his turn, was defeated and slain by that mightiest of Asiatic conquerors, Jenghiz Khan. It is from the Keetan that the name of Keetay was applied to Northern China, and Kara-keeta to their Tartarian dominions, which extended from Korea to Kashgar. The name of Kheeta or Kathai is still applied by all the Mohammedan historians to the whole tract extending from China to Toorfan, and even W. to the Beloor. In the time of Jenghiz Khan, the Keetan rebelled against the Kin in Lyautong, headed by a prince of the old dynasty, called Lyewko, who raised 100,000 men to assist that conqueror; and, ascending the mountain Kin, to the N. of Mookden, sacrificed a white horse and a black ox, broke an arrow, and swore to be faithful to Jenghiz Khan. In 1215, he sent a list of the families which had submitted to him, namely, 600,000 which would give a population of 3,000,000 to Lyautong, all Keetans, independent of Kin families, so that Lyautong must then have been a very populous province. After the death of Lyewko, in 1225, his son Peetoo was raised to the throne of Lyautong as a dependent sovereign of the Mongol Khans. We hear no more after this of the Keetan princes of Lyautong. A Keetan prince, named Yeloo Chutsay, was prime minister to Jenghis Khan and his successors for more than 30 years, and proved himself an able and enlightened statesman for the age in which he lived.-The Kin dynasty, which ruined the Keetan in 1117, were another Mandshoorian tribe, who dwelt to the E. of the Keetan, to the N. of Korea, and alongst the Eastern sea. As Yeloo was the name