The fair to which allusion has been made, is thus described by our Corean. The traders cannot begin their operations until a signal is given, by hoisting a flag and beating the gong, "when the immense and densely packed crowd rush to the market place; Coreans, Chinese, and Manchus, are all mingled together. Each speaks in his own tongue, and so great is the uproar produced by this mass of people, that the echoes of the neighboring mountains repeat their discordant shouts."
"Four or five hours is the whole time allowed for buying and selling; consequently, the tumult which takes place, the quarrels which arise, the blows which are exchanged, and the plundering which goes on, give the place more the look of a city taken by storm and given up to pillage, than that of a fair." At evening, when the signal is given, the strangers are driven out by the soldiers with the points of their lances.
Manchuria. The vast regions of Manchuria, lying north of Corea to the Hing-an or Yablonoi mountains, and east of the Sialkoi to the ocean, are inhabited by various tribes speaking different dialects and subsisting principally by hunting and fishing. The Manchus are now the dominant race, but some of the tribes near the sea and in Taraka island, bear no tributary relations to them, if indeed they are much acquainted. Since the conquest of China, the Manchus have gone on steadily improving this part of their possessions by stationing agricultural troops at the principal ports of observation, and collecting the hunters around these points as much as possible. Criminals are also constantly banished there, who carry with them their arts, and by their industry both maintain themselves and set an example to the nomads. The southern part called Shingking, has become well cultivated in many parts, and considerable trade is carried on at Kinchau with other parts of China.
Manchuria produces pulse, maize, (Indian corn), millet, barley and buckwheat; pulse, drugs and cattle, form the leading articles of trade. The climate of this country is so inhospitable, as to prove a serious obstacle in the way of its settlement and cultivation.
The Manchus have no national literature; all the books written in their language are translations of Chinese works, made under the superintendence of the Academies at Moukden and Peking. Their written characters are derived from the Mongols, but have undergone many changes. The emperors have taken great pains to elevate their countrymen by providing them with the best books in Chinese literature, and compelling them to go through the same examinations before they can attain any office; but the numerical superiority of the Chinese and their active habits, give them so much the advantage, that except in their own country, the Manchus find it difficult to preserve their native tongue to the second generation.
Mongolia. The last volume of the Annals of the Propaganda Society contains an interesting narrative of a journey into Mongolia, by the Rev. Mr. Huc.[105] This vast country, covering a million of square miles, consists of barren deserts and boundless steppes. In the limits allotted each corps, there is seldom more than one town, where the chief resides. The people live in tents, without any permanent residence. They move from place to place, with the changes of the seasons, or when their immense herds of oxen, camels and horses have exhausted the grass around their encampment. To-day presents an animated scene of hundreds of tents, filled with an active population; the children playing as happy and contented as though surrounded with every luxury a civilized life affords; the women cooking their food and drawing water from a well just dug; and the men, mounted on horseback, are galloping over the plain, keeping their countless herds from straying away. To-morrow, this picturesque and animated scene will be changed to a dreary and forbidding desert. Men, flocks, and tents have vanished, and nought remains to mark the visit of this wandering race, but the curling smoke of their unquenched fires, or the birds of prey hovering over the carcase of some dying camel, or feeding on the remains of their late repast. The Mongols are irreclaimable nomads, though some tribes of them, as the Tsakhars, Ortous, and Solous, cultivate the soil. The four khanates of the Kalkas are called Outer Mongolia, and comprise within their borders, several well built towns, though none of any size, compared with the cities in China. Few Chinese have settled among the Mongols, except near the Great Wall, nor will they allow them to do so, as there is a deep antipathy between the two races. The Mongols of the present day have probably made no advances in civilization over their ancestors in the days of Genghis and Kublai.
The approaches of the British power up the valley of the Sutlej, into the regions lying along the base of the western Himalayas, are such that they will ere long come in contact with Tibet through Ladak, and with Yarkand through Badakshan. But there is probably more geographical than ethnological information to be gained by traversing these elevated regions, where stupendous mountains and arid deserts offer nothing to tempt man from the fertile plains of India and China. Two Romish missionaries have lately arrived in Canton from H'lassa in Tibet, by the overland route through Patang in Sz'chuen to the capital of Kwangsi, and thence to Canton. This route has never been described by any traveller.
