Page:The Chinese Empire. A General & Missionary Survey.djvu/98



By the Rev., Church Missionary Society.

is one of the smallest, as well as one of the most picturesque, of the eighteen provinces which constitute China proper, being about as large as England, exclusive of Wales, and having a superficial area of 46,320 square miles. It is divided into eleven prefectures, all containing two or more counties (the counties in the Foochow prefecture number no less than ten), each having its walled county-town. The area of each county is, roughly speaking, that of an English shire, i.e. about 1000 square miles. The province is an extremely mountainous one, and wherever we lift our eyes we look upon the "everlasting hills," clothed with their varied foliage—amongst which that of the fir and bamboo are most prominent—or cultivated to their summits in tiny terraces by the industrious agriculturists. It is on the higher slopes of these mountains that most of the tea which finds its way to the marts of England, Australia, and America is grown. The famous Bohea hills are at the extreme north of.

The people of the province are said to number 22,876,540, but it is impossible to say whether this estimate is at all accurate, and it would probably be nearer the truth to reckon the population at 15,000,000. The Fukienese, together with their southern neighbours the Cantonese, have been called the Anglo-Saxons of China, and there can be no doubt that they are more active, more independent, more self-reliant, and better business people than those living in the north and west of the Empire. 54