Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/650

636 and tallow. Kew-keang, the Treaty Port of the province, is situated on the Yang-tsze Keang, a short distance above the junction of the Po-yang Lake with that river. Ac cording to the foreign trade returns for this port for the year 1874, it appears that the value of the imports was £1,179,895, 5s., and that of the exports, £2,976,503, 14s. The province of Che-keang is bounded on the N. by the province of Keang-soo, on the E. by the sea, on the S. by the province of Fuh-keen, and on the W. by the provinces of Keang-se and Gan-Tiwuy. It occupies an area of about 36,000 square miles, and contains a population of 21,000,000. With the exception of a small portion of the great delta plain, which extends across the frontier from the province of Keang-soo, and in which are situated the famous cities of Hoo Chow, Kea-hing, Hang-cJioio, Shaou- hing, and Ning-po, the province forms a portion of the Nan-shan of south-eastern China, and is hilly throughout. The Nan-shan ranges run through the centre of the province from S.W. to N.E., and divide it into a northern portion, the greater part of which is drained by the Tseen-tang- keang, and a southern portion which is chiefly occupied by the Ta-che basin. The valleys enclosed between the moun tain ranges are numerous, fertile, and for the most part of exquisite beauty. The hilly portion of the province furnishes large supplies of tea, and in the plain which extends along the coast, north of Ningpo, a great quantity of silk is raised. In minerals the province is poor. Coal and iron are occasionally met with, and traces of copper ore are to be found in places, but none of these minerals exist in sufficiently large deposits to make mining remunerative. The principal cities are Hang-chow and the Treaty Port of Ning-po. In the foreign trade returns for Ning-po for 1874 the value of the imports during the year is described as having been 2,565,179, and that of the exports as 2,337,948. Among the latter articles we find tea, silk, cotton, dried cuttle fish, paper fans, straw hats, and medicines occupying the most prominent positions. The principal import was opium, the value of which alone amounted to 1,129,668. Cotton piece goods, annexed to which stands the next largest figure, were imported to the value of 430,692. Opposite Ning-po, at a distance of about 50 miles, lies the Island of Chusan, the largest of a group bearing that general name. This island is 2 1 miles long, and is about 50 miles in circumference. It is very mountainous, and is surrounded by numerous islands and islets. On its south side stands the walled town of Ting- hai, in front of which is the principal harbour. The population is returned as being 50,000. The province of Fuh-keen, or, as it used to be called, Min, is bounded on the N. by the province of Che-keang, on the S. by that of Kivang-tung, on the W. by that of Keang-se, and on the E. by the sea. It occupies an area of 53,480 square miles, and its population is estimated at 14,777,410. The provincial capital is Fuh-chow Foo, and it is divided into eleven prefectures, besides that ruled over by the prefect of the capital city. Fuh-keen is generally mountainous, being overspread by the Nan-shan ranges, which run a general course of N.E. and S.W. The principal river is the Min, which is formed by the junction, in the neighbourhood of the city of Yen-ping Foo, of three rivers, namely, the Keen-Tee, which takes its rise in the mountains on the western frontier in the prefecture of Keen-ning Foo, the Fuh-tun Ke, the source of which is found in the district of Kwang-tsih in the north-west of the province, and the Shaou Ke, which rises in the moun tains in the western district of Ning-kwa. From Yen-ping Foo the river takes a somewhat south-easterly course, and after passing along the south face of the city of Fuh-chow Foo, empties itself into the sea about 30 miles below that town. Its upper course is narrow and rocky and abounds in rapids, but as it approaches Fuh-chow Foo the channel widens, and the current becomes slow and even. Its depth is very irregular, and it is navigable only by native boats of a small class. Two other rivers flow into the sea near the island of Amoy, neither of which, however, is navigable for any distance from their mouths owing to the shallows and rapids with which they abound. The soil of the province is, as its name, &quot; Happy Establishment,&quot; indicates, very productive, and the scenery is of a rich and varied character. Most of the hills are covered with verdure, and the less rugged are laid out in terraces. The principal products of the province are tea, of which the best kind is that known as Bohea, which takes its name, by a mispronunciation, from the Woo-e Mountains, in the prefec ture of Keenning Foo, where it is grown ; grains of various kinds, oranges, plantains, lichis, bamboo, ginger, gold, silver, lead, tin, iron, salt (both marine and rock), deers horns, beeswax, sugar, fish, birds nests, medicine, paper, cloth, timber, &amp;lt;fcc. Fuh-keen boasts of two Treaty Ports, Fuh- chow Foo and Amoy. The trade reports for 1874 show that the value of goods imported in foreign vessels to Fuh-chow Foo in that year amounted to 1 ,332,387, 11s. 8d., and that that of goods similarly exported amounted to 4,397,320, 19s. 4d. The chief articles of export from Amoy are tea, sugar, and sugar candy; of tea 1,129,090 worth was exported during the year 1874. The Island of Formosa, or Taiwan, &quot; the Great Bay,&quot; as the Chinese call it, forms part of the province of Fuh- Formosa. keen. Situated at a distance of about 80 or 90 miles from the mainland, its highest mountains can be easily recog nized from the coast near Amoy. And so when Chinese historians assert that its existence first became known to their ancestors in the year 1480, they probably mean that at that date emigrants from the mainland first gained a footing in the island. At all events, when the Japanese two centuries later attempted to establish a colony in the island, they found there a Chinese population sufficiently numerous to be formidable. The island stretches from lat. 21 53 30&quot; to lat. 25 33. In shape it is long and narrow. Its greatest width is about 70 miles, and it tapers off to a fine point at its southern extremity. A back bone of mountains runs from north to south through almost its entire length, leaving a plain on the western and northern portions. These level districts are occupied by Chinese settlers, while the mountains and their eastern slopes to the sea are inhabited by native tribes. The fertility of the plains has gained for Formosa the name of the Granary of China. On every available piece of land fields of rice and sugar are carefully cultivated, and recom pense the farmer by yielding him constant and abundant crops. These alone, in addition to such products as jute, grass cloth, fibre, rice paper, and ratan, would make the island a valuable possession; but far more precious are the sulphur and the camphor, which are obtained from the mines and from the mountains of the island, and which are claimed by the Government as Crown monopolies. When taken from the mine the sulphur is boiled in iron boilers until the slate-like mineral assumes a treacle-like con sistency. This is constantly stirred until every impurity is separated from the sulphur, which is then ladled out into wooden tubs shaped like sugar-loaves. In these it is left to cool, and the conical cake is freed from the tub by the simple process of knocking out the bottom of the latter. As the gigantic laurels from which the camphor is obtained are found only in the mountains in the possession of the natives, the acquisition of a constant supply is somewhat difficult. In 1874, however, 14,380| cwts. of this com modity were exported from the ports of Tam-suy and Kelung. Petroleum also adds to the riches of the island. The Treaty Ports in Formosa are Tai-wan Foo (including 