it is evident that there would not be more than twenty thousand in each province that could be depended upon for active work, such as would be required if it was necessary to pursue a rebel army, recapture a city, or quell some distant revolt. This number might be considered ample for such purposes, if China, in her roads or geographical divisions, bore any approximate relation to other countries. But it must be recollected that the area of China proper is equal to one million three hundred thousand square miles, and consequently the provinces average seventy-two thousand two hundred and twenty-two; of course their separate areas vary considerably, Sz-chuen being by far the largest, and Che'-kiang the smallest; but as the number of soldiers would bably be proportional, it results that twenty thousand men must always have the charge of seventy-two thousand square miles, an extent of territory that, in Europe,

pro

military stores and accoutrements that were ordered to be always kept ready for use, were the following articles :--" Five hundred and ninety iron helmets, eighty-six iron-ribbed leather caps, forty-eight soldiers' coats studded with brass buttons, one hundred and twenty-eight soldiers' coats adorned with snakes, one hundred and forty soldiers' coats with silken badges, three hundred and sixty soldiers' coats with badges adorned with rampant tigers, fifty-five soldiers' coats with badges on each of which is inscribed the word 'bravery,' two hundred and sixty swords, one hundred and fifty bows, four thousand seven hundred and fifty arrows, three hundred and sixty fowling-pieces, nine spears, three hundred and sixty hatchets, fifty-five shields with swords to correspond, fifteen guns with gun-carriages, eighty jingalls, ten powder-cases, and as many for shot and bullets, flags in abundance, with drums, gongs, rattles, horns, trumpets, tents, screens, matches, four hundred iron shot, two thousand three hundred and forty-five smaller ditto, four thousand five hundred and seventy bullets, four thousand one hundred and forty-four pounds of smaller bullets, and five thousand pounds of powder."—Vide Chinese Miscellany.

1 The area of England, exclusive of Wales, equals fifty thousand three hundred and eighty-seven square miles.

would be thought to constitute a very respectable kingdom. The principal difficulty in checking insurrections among the inhabitants is not, however, so much caused by the extent of country, as by the absence of proper military roads. In the south, even the principal highways are little better than footpaths, and in the rice-cultivating districts, many of the villages have no other means of communication than the narrow banks of earth that form the boundaries of the intervening fields, and which do not generally afford sufficient space to allow two persons to walk abreast. During the rainy season these paths are all but impassable, and even at other times they are so intersected by the numerous irrigating streams that the chances are the ground traversed by a stranger in trying to reach a certain point, would be double its actual distance. No kind of country could be more completely unfitted for military evolutions, or for the transport of artillery or commissariat stores. The extreme northern provinces are, in this respect, vastly superior to the southern; the roads in Shantung and Chih-le are creditably kept, and are sufficiently wide to allow the use of carts and draughthorses. The road by which our troops, during the late operations, marched to Tientsin, was found to be good enough for all practical purposes, and enabled cavalry and field-guns to be moved without difficulty.

An inquiry into the strength of the Imperial Government would be manifestly incomplete if the navy was not taken into account, especially as it has been of such good service in several of the late actions up the Yangzte-kiang; and yet it is seldom noticed, and from want

of reliable data, it is not easy to arrive at just conclusions respecting its force. In constitution and regulations this branch is very similar to what is commonly called "a standing navy." In addition to the number of officers and men always kept afloat, there are large contingents quartered on shore, who are supposed to be ready to embark in the event of special emergencies. The Abbé Huc states, evidently upon insufficient grounds, that the entire force does not exceed thirty thousand men. This number must be considerably below the truth. At the naval action near Fatshan in 1856, the crowds of well-manned war-junks that were brought out to repel our attack were alone sufficient evidence of the error of this computation. Judging from the naval establishment at the Treaty Ports and in the adjacent rivers, I am of opinion that the number of officers and men actually afloat fully equals thirty thousand; and, supposing that the contingent is kept up to a proper strength, the total of all classes might be fairly estimated to be not less than sixty or seventy thousand.

The monthly pay of the privates of the provincial army, when actually employed, is one and a half taels, or about ten shillings; when not on active service they receive a reduced scale of pay, which amounts to nearly nine-tenths of a tael (a little under six shillings).1

The men composing the force that was assembled together in 1851 from the provinces of Kwang-tung, Hoo-nan, and Kwei-chow to quell the rebellion, were paid daily seven-hundredths of a tael, or rather more than

1 A tael of silver is about equal in value to six shillings and twopence.

five-pence. Besides this, they were each given eightythree hundredths of a pint of rice.1

When volunteers were called for (a measure that was rendered imperative through the rebel successes), every volunteer was promised ten taels bounty-money, and received a daily pay amounting to eight-pence halfpenny, together with the same quantity of rice as was distributed to the regular troops.

Officers in the cavalry, not in command, are paid an average of six taels per month, though only half is given in money; the remainder consisting in an equal value in kind, such as rice or other grain, &c. Infantry officers receive four taels, everything included. Naval officers commanding the Government war-junks are given sufficient rice, &c., to support themselves and their families, and receive in addition a monthly allowance of three taels of silver.

The expenditure for the army alone was shown by Mr. Wade, in an interesting article in the 'Chinese Repository' (1851), to be thirty million eight hundred and seventy-four thousand and forty-five taels, or nearly ten millions sterling. Of this sum there was awarded—

The remaining small sum was devoted to extra allowances and stipends. By this statement it can be at once seen how much greater is the proportional expense of the Tartar troops compared with the more numerous Chinese.

In the year 1847, the estimated revenue of the em

1 Report of Ching-tu to the Emperor (1849).

pire, minus such deductions as were allowed for the purpose of meeting local charges, was a sum equivalent to eighteen and a half millions sterling. The expenditure for the same year, including what was set aside for the emperor's private use and court expenses, was eighteen millions. From this it would appear that the revenue was half a million in excess of the expenditure. But, in consequence of the famines in the province of Honan, all the taxes in money or grain that should have been received from it were either remitted or employed in succouring the starving population. The taxes on land and salt, also, fell short of the estimated amount, and the result was that the returns, instead of showing a surplus, present a deficit exceeding two millions sterling.

The population of China proper at the present time is probably not much less than four hundred millions, and in 1847 it must have equalled, at a most moderate calculation, three hundred and seventy-five millions.2 These, spread over the one million three hundred thousand square miles contained in the total area, will give an average of two hundred and eighty-eight inhabitants to each square mile. A reference to the populations of

1 Computed from official documents by the late Dr. Bridgeman.

2 The population in 1393 = 60,545,811 (‘Chinese Repository ').

A late census gives as its result 400,000,000.

According to the Journal of the Statistical Society for Dec. 1861, the population of England and Wales was in 1811, 10,454,529, and in 1861 20,061,725; from this it is evident that in the small interval of fifty years the population has very nearly doubled itself. This simple fact must at once dispel all wonder or question with regard to the rapid increase of the Chinese.