Your search within this document for 'India' resulted in 44 matching pages.
 
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“...AN AUTHENTIC OF ACCOUNT AN EMBASSY FROM THE KING OF GREAT BRITAIN TO THE EMPEROR OF CHINA; INCLUDING CURSORY OBSERVATIONS MADE, AND INFORMATION OBTAINED, IN TRAVELLING THROUGH THAT ANCIENT EMPIRE, AND A SMALL PART OF CHINESE TARTARY. TOGETHER WITH A RELATION OE' THE VOYAGE UNDERTAKEN ON THE OCCASION BY HIS MA- JESTY’S SHIP THE LION, AND THE SHIP HINDOSTAN, IN THE EAST .INDIA COMPANY’S SERVICE, TO THE YELLOW SEA, AND GULF OF PEKIN; AS WELL AS OF THEIR RETURN TO EUROPE; WITH NOTICES OF The several places where they stopped in their way out and home; be- ing the Islands of Madeira, Toneriffe, and St. Jago; the Port of Rio de Janeiro in South America; the Islands of St. Helena, Tristan d’Aciinha, and Amsterdam; the Coasts of Java, and Sumatra, the Nanka Isles, Pulo-Condore, and Cochin-china. TAKEN CHIEFLY FROM THE PAPERS OF HIS EXCELLENCY THE EARL OF MACARTNEY, Knight of the Bath, His Majesty’s Embassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Emperor of China; Sir ERASMUS GOWER, Commander...”
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“...from China.—VI ■ Statements and plans.—Teas exported from China, in foreign and Eng- lish ships, from vyj'Zto 1780, inclusive.—Plan to prevent smuggling tea, submitted to Government in 1783.—Various tables and calculations.—VII. Quantities of teas exported from China, in English and foreign ships each year, from to 1795, inclusive.—Till. Goods and bullion ex- ported by^English East India Company to China every year, from IJPS to 1795, inclusive.—IX. Number and tonnage of ships arrived in England from China every year, from ipffi to 1795, inclusive.—X. Quantities and prices of teas sold by English East India Company, from Commuta- tion Tax, in September, 1784 to March I’jt)’], and amount of duties on teas during the same period, with comparison of what the same teas would have cost before the Commuta- tion Act. page 467 to 490....”
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“...EMBASSY TO CHINA. 26 supply of Cotton or of rice from India, which some of the Chinese provinces were equally fit to cultivate; or of bullion, of which the increase had sometimes the inconvenience of unequally increasing the prices of the useful or necessary articles of life; or, lastly, by the assistance of a naval force to destroy the pirates on the coast, against whose mischief the sure resource existed of an internal communication by rivers and canals. Such were the avowed or affected no- tions entertained by the Chinese government, of the superiority or independence of the empire, that no transaction with foreigners was admis- sible by it on the ground of reciprocal benefit, but as a grace and condescension from the for- mer to the latter. The Embassador was not unwilling to nego- tiate even on those terms : and the Cdlao oblig- ingly said, that they should have frequent oppor- tunities of meeting during the continuance of his Excellency’s visit at the Chinese court. The conference...”
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“...IOS EMBASSY TO CHINA. appear indeed to have strong claims to the cre- dit of having been indebted only to themselves for the invention of the tools, necessary in the primary and necessary arts of life. The learned and attentive traveller will have observed, in re- lation to common tools, such as, for example, the plane and anvil, that whether in India or in Europe, in ancient or modern times, they are found to have been fabricated in the same precise form, scarcely ever differing, except perhaps in the roughness of the materials, or of the make, and all denoting a common origin, being almost a servile imitation of each other. In China alone, those tools have something peculiar in their construction, some difference, often indeed slight; but always clearly indicating that, whe- ther better or worse fitted for the same purposes, than those in use in other countries, the one did not serve as a model for the other. Thus, for example, the upper surface of the anvil, else- where flat and somewhat...”
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“...10(5 EMBASSY TO CHINA. ever country nature creates nitre (one of the chief ingredients for making gunpowder,) in the great- est plenty, there its deflagrating quality is most likely to be first observed; and a few experiments founded on that observation, will lead to the composition that produces such sudden and vio- lent effects. Nitre is the natural and daily pro- duce of China and India, and there, accordingly, the knowledge of gunpowder seems to be coeval with that of the most distant historic events. Among the Chinese, it has been applied at all times to useful purposes, such as blasting rocks, and removing great obstructions, and to those of amusement in making a vast variety of fire works. It was also used as a defence, by undermining the probable passage of the enemy, and blowing him up. But its force had not been directed through strong metallic tubes as it was by Euro- peans soon after they had discovered it. Yet this invention did not prove,so decisive for those who availed ...”
