Canton in the south to Pekin in the north,- -a distance of nearly seventeen degrees of latitude,—the navigation is only once interrupted, and then only for a space of four-and-twenty miles. It is not our intention now to enter into the details of this system, or to describe the vessels which are employed on these lines of communication; we purpose only to relate a few particulars concerning this mode of navigation, and the elass of persons by whom it is performed. The use of sails is general; but when circumstances render them of no avail, the vessels are impelled by means of oars, or dragged along with ropes from the bank of the river or canal. The oars are used in a peculiar manner; there are two of them, turning upon pivots which are placed in narrow projecting pieces of wood near the bow of the vessel, and not the stern, as is the practice of most other nations. They are of a large size, from six to ten men being required to work each of them; and instead of being taken out of the water, as in the act of rowing, they are moved backwards and forwards beneath the surface," in a similar manner to what in England is understood by sculling." This mode of using the oars is much better adapted to the crowded streams of China, than that of working them at the sides as in rowing. To lighten their labour, and assist them in keeping time with the strokes, the boatmen often have recourse to a rude air which is generally sung by the master, the whole of the crew joining in chorus. Mr. Barrow, who accompanied Lord Macartney's Embassy in 1793, has given a copy of the air, which he frequently heard. On many a calm still evening, (he says,) when a dead silence reigned upon the water, have we listened with pleasure to this artless and unpolished air, which was sung, with little alteration, through the whole fleet. Extraordinary exertions of bodily strength, depending in a certain degree on the willingness of the mind, are frequently accompanied with exhilarating exclamations among the most savage people; but the Chinese song could not be considered in this point of view; like the exclamations of our seamen in hauling the ropes, or the oar-song of the Hebrideans, which, as Dr. Johnson has observed, resembles the proceleusmatic verse by which the rowers of Grecian galleys were animated, the chief object of the Chinese chorus seemed to be that of combining cheerfulness with regularity. Verse sweetens toil, however rude the sound. When the wind or the tide is unfavourable, or when the vessels have to ascend a stream which has a rapid current, the system of tracking is adopted. This is similar to the system of towing practised on the rivers and canals of our own country; but while we employ horses for the task, the Chinese employ men. The number of "trackers" to a boat varies with its size, and with the strength of the opposing wind or current; Lord Amherst's embassy was provided with three hundred trackers, the number of boats being twenty. Mr. Ellis, the historian of that embassy, states the number as being for the larger boats from twenty to twenty-five, for those of the second class twelve, and for the smaller seven. The track-ropes are commonly made of narrow strips of the strong siliceous substance which forms the outer covering of the bamboo, thus combining the greatest lightness with strength. These ropes are accurately described by that faithful old traveller, | the thirteenth century. He tells us that the Chinese did not employ hempen cordage in their vessels, excepting for the masts and sails (the standing and running rigging); "they have canes," he says, "of the length of fifteen paces, which they split in their whole length into very thin pieces, and these, by twisting them together, they form into ropes three hundred paces long: so skilfully are they manufactured, that they are equal in strength to cordage made of hemp." His able commentator, Mr. Marsden, remarks, that persons who have seen the cables belonging to the prows of the Eastern Islands might suppose that this account of twisting the bamboo into cordage was a mistake for the manufacture of cables by twisting the rattan, so commonly applied to that purpose; "but our author's correctness as to the material is fully proved by the testimony of modern travellers." Van Braam, who was one of the Dutch ambassadors to the Emperor of China in 1794, says, "Their ropes of rattan, or, to speak more exactly, bamboo, are of great advantage, because they unite lightness with strength." Marco Polo adds, that "with these ropes vessels are tracked along the rivers, by means of ten or twelve horses to cach, as well upwards against the current as in the opposite direction." Upon this sentence a curious remark may be made. Horses are not now used to track Chinese vessels; and from the general immutability of Chinese customs, this discrepancy between the practice of the present day and the statement of Marco Polo, might have been urged, to impugn his fidelity, if the labours of modern travellers had not firmly established his reputation. Yet it is remarkable, as Mr. Davis observes, that from this very instance of disagreement we derive an additional confirmation of his general correctness; for that the labour of tracking was once performed by horses, we have a singular proof in the language of the warrants or commissions issued by the emperor to his officers. The system is clearly explained by the Jesuit Duhalde, in his great work on China; after mentioning that the men to whom the task is now assigned are furnished by the mandarins of each city, he adds: The number of these men is determined according to the the Emperor, that is to say, at the rate of three men for number of the horses marked on the Cang-ho, or Patent of he will be furnished with twenty-four men. each horse, so that if eight horses are marked for an envoy, The trackers do not form a particular class in China: they are taken indiscriminately from among the lower orders of the people. Their labour is extremely severe; we read of their toiling for sixteen hours consecutively, against a stream whose swiftness precluded the slightest intermission of their exertions. They are obliged sometimes to wade up to the middle in mud, sometimes to swim across creeks, and immediately afterwards, perhaps, to expose their naked bodies to a scorching sun. They are kept constantly to their work by a soldier, or "the lictor of some petty police-officer," who follows them closely, carrying in his hand an enormous whip, with which he lashes them as often as they show the least disposition to idleness, and with as little reluctance as if they were a team of horses. "They often slip into narrow paths," says the historian of an early Dutch embassy, "and are drowned; and if any grow faint and weary, there is one who follows, and never leaves beating them till they go on or die." The trackers of each boat are generally changed every day: they receive for their labour a remuneration, very seanty indeed, in reference to the price of provisions; and they have no allowance made to them for returning to the place from which they were taken. As the canals and rivers of China are extensively used by the officers of the government, the boatmen and others who are employed in their navigation are occasionally the victims of that cruelty and oppression which, in spite of the paternal nature of the government, do not seem to be altogether absent from its administration, and altogether unknown to its various functionaries. In the narratives of travellers, we read repeatedly of the infliction of a "bambooing," which seems to be a punishment as largely resorted to in the celestial empire,-and often with as little reason, as the kindred process of " bastinadoing," in Turkey and Persia. The common practice of flogging with a bamboo, (says Mr. Barrow,) has generally been considered by the missionaries in the light of a gentle correction, exercised by men in power over their inferiors just as a father would chastise his son, but not as a punishment to which disgrace is attached. However lightly these gentlemen choose to treat this humiliating chastisement to which all are liable, from the prime-minister to the peasant, it is but too often inflicted in the anger, and by the caprice, of a man in office, and frequently with circumstances of unwarrantable cruelty and injustice. may When Lord Macartney's embassy descended the Pei-ho (or White River) on its return from Pekin, the stream being very shallow, one of the accommodation barges got aground in the middle of the night, The air was piercingly cold; and the poor creatures belonging to the vessel were busy until sunrise in the midst of the water, endeavouring to get her off. The rest of the fleet had proceeded; and the patience of the superintending officer being exhausted, he ordered his soldiers to flog the captain, and the whole crew. The punishment was accordingly inflicted, in the most unmerciful manner; and this, we are told, was "their only reward for the use of the yacht, their time and labour, for two days." A still more re. markable display of arbitrary power occurred, while the embassy was ascending the Pei-ho, from its mouth in the Yellow Sea, to the town of Tongtcheow-foo, where the land journey to Pekin commenced, It happened one morning that some of the provisions, which it was the daily custom to supply to the embassy, were a little tainted,-a circumstance not very wonderful, considering that the weather was extremely hot, the mercury in Fahrenheit's thermometer ranging from 82o to 88° in the shade. Never theless, the officers to whom had been assigned the task of furnishing the supplies, were instantly deprived of their rank, and all their servants severely bambooed. Lord Macartney interceded with the two mandarins, Van-ta-gin and Chon-ta-gin, who had been appointed to attend the embassy, from the first moment of disembarkation, in favour of the degraded delinquents: he was heard with great attention, but "perceived that little indulgence or relaxation from strict discipline was to be expected on such occasions." The charitable supposition that these acts of The missionaries alluded to by the writer, are the Jesuits who were permitted a long time ago to settle at Pekin, but have gradually been expelled; they used to be the only authority for Europeans on Chinese matters, but many of their statements are now found to require material correction. Another passage to the same effect as that in the text may be quoted. "In travelling through the country, a day seldom escaped without our witnessing the application of the Pan-tse, or bamboo, and generally in such a manner that it might be A Chinese called by any other name except a gentle correction. suffering under this punishment, cries out in the most piteous manner; a Tartar bears it in silence. A Chinese, after receiving a certain number of strokes, falls down on his knees as a matter of course before him who ordered the punishment, thanking him in the most humble manner for the fatherly kindness he had testified towards his son, in thus putting him in mind of his errors: a Tartar grumbles, and disputes the point as to the right that a Chinese may have to flog him, or he turns away in solemn silence," severity should rather be considered as isolated instances of infirmity of temper on the part of individuals, than be taken as samples of a general practice, will unfortunately not be found tenable, One of the mandarins to whom Lord Macartney