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Article REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. Page 1 of 6 →
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Review Of New Publications.
REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS .
. & z authentic Account of tin Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of Chine . Taken chiefly from the Papers of his Excellency the Earl of Macartney , K . B . His M , iiesty ' s Embassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Emperor of China , ( JSc . By Sir George Staunton , Bart . L . L . D . F . R . S . fc ? c . z vols . ^ to . with Engravings , besides a folio Volume'of Plates , ^ l . qs . in boards . Kicol . [ CONTINUED FROM oun LAST /] THE navigation of the Yellow Sea is particularldescribed ; and here sn
y opportunity offers of noticing the Chinese compass , the account of which is curious , and may be of service . On the arrival of the ships off the river Pei-ho , leading to Tien sing , the Embassador was visited by two Mandarines of rank . The Embassy was now to quit the ships for Chinese junks . —¦ ' When these were all assembled , to the number of about thirty vessels , round the squadron , the whole exhibited a curious contrast , and singular spectacle , of the towering masts and complicated tackling of European ships in the
midst of the low , simple , and clumsy , but strong and roomy kmks of the Chinese . Each of these was of the burden of about two hundred tons . The hold , or . cavity , below the upper deck is divided into about a dozen of distinct , compartments , by ' partitions of two inch plank , and the seams are caulked
with a cement of lime , prepared in such a-manner as to render them perfectly impervious to water , or , in the marine phrase , water-tight . This cement , Dr . Dinwiddie observes , is composed of lime and oil , with a few scrapingsof bamboo ; the latter article serving the same purpose as hair in English plaister . This composition , he adds , becomes very tenacious and hard , and will not burn . If , notwithstanding the oil , it possesses that incombustible quality , it is no doubt preferable to pitch , tar , or tallow , none of which arc
used over the wooden work , or round the ropes of Chinese vessels . The advantages arising from dividing the holds of these vessels seem to have been well experienced , for the practice is universal throughout China . From hence it sometimes happens , that one merchant has his goods safely conveyed in one division , while those of another suffer considerable damage from a leak in the compartment in which they are placed . A ship may strike against a rock , and yet not sink ; for the water entering by the fracture will be confined to the division where the injury happens to be sustained ; and a shipper of wares , who charters several divisions , has a chance , if one of them proves leaky , that those contained in the remainder may escape . '
On the 5 th of August , 7-93 , his Excellency and suite embarked for the Pei-ho river , and the same evening came to Ta-coo , where they found a number of yachts , or large covered barges , and boats of burden , calculated to pass over the shallows of the Pei-ho , and destined to convey the whole of the Embassy as far as that river led towards the capital of the empire . The description of the salt-heaps is curious . These were in pyramids about fifteen feet high , and consisted of bags of salt heaped together in that
form , as peat is preserved in some parts of Europe . ' The number of entire stacks was two hundred and twenty-two , besides several others that were incomplete . A transverse section of each stuck was found 10 contain seventy bags . None of those stacks were less in length than two hundred feet ; some or them extended to six hundred . Supposing the mean or average length of those stacks to be four hundred feet , of which each bag occupied a space of VOL . IX . 3 E
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review Of New Publications.
REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS .
. & z authentic Account of tin Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of Chine . Taken chiefly from the Papers of his Excellency the Earl of Macartney , K . B . His M , iiesty ' s Embassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Emperor of China , ( JSc . By Sir George Staunton , Bart . L . L . D . F . R . S . fc ? c . z vols . ^ to . with Engravings , besides a folio Volume'of Plates , ^ l . qs . in boards . Kicol . [ CONTINUED FROM oun LAST /] THE navigation of the Yellow Sea is particularldescribed ; and here sn
y opportunity offers of noticing the Chinese compass , the account of which is curious , and may be of service . On the arrival of the ships off the river Pei-ho , leading to Tien sing , the Embassador was visited by two Mandarines of rank . The Embassy was now to quit the ships for Chinese junks . —¦ ' When these were all assembled , to the number of about thirty vessels , round the squadron , the whole exhibited a curious contrast , and singular spectacle , of the towering masts and complicated tackling of European ships in the
midst of the low , simple , and clumsy , but strong and roomy kmks of the Chinese . Each of these was of the burden of about two hundred tons . The hold , or . cavity , below the upper deck is divided into about a dozen of distinct , compartments , by ' partitions of two inch plank , and the seams are caulked
with a cement of lime , prepared in such a-manner as to render them perfectly impervious to water , or , in the marine phrase , water-tight . This cement , Dr . Dinwiddie observes , is composed of lime and oil , with a few scrapingsof bamboo ; the latter article serving the same purpose as hair in English plaister . This composition , he adds , becomes very tenacious and hard , and will not burn . If , notwithstanding the oil , it possesses that incombustible quality , it is no doubt preferable to pitch , tar , or tallow , none of which arc
used over the wooden work , or round the ropes of Chinese vessels . The advantages arising from dividing the holds of these vessels seem to have been well experienced , for the practice is universal throughout China . From hence it sometimes happens , that one merchant has his goods safely conveyed in one division , while those of another suffer considerable damage from a leak in the compartment in which they are placed . A ship may strike against a rock , and yet not sink ; for the water entering by the fracture will be confined to the division where the injury happens to be sustained ; and a shipper of wares , who charters several divisions , has a chance , if one of them proves leaky , that those contained in the remainder may escape . '
On the 5 th of August , 7-93 , his Excellency and suite embarked for the Pei-ho river , and the same evening came to Ta-coo , where they found a number of yachts , or large covered barges , and boats of burden , calculated to pass over the shallows of the Pei-ho , and destined to convey the whole of the Embassy as far as that river led towards the capital of the empire . The description of the salt-heaps is curious . These were in pyramids about fifteen feet high , and consisted of bags of salt heaped together in that
form , as peat is preserved in some parts of Europe . ' The number of entire stacks was two hundred and twenty-two , besides several others that were incomplete . A transverse section of each stuck was found 10 contain seventy bags . None of those stacks were less in length than two hundred feet ; some or them extended to six hundred . Supposing the mean or average length of those stacks to be four hundred feet , of which each bag occupied a space of VOL . IX . 3 E