2,550

of Tartary, sea of Japan, gulfs of Liautung and Pechele, Yellow sea, channel of Formosa, China sea, and gulf of Tonquin. The peninsula of Corea lies south of Liautung, separated from it by a chain of low mountains, and forms the only interruption to the maritime frontier. Cochinchina and Burmah border on the provinces of Kwangtung, Kwangsí, and Yunnan, in the south-west; but most of the region near that frontier is inhabited by half-independent tribes of Laos, Singphos, and others. The high ranges of the Himalaya separate Assam, Bootan, Nípal, and states in India from Tibet, whose western border is bounded by the nominally dependent country of Ladak, or if that be excluded, by the Karakorum mountains. The kingdoms or states of Lahore, Cashmere, Badakshan, Kokand, and the Kirghis stepp, lie upon the western frontiers of Little Tibet, Ladak, and Ílí, as far north as the Russian border; the high range of the Belurtag or Tsung-ling separates the former countries from the Chinese territory in this quarter. Russia is conterminous with China from the Kirghís stepp along the Altai chain and Daourian mountains for 3,300 miles to the sea of Okhotsk. The circuit

2,5 of the whole empire is 12,550 miles, or about half the circumference of the globe. The coast line from the mouth of the Amur to Hainan is 3350 miles. This immense country comprises about one-third of the continent, and nearly one-tenth of the habitable part of the globe; and, next to Russia, is the largest empire which has existed on the earth.

It will, perhaps, contribute to a better comprehension of the area of the Chinese empire to compare it with some other countries. Russia is nearly 6000 miles in its greatest length, and about 1500 in its average breadth, and measures 7,725,000 sq. m., or one-seventh of the land on the globe. The United States of America extends about 3000 miles from the Pacific in a northeasterly direction to Maine, and about 1700 from Lake of the Woods to Florida. The area of this territory is now estimated at 2,620,000 sq. m. The area of the British Empire is not far from 6,890,000 sq. m., but the boundaries of some of the colonies in Hindostan and South Africa are not very definitely laid down; the superficies of the two colonies of Australia and New Zealand is nearly equal to that of all the other possessions of the British crown. A great portion of the Russian, English, and Chinese empires is uninhabitable, or so situated as never to be capable of supporting a very large population, while the greater

DIVISIONS OF THE EMPIRE.

7

part of the territory of the United States is susceptible of cultivation, and capable of subsisting a dense population.

The Chinese themselves divide their empire into three principal parts, rather by the different form of government which they adopt in each, than by any geographical arrangement.

I. The Eighteen Provinces, or that which is more strictly called China, or China Proper; it is, with trivial additions, the country which was conquered by the Manchus in 1664.

II. Manchuria, or the native country of the Manchus, lying north of the gulf of Liautung and east of the Inner Daourian mountains to the Pacific.

III. Colonial Possessions, including Mongolia, flí (comprising Sungaria and Eastern Turkestan), Koko-nor, and Tibet.

The first of these divisions alone is that to which other nations have given the name of China, and is the only part which is settled by the Chinese. It lies on the eastern slope of the high table land of Central Asia, in the south-eastern angle of the continent; and for beauty of scenery, fertility of soil, salubrity of climate, magnificent and navigable rivers, and variety and abundance of its productions, will compare with any portion of the globe. The common name for this portion of the empire, as distinguished from the rest, is Shih-pah Săng or the Eighteen Provinces, but the people themselves most usually mean this part alone by the term Middle Kingdom. The area of the Eighteen Provinces is estimated by McCulloch at 1,348,870 sq. m., but if the full area of the provinces of Kansuh and Chihlí be included, this sum is not large enough; the usual estimate is 1,297,999 sq. m.; Malte Brun reckons it at 1,482,091 sq. m.; but the entire dimensions of the Eighteen Provinces, as the Chinese define them, cannot be much under 2,000,000 sq. m., the excess lying in the extension of the two mentioned above. This part, consequently, is rather more than two-fifths of the area of the whole empire.

The old limits are, however, more natural, and being better known may still be retained. They give nearly a square form to the provinces, the length from north to south being 1474 miles, and the breadth 1355 miles; but the diagonal line from the north-east corner to Yunnan is 1669 miles, and that from Amoy to the north-western part of Kansuh is 1557 miles. The coastline from Hainan to Liautung is more than 2500 miles, and the

line of land frontier 4400 miles. Thus China Proper is about seven times the size of France, and fifteen times that of the United Kingdom; it is nearly half as large as all Europe, which is 3,650,000 sq. m. The area of China Proper is, however, nearer that of the twenty-eight states of the American Union, which is reckoned to be 1,265,000 sq. m., the superficies of Texas being about the same as those of Iowa and Wisconsin combined, or 320,000 sq. m. The geographical position of the two countries on the western borders of the two great oceans is another point of likeness, which involves considerable similarity in climate; there is moreover a further resemblance between the size of the provinces in China and those of the newer states.

Before proceeding to define the three great basins into which China may be divided, it will give a better idea of the whole subject to speak of the mountain ranges which lie within, and those which define the limits of the whole empire. The latter in themselves form almost an entire wall around the empire, inclosing and defining it; the principal exceptions being the western boundaries of Yunnan, and the border between Ílí and the Kirghis stepp.

