When the last crops are gathered from the cotton fields, the stalks are carried home for fuel. Thus every part of the crop is turned to account: the cotton itself clothes them, and affords them the means of supplying themselves with all the necessaries of life; the stalks boil their frugal meals; and the ashes even—the remains of all—are strewed over their fields for the purposes of manure. But even before this takes place, the system I have already noticed—of sowing and planting fresh crops before the removal of those which occupy the land—is already in progress. Clover, beans, and other vegetables are frequently above ground in the cotton fields before the stalks of the latter are removed. Thus, the Chinese in the northern provinces lengthen by every means in their power the period of growth; and gain as much as they possibly can from the fertility of their land. The reader must bear in mind, however, that the soil of this district is a rich deep loam, which is capable of yielding many crops in succession without the aid of a particle of manure. Nature has showered her bounties on the inhabitants of this part of the Chinese empire with no sparing hand; the soil is not only the most fertile in China, but the climate is capable of rearing and bringing to perfection many of the productions of the tropics, as well as the whole of those found in all the temperate regions of the globe.
CHAP. XV.
CLIMATE OF CHINA.—SUMMER AND WINTER.—TEMPERATURE OF HONG-KONG—OF SHANGHAE.—MONSOONS.—TYPHOONS.—SIGNS OF THEIR APPROACH.—DESCRIPTION OF A TYPHOON WITNESSED BY THE AUTHOR.—EFFECT PRODUCED UPON VEGETATION.—RAINS.—WET AND DRY SEASONS.—METEOROLOGICAL TABLE.
In order to understand Chinese agriculture, a knowledge of the climate of the country is of course necessary. The dominions of the Emperor of China stretch over twenty-three degrees of latitude—from 18° to 41° north, and from the 98° to the 123° of east longitude; thus including both tropical and temperate regions in its vast extent. Being placed on the east side and forming part of the large continent of Asia, it is liable to extremes of temperature—to excessive heat in summer, and extreme cold in winter—which are unknown in many other parts of the world within the same parallels of latitude. One of our best writers upon China[1] makes the following very sensible remarks on this subject:—"Although Peking is nearly a degree to the south of Naples—the latitude of the former place being 30° 54', of the latter 40° 50'—the mean temperature of Peking is only 54° of Fahrenheit, while that of Naples is 63°. But the thermometer at the Chinese capital sinks much lower during the winter than at Naples, so in summer does it rise somewhat higher; the rivers are said to be frozen for three or four months together, from December to March; while during the last embassy in September, 1816, we experienced a heat of between 90° and 100° in the shade. Now it is well known that Naples, and other countries in the extreme south of Europe, are strangers to such a degree of long-continued cold, and not often visited by such heats. "Europe," observes Humboldt, "may be considered altogether as the western part of a great continent, and therefore subject to all the influence which causes the western sides of continents to be warmer than the eastern; and at the same time more temperate, or less subject to excesses of both heat and cold, but principally the latter."
From my own tables, kept by Newman's best registering thermometers, I find that at Hong-kong, in the months of July and August—the two hottest months in the year—the mercury frequently stood as high as 90°, and one day at 94° Fahr. in the shade. The minimum was generally about ten degrees lower than the maximum. In the winter, from December to March, the thermometer frequently sinks nearly down to the freezing point, and sometimes, although rarely, snow has fallen at Canton and on the adjacent hills. The influence of the sea, however, in this part of the empire, has a tendency to check the extremes of both heat and cold; but these are much greater in the northern interior. The northerly winds in the winter and spring months are severely cold in the south of China; indeed, I have suffered more from cold at Hong-kong and Macao in the month of February, than I have ever done in England.
At Shanghae, in the province of Keangsoo, in latitude 31° 20' north, the extremes of heat and cold are much greater than what we experienced in the southern provinces. Through the kindness of Dr. Lockhart, who kept up my meteorological tables during my absence in different parts of the country, I have obtained a very complete set of observations for nearly two years. From these it appears that in July and August the heat is the greatest; the thermometer in the shade sometimes standing for several days at 100° of Fahrenheit. The heat during these days was almost insupportable to Europeans, who, when I was in Shanghae, were obliged to live in Chinese houses, which, from their construction, were ill calculated to exclude the heat. In the end of October the thermometer sometimes sinks as low as the freezing point. In the evening of the 28th of that month, in 1844, the remains of the cotton and other tropical plants which are cultivated in the fields during the summer, were destroyed by frost. December, January, and February are the coldest months in the year, the cold then being quite as severe as it is with us in the south of England. In the winter of 1844–45 the thermometer sunk as low as 26° Fahrenheit. On the night of the 18th of December, and again on January, the 4th, the index was left at 24°. But that winter, according to Chinese accounts, was peculiarly mild, so much so, that the usual supply of ice could not be procured. In ordinary years the ponds and canals are frequently frozen several inches in thickness, and afford a plentiful supply of ice. I have, therefore, little doubt that in most years the thermometer may be found at least twenty degrees below the freezing point, or at 12° of Fahrenheit, and perhaps even lower. Snow frequently falls, but the sun is too powerful to allow it to lie long on the ground.
If we except the extremes of heat and cold just noticed, the climate of Shanghae may be pronounced as fine as any in the world. Even the cold in winter is highly advantageous to the natives, and still more so to Europeans and Americans, as it strengthens their constitutions, and enables them to withstand the effects of the excessive heat. The months of April, May, and June are delightful, and although the sun is hot in the middle of the day, in the afternoon the air is soft and agreeable, and the evenings cool and pleasant. The autumnal months are generally of the same description; the wind then is cool and bracing, and the sky is much clearer than in England. The sun, for days, and sometimes for weeks together, rises in the morning, runs his course, and sets again in a clear and cloudless sky.
The prevailing winds blow from the south-west from the end of April to the middle of September; during the remaining portion of the year they are northerly and easterly: thus forming what are called the south-west and north-east monsoons. These monsoons blow with great regularity in the south of China, but are more variable towards the north. In the latitude of Chusan or Shanghae, although the monsoons prevail, the wind, not unfrequently, blows from other quarters. In the end of the summer season, that is, from July to October, the country is frequently visited by those dreadful gales called by foreigners typhoons. The name is a corruption of the Chinese word Ta-fung or "great wind." These storms commit the most fearful ravages both by land and sea. The barometer gives warning some hours before the gale commences, and, therefore, foreign ships can always send down their masts and yards, and, if possible, remove to a safe anchorage. Where that is not to be had, they have the dreadful alternative of standing out to sea. The Chinese, without the aid of the barometer, can always tell when the Ta-fung is coming on by the following signs. The wind, which blows from the south-west in the typhoon season, changes and blows from the north or north-cast, becoming gusty and gradually increasing in strength, the sky lowers and looks wild, the sea rolls in upon the bench with a dead heavy swell, and every thing portends a coming storm. When these signs appear, the fleets of fishing-boats on the coast take their nets in, crowd all sail, and make for the shore as fast as they can, where the boats are hauled up on dry land, or into some creek which is sheltered from the force of the winds and waves. The coasting junks, which are ill fitted for bad weather, lose no time in getting into some sheltered port where they can ride out the storm in safety. And, luckily, as a safeguard from the fury of these winds, nature has provided a great number of excellent well-sheltered harbours on the coast of China, all of which are well known to the pilots who are employed on board the junks.