Lewchew Islands. This group of islands, including the Madjico sima, lying between it and Formosa, form a dependency of the principality of Satzuma, in the southwest of Japan, though the rulers are allowed a limited intercourse with China through Fuhchau fu. During the late war between England and China, the transport Indian Oak was lost on Lewchew,[106] August 14, 1840, and the crew were treated with great kindness, and provided with a vessel, in which they returned to Chusan. Every effort was made by the authorities to prevent the officers and men from examining the island, but their kindness to the unfortunate people thus cast on their shores, made such an impression, that a mission to the islanders was determined upon in London, by some naval gentlemen connected with the expedition, and a society formed. The Rev. B.J. Bettelheim was appointed to the post, and had reached Canton in March, 1846. He afterwards proceeded on his voyage, and his journal received at Hongkong, from Napa, contains a few details of interest, but shows plainly that the authorities are decided in refusing to allow foreigners to settle in their territories.
An attempt has been made by the Romish missionaries to establish a mission in this group.[107] The Rev. W. Forcade and an associate were left on Lewchew in May, 1844, and after a residence of fifteen months were able to transmit some notices of their treatment to the directors, through Sir Edward Belcher, R.N. who stopped at Napa in August, 1845. On their arrival, M. Forcade and his companion were conducted to their dwelling, where they were surrounded by a numerous guard under the control of officers, and attended by domestics, as they were told, "to charm their leisure moments." Their table was bountifully supplied, and everything they could ask to make them comfortable was granted them, except their liberty. Whenever they went abroad, they were accompanied by a guard, but allowed to hold no intercourse with the natives; they had not been able to proceed beyond twelve miles into the interior, but as far as they had opportunities of conversing with the natives, found them simple and courteous in their manners, and disposed to talk when not under surveillance. It is probable, however, that under such restraint as these gentlemen were placed, it is not likely that they had attained to such fluency in the language as to be able to hold very ready communication with natives met in this hasty manner. The intentions of the government were plain, however, not to allow them to disseminate their doctrines, (if it had learned their real object), nor, by intercourse with the people, become acquainted with their character, or the state of the country. No assistance was granted them in learning the language, and they were forbidden to adopt the native costume. Notwithstanding this opposition, they had been able to acquire a partial knowledge of the language, and to compile a vocabulary of six thousand words. Permission to preach the Christian religion was not granted them, lest, as the authorities said, the Chinese, to whom they are tributary, would break off all intercourse; but the real reason was doubtless their fear of the Japanese. Yet these obstacles did not dishearten them, and they seem determined to persevere in their attempts, though it is not unlikely that when Mr. Bettelheim arrives, the authorities will take measures for deporting them all.
The Lewchewans are intimately connected with the Japanese. The language is the same, with unimportant dialectical variations, and Chinese letters and literature are in like manner cultivated by both. In personal appearance, however, the two people are very unlike. The Lewchewans are not on an average over five feet four inches high, slightly built, and approach the Malayan cast of features more than the Chinese. They are darker than the Chinese, and their mild traits of character, unwarlike habits, and general personal appearance, suggests the idea that they are akin to the aborigines of Formosa and Luçonia by descent, while their proximity and subjugation to their powerful neighbors on the north and west, have taught them a higher civilization, and introduced arts and sciences unknown to their early conquerors. When Lewchew was subjugated by the Japanese, it was agreed that embassies with tribute might be sent to Peking, and according to the Chinese account, they come to that court twice in three years.[108] The secretary or deputy embassador in 1841, was drowned in his passage from Peking to Fuhchau. This embassy is a source of considerable profit to the Lewchewans, for their junks, which are built on the Chinese model, have free entrance to Fuhchau, and all the goods they import and export, are passed without duty. The travelling expenses of the embassy to and from the capital are also defrayed, and permission is given them to study Chinese when in the country. This intercourse is therefore both honorable and profitable to the Lewchewans, but the Chinese are not allowed to trade there, and the only act of sovereignty the emperor exercises, according to M. Forcade, is to send a delegate to sanction the accession of a new incumbent of the throne—whom, however, it would be ridiculous for him to refuse. He adds, "In conversation, if one is a stranger, the Lewchewans will be continually dwelling on China, they will boast about it, they will relate its history, they will describe its provinces and its cities; but Japan is never mentioned! Such are the words, but the facts are quite another thing."