Commencing at the north-eastern corner of Manchuria, above the mouth of the Amour, about latitude 56° N., are the first summits of the Altai range, which during its long course of 2000 miles takes several names; this range forms the northern limit of the table land of Central Asia, as well as the boundary between China and Russia. At its eastern part, the range is called Yablonoi-Khrebet by the Russians, and the Outer Hing-an by the Chinese; the first name is applied as far west as the confluence of the Songari with the Amour, beyond which, north-west as far as lake Baikal, the Russians call it the Daourian mountains. The distance from the lake to the ocean is about 600 miles. Beyond lake Baikal, westward, the chain is called the Altai, i. e. Golden Mountains, and sometimes Kin shan, meaning the same thing; and as far as the Tshulyshman river, separates into two chains, near the Selenga river, running nearly east and west. The southern one, which lies mostly in Mongolia, is called the Tangnu, and rises to a much higher elevation than the northern spur. The Tangnu mountains continue under that name in the Chinese maps in a south-westerly direction, but this chain properly joins the Tien shan, or Celestial mountains, in the province

BOUNDARIES OF THE EMPIRE.

9

of Cobdo, and continues on until it again unites with the Altai further west, near the junction of the Kirghís stepp with China and Russia, where the range ends. The length of the whole chain is not far from 2500 miles, and except near the Tshulyshman river, does not, so far as is known, rise to the snow line, except in detached peaks. The average elevation is supposed to be not far from 7000 feet, and most of it lies between latitudes 47° and 52° N., forming the longest mountain boundary between any two countries.

The next chain is the Belur-tag, Tartash ling, or Onion mountains (Tsung ling), which lies in the south-west of Songaria, separating it from Badakshan; this range commences about latitude 50° N., nearly at right angles with the Tien shan, and extends southerly, rising to a great height, though little is known of it. It may be considered as the connecting link between the Tien shan and the Kwănlun or Koulkun; or rather, both this and the latter may be considered as proceeding from a mountain knot in the south-western part of Turkestan called Pushtikhur, the Belur-tag coming from its northern side, while the Kwǎnlun or Koulkun range issues from its eastern side, and extends across the middle of the table land to the Azure sea, where it diverges into two branches. This mountain knot lies between latitudes 36° and 37° N., and longitudes 70° and 74° E. Himalaya range proceeds from it south-easterly, along the southern frontier of Tibet, till it breaks up near the headwaters of the Yangtsz' kiang, Salween, and other rivers between Tibet, Burmah, and Yunnan, thus nearly completing the circuit of the empire. A small spur from the Yun ling, in the west of Yunnan, in the country of the Singphos and borders of Assam, may also be regarded as forming part of the boundary line. The coast line from Corea, north-easterly to near the mouth of the Amour, is likewise girded by a range of mountains, called Sih-hih-tih on Chinese maps.

The

Within the confines of the empire are four large chains, some of the peaks in their course rising to stupendous elevations, but the ridges generally falling under the snow line. The first is the Tien shan or Celestial mountains, called Tengkiri by the Mongols, and sometimes erroneously Alak mountains. This chain begins at the northern extremity of the Belur-tag in 40° N., or more properly comes in from the west, and extends from

west to east between longitudes 76° and 90° E., and generally along the 22° of north latitude, dividing Ílí into Songaria and Turkestan, or Northern and Southern Circuits. Its western por. tion is called Muz-tag; and the Muz-daban, about longitude 79° E., between Gouldja and Oksu, is where the road from north to south runs across, leading over a high glacier above the snow line. East of this occurs a mass of peaks among the highest in Central Asia, called Bogdo-ula; and at the eastern end, as it declines to the desert, are traces of volcanic action, but no active volcanoes are now known The volcano of Pí shan is between the glacier and the Bogdo-ula; it is the only one known in continental China. The Celestial mountains end abruptly at their eastern point, where the ridge meets the desert, not far from the meridian of Barkoul in Kansuh, though Humboldt considers the hills in Mongolia a continuation of the range eastward, as far as the Inner Hing-an. The space between the Altai and Tien shan is very much broken up by mountainous spurs, which may be considered as connecting links of them both, though nothing like a regular chain exists. The western prolongation of the Tien shan, under the name of the Muz-tag, extends from the high pass only as far as the junction of the Belur-tag, beyond which, and out of the Chinese Empire, it continues nearly west, south of the river Sihon towards Kodjend, under the names of Ak-tag and Asferah-tag; this part is covered with perpetual snow.

Nearly parallel with the Celestial mountains in part of its course is the Nan Shan, Kwănlun or Koulkun range of mountains, of which less is known than of the other three great systems. The Koulkun starts from the Pushtikhur knot in latitude 36° N., and runs along easterly in nearly that parallel through the whole breadth of the table land, dividing Tibet from the desert of Gobi in part of its course. About the middle of its extent, not far from longitude 92° E., it divides into two ranges; one of these declines to the south-east through Koko-nor and Sz'chuen, under the name of the Bayan-kara mountains or Siueh ling (i. e. Snow mountains), and unites with the Yun ling (i. e. Cloudy mountains), about latitude 33° N. The other branch bends northerly not far from the source of the Yellow river, and under the names of Kihlien shan or Nan shan, Ín shan, and Ala shan, passes through Kansuh and Shensí to join the Inner Hing-an, not far from the great bend of the Yellow river. Some port on of the country