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“...EMBASSY TO CHINA. 113 which might lead them to the assertion of inde- pendence. It is said, that in the French zeal for propagating principles of democracy, their decla- ration ofithe Rights of Man had been translated into one of the languages of India, and distributed there. It is not, indeed, likely to cause any fer- mentation in the tranquil, submissive, and resign- ed minds, with the weak and delicate constitu- tions, of the Hindoos; but it might be otherwise among the Chinese people, who are more sus- ceptible of such impressions, their disposition, being more consonant to enterprize. They are a more hardy race. Their more northern climate tends to render them able as well as resolute. They are more husbandmen than manufacturers, and as such, are apt to feel a more undaunted spirit. The minds of many of them, also, are not altogether satisfied with their Condition, which lays them perpetually, both as to their fortunes and their persons, at the mercy of the manda- rines. Corporal ...”
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“...be remarked that the Chinese recover from all kinds of accidents more rapidly, and after fewer symptoms of any kind of danger, than most people do in Europe. The constant and quick recovery from considerable and alarming wounds, has been observed likewise to take place among the natives of Hindostan. The European surgeons there, have often been surprised at the easy cure of sepoys in the English service, from accidents accounted extremely formidable. The clear and pure atmosphere of China and India, may be indeed more favourable on such occa- sions, than the ccelum nebulis fcedum of Tacitus s description of Great Britain. But the habits of life contribute no doubt, most to determine the nature of the constitution; and its propensity to inflame and mortify in consequence, as it is techni- cally expressed of any solution of continuity. The...”
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“...Ef ft V hi EMBASSY TO CHINA. The contents of the answer were not announ- ced ; but whatever of grace or favour it might con- tain, was probably not owing to the Colao or his associates, whose stedfast refusal of the gifts risual from foreign ministers, was a sufficient in- dication, according to Eastern manners, of their adverse sentiments. In conversing, however, with Hd-choong-taung on the points desirable to be obtained for the English East India Company in China, he required a brief abstract of them to be made out, which, without binding himself to support, he said should be taken into immediate consideration. It was some advantage at least, that the demands themselves should be known, and serve as answers to the assertions so often made at court; thatforeigners, however unde- serving, had nothing to wish for at Canton, that justice or humanity required; but that the Em- bassy was intended to forward some purposes inimical to the government. His Excellency, therefore, undertook to...”
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“...that the communication “ had been opened between them in a fit man- “ ner.” He concluded by advising against per- sisting to continue any longer at Pekin. An event, the news of which had just reached the Embassador, but was then unknown to the adviser, came in aid of those reflections. One of the Neapolitan Chinese that left the Lion near Macao, after resuming his native dress, and com- ing to join his family in Pekin, conveyed to his Excellency a letter, dated in July, 17 93, fi™ one of the India Company’s Commissioners at Canton, in which, mentioning the political events in England to the month of January of the same year, he said that there was the strongest prok...”
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“...216 EMBASSY TO CHINA. through the several provinces of China, the low grounds bordering on those rivers, are annually inundated, by which means is brought upon their surface a rich mud or mucilage that fertilizes the soil, in the same manner as Egypt receives its fecundative quality from the overflowing of the Nile. The periodical rains which fall near the sources of the Yellow and the Kiang rivers, not very far distant from those of the Ganges and the Burumpooter, among the mountains bounding India to the north, and China to the west, often swell those rivers to a prodigious height, tho not a drop of rain should have fallen on the plains through which they afterwards flow. After the mud has lain some days upon the plains in China, preparations are made for plant- ing them-with rice. For this purpose, a small spot of ground is inclosed by a bank of clay; the earth is ploughed up; and an upright hariow with a row of wooden pins in the lower end, is drawn lightly over it by a buffalo. The grain...”
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“...length, those of the latter seldom more than four. The cane plantations in China belonging to individuals, were of very little extent; and the expence of erecting sugar mills too heavy to have one upon each planta- tion. The business of extracting the juice of the cane, and of boiling it into sugar is, "there, a separate undertaking from that of him who cul- tivated the plant. The boilers of sugar travel about the country, with a small apparatus suffi- cient for their purpose, but which a West India planter would consider as inefficacious and con- temptible. It is not a matter of great difficulty to travel with this apparatus, as there are few plantations of which some part is not accessible by w&ter-carriage. A few bamboo poles and mats, are deemed sufficient for a temporary building; within which, at one end, is fixed a large iron cauldron, with a fire-place and flue, and about the middle a pair of cylinders or rollers, fitted vertically in a frame. These are sometimes of hard wood, and...”
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“...ap- pearances of such resentment against his country Would render the Viceroy criminally answerable in the eyes of his own government, for. any fa- vour shewn hv him to the English in the mean time; and that he wished to be perfectly satisfied in that respect. The Embassador was not quite certain that this apprehension had sprung from the Viceroy’s own mind. It might have1 arisen front a still higher source; but, at any rate, it was to indication, that from a sense of the English land forces in India, and of their strength. every where by. sea, the British nation was felt to be too powerful not to require some management towards !h even from the proud empire , of China. His...”
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“...to the relation of a learned traveller, and proved by an ingenious chemist, to be of a sili- ceous nature. The Chinese reckon above sixty varieties of the bamboo, and apply it, perhaps, to as many uses. Besides its utility in buildings ashore and upon the water, in almost all kinds of furniture, and in the pulp made from its sub- stance into paper, its tender sprouts are relished as an article of food. It is only within a few years that the bamboo has been introduced into several of the West India islands, where it has hen found to be one of the most valuable pre- sents that could be offered to them. Plantations of the bamboo abounded in the province of Kian-see, in several spots adjoining to the river on which the Embassy was now em- hrked. With the large camphor tree, which ?e'v at a little more distance from the river, was Z 2...”