addressed his ineffectual appeal, was remarkable for a kind and amiable disposition, which attracted the regards of our countrymen in an extraordinary degree. Besides, we constantly read of similar cases; and an exact parallel to one of those above mentioned may be found in the narrative of the first embassy which was sent by the Dutch East India Company in year 1655, and which then traversed China from Canton to Pekin, by the great line of water-communication. In their course from Nan-gan-foo towards the great Yang-tse-kiang, or Yellow River, the party descended the stream called the Kan-kiang, “ which runs there as swift as an arrow from the bow, and is full of banks, sands and shoals, so that, though they went down the stream, their ships were often in danger." In this passage, a yacht, carrying one of the ambassadors, and the presents destined for the emperor, fell into a whirlpool, and, after being whirled about by the eddies, at last ran aground, and could not be got off without the trouble of unloading. "The mandarins commanded the watermen and master to be severely lashed with a thick leather whip for their neglect; but the ambassadors interceded for the latter," The former, we presume, were left to their fate, as unworthy of the Dutchmen's interference; yet if blame could have rightly rested with any one, where the navigation was so difficult, we may fairly infer, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that it should have been with the master. The lot of the trackers seems to be a harder one than that of the boatmen. The appearance which they present, when engaged in their toilsome occupation, has generally excited the commiseration of travellers. There is often a large proportion of old men and boys in their number. Poor miserable men (says Dr. Morrison) passed cords across their breast, over one shoulder and under the other arm, and walked forward in a leaning posture, pulling at the end of the rope, which had its other end fastened to the ast-head of the vessel to which they were giving motion. Mr. Abel, who accompanied Lord Amherst's embassy, and who seems disposed to regard matters in a more favourable light than some others, after remarking upon the uninteresting nature of the country on the banks of the Pei-ho, between Ta-koo and Tiensing, says: These The scenery had only novelty and strangeness to recommend it; but had it possessed the attractions of Arcadia, they would have been polluted by miserable objects of wretched and naked men tracking our boats, and toiling often through a deep mire under a burning sun. poor fellows were attended by overseers, who kept them to their work, and prevented their desertion, but did not, as far as I could observe, exert their authority with cruelty. Scarcely had our eyes become in some degree familiarized with their appearance, when they were offended by the sight of a dead body frightfully swollen, lying on his back, and floating down the river. Our boatmen passed it without regard. I must confess, that in turning from the contemplation of such objects, I recovered with some difficulty that state of mind which was necessary to an unprejudiced examination of the country through which I was passing. Where there are not persons whose constant occupation is tracking, or where an extraordinary number is required, the officers of the government impress poor people wherever they can find them, for one day's journey. As the service is very laborious, and very ill rewarded, considerable difficulty is often experienced in obtaining men to perform it. In order to obviate the delay which might thus arise, it is customary when a fleet is expected, to have the reliefs Despotism in China, (says Mr. Ellis,) as elsewhere, In a subsequent passage of his journal, the writer furnishes a fact not quite consistent with this opinion. Our trackers, (he says,) whether driven to it by being overworked or underpaid, were very insubordinate; and the disturbance was not quelled till some of them had been punished with the bamboo." The system of impressing men to serve as trackers China, those who had tracked the vessels throughout This being the night of the full moon, we were allowed service had absconded; so that in addition to the noise of Our engraving represents a group of trackers The trackers sometimes wear shoes made of straw, such as are to be seen in the engraving; but they go more frequently with naked feet. The flat boards lying on the ground in the front of the picture, are applied by them to the breast when in the act of tracking. Like the boatmen, the trackers have a song which they chant to inspirit them in their toil, and to give unison to their efforts; they call it tseenfoo-ko, their own name being tseen-fou. The greater part of it, (says Dr. Morrison,) is merely the tone of exertion, interspersed with a few expressions alluding to the country they are passing, and the place to which they look as the end of their toils. One person repeats the sentences which have meaning, and the whole join in a chorus, “Hei-o Wo-to-heio," the import of which appears to be Pull away, let us pull away. The learned doctor requested a man to write down a tracker's song, and it concluded by holding out the hope of a breakfast when they reached Teen-tsin. YOUNG children are excellent judges of the motives and feelings of those who attempt to control them; and, if you would win their love, and dispose them to comply with your reasonable requests, you must treat them with perfect candour and uprightness. Never attempt to cheat, even the youngest, into a compliance with your wishes; for, though you succeed at the time, you lessen your influence, by the loss of confidence which follows detection.—The Young Lady's Friend. |
