The above population, giving 283 souls per square mile throughout the empire, appears to be excessive, considering that some of the outlying portion of the immense territory are by no means densely inhabited. Nevertheless, later returns than those of 1812, likewise said to be official, give still higher figures. It is stated that in a census taken in 1842, the population of China was ascertained to number 414,686,994, or 320 per English square mile.

Since the accession of the present dynasty, a census, or rough enumeration of the population, takes place every ten years, but the results are not always, and never completely, made public. From what has become known of these computations of the people, it would appear that China nearly trebled its population in the hundred years 1742 to 1842, and that it doubled in the seventy years

1772 to 1842.

The standing military force of China consists nominally of four divisions-the Manchoos, in 678 companies of 100 men each, the Mongols, in 211 companies, and 106,000 Chinese, all cavalry, and 500,000 native infantry, besides 125,000 irregular troops or militia; in all, 829,900 men. Besides these, many irregular troops are stationed in the provinces of Mongolia, Turkestan, Tibet, where the government is military, and in all considerable cities there is a garrison of Tartar troops. But recent reports state the Chinese army to be composed of only 600,000 men, scattered over the surface of the empire. A standing army, in the European sense of the word, is not in existence. The soldiers do not live in barracks, but in their own houses, pursuing as chief business some civil occupation, frequently that of day-labourers, and meeting only on certain occasions, pursuant to orders from the military chieftains.

Trade and Commerce.

The first attempt on the part of Great Britain to open a trade with China was made in 1637, when four merchant vessels arrived at Macao; but through the intrigues of the Portuguese there established, the enterprise failed. Afterwards the East India Company carried on a small traffic at the different maritime ports, and chiefly at Canton. In 1792, Lord Macartney's embassy attempted to put the trade on a more liberal basis, but with little success. In 1816, Lord Amherst's mission for a similar purpose also failed, though the English trade continued for the next twenty years. In 1834 the exclusive trade of the East India Company with China terminated, and the country was thrown open to general traders.

The total value of the principal articles imported from China into the United Kingdom in each of the years 1861, 1862, and 1863, is given in the subjoined table :

The subjoined table gives the value of the principal articles of British and Irish produce exported from the United Kingdom to China in each of the years 1861, 1862, and 1863.

The following is the official return of the declared annual value of British produce and manufactures exported to China and Hongkong, from 1834-the year when the distinction was first made in the Custom House Records between the exports to China and to India-to 1864 :

There is no separate record of the exports to Hongkong prior to 1843.

By the terms of the commercial treaty signed on August 29, 1842, by the plenipotentiaries of the Queen of Great Britain and the Emperor of China, five ports of the empire were opened to European

trade. The five ports comprised those of Canton, Amoy, Foochow foo, Ningpoo, and Shanghai. To these five ports were subsequently added six others namely, Swatow, Tientsin, Che-foo, Hankow, Kiukiang, and Chinkiang.

The following table gives the total amount of duties on foreign vessels and cargoes collected at each of the treaty ports in China, in the year 1863.

The chief articles exported from Shanghai are tea, cotton, and silk. Subjoined are the quantities of the different kinds of tea exported to various countries from Shanghai from June 1, 1863, to May 31, 1864, after returns published by the Imperial Maritime Customs at the end of the tea season.

The picul is equivalent to 133 lbs. The total export will therefore be represented by the following figures: Black, 47,198,944 lbs. ; green, 22,222,580 lbs. ; total, 69,421,524 lbs.

The export of cotton from Shanghai during the year ending May 31, 1864, amounted to 88,595,480 lbs., the value of which, according to monthly averages obtained from the merchants, was estimated at Shanghai at 12,805,494 taels, or 4,161,4607.

The exports of cotton from Shanghai during the year commencing June 1, 1863, and ending May 31, 1864, went to the following destinations:

The exports of tea from Canton during the year 1863-64 went to the following destinations :

The subjoined table gives the total value of imports and exports at the various ports of China-as far as can be ascertained from the consular returns-in each of the years 1862 and 1863.