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“... The front of almost every house is a shop; and the shops of one or more streets are laid out chiefly to supply the wants of strangers. All purchases are made either by individuals belonging to the ships, or by the agents of com- panies in Europe. The great objects of import and export are carried on chiefly by the latter. In transactions by the former, instances of fraud may have happened or been attempted; scarcely any by the latter. The probity, punctuality, and credit of the English East India Company in particular, and their agents, are known among the Chinese merchants to be such, that their goods are taken always, as to quantity and quality, for *...”
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“...had increased in a most alarming “ degree; that those practices were carried on “ upon the coasts, and in other parts of the “ kingdom, with a violence, and with outrages, “which not only threatened the destruction of “ the revenue, but were highly injurious to ie- “ gular commerce and fair trade, very pernicious ‘ ‘ to the manners and morals of the people, and “ an interruption to all good government.’' At the same time, by the ability and industry of a gentleman, now accomptant of the East India Company, a statement of facts and estimates, which is printed in the Appendix to this work, together with a plan, were brought forward for obtaining for Great Britain, the advantages and profits of importing all the teas consumed by...”
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“...become necessary for their safety, could warrant him in indulging the idea of returning home that season, without having made all the exertions in his power for attaining as many objects as possible of his mis- sion to the East. During his stay at Canton an interchange of visits frequently took place between him and the Viceroy, and also between the former and the gen- tlemen of the factory. Such a familiar intercourse, in the latter instance, testified to the Chinese, that the agents for the East India Company in China were not taken from a class, or employed in an occupation which debased them, in the eyes of their own country, below the society of the first persons of rank and eminence. The pride and reserve of rank were not, indeed, much cherished by the Viceroy. He was the first in that eminent station who ever admitted the native merchants of Canton to sit in his pre- sence; and he was likewise said to be the first...”
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“...EMBASSY TO CHINA. 388 From a consideration of the influence of those causes, it will not perhaps appear surprising, that it should be asserted, that every square mile in China contains^ upon an average, about one* third more inhabitants, being upwards of three hundred, than are found upon an equal quantity of land, also upon an average, in the most popu- lous country in Europe. Instances are indeed recorded of a still greater population than either, in one of the West India islands. ChoW-ta-Zhin, a man of business and preci- sion, cautious in advancing facts, and proceeding generally upon official documents, delivered, at the request of the Embassador, a statement to him, taken from one of the public offices in the capital, and printed in the Appendix to this work, of the inhabitants of the fifteen ancient provinces of China; to which is annexed for the reader’s information, the amount of square miles and of acres in each province. The extent of the provinces is ascertained by astronomical...”
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“...seventy-seven years before the birth of Christ; unless it be supposed that the official records and public annals of the empire, which bear testimony, to it, should all be falsified; and that the cycle, whdn first established should have been antidated; which is indeed as little probable, as that the peribd, for example, of the Olympiads, should be asserted to have commenced many ages prior to the first Olympic games. The cycle of sixty years is used likewise by the Hindoos of the Peninsula of India, in dating- many of their transactions'; and also by the Siamese, upon the coast of Eastern Asia. Some traces of a communication between the former and the Chinese, may be inferred from the cir- cumstance of the Hindoo-solar year having com-...”
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“...VI. FASSAGE TO ST. HELENA ; NOTICES OF THAT ISLAND. RETURN HOME. o n the seventeenth of March, 17 94, the ships laden at Canton, for the English East India Com- pany, joined the Lion under the little island of Samcock, near Macao. This fleet was increas- ed by the Spanish and the Portugueze vessel mentioned in the last chapter. Scarcely any of the ships were without some force, and a good disposition of the whole co-operating with the Lion, might be equal to any strength which the enemy could bring against them in the Eastern seas. Sir Erasmus Gower assigned its station, in case of action, to each of the English ships, over which he was authorized to assume com- mand. The Spanish captain, who had served in the navy of his own country, at this time in amity with Great Britain, and whose present ship was as strong as some of the English India- men, felt uneasiness, at her not being taken in- to the line of action, as if a reliance could not be...”
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“...have not travelled so far. At present, by order of the governor, there are signals so placed all over the island, as to give instant noticeofthe ap- proach of vessels to any part of it. The situation of St. Helena, in the track of the ships from India and China to Europe, induced the Directors of the East India Company to turn their attention towards rendering it a place of convenient and comfortable refreshment, particu- larly in the passage home. This has been effected at no inconsiderable expence,. Before the island was inhabited, the spontaneous productions that it yielded which could be of any use to man, are said to have been little more than celery and pUrs- lain. Cattle, fruits, and vegetables have since been introduced into it from India, Africa, and Europe; and human industry has, in a little time, enabled it not only to supply sufficient provisions for its ordinary sojourners; but to afford refreshments of most kinds to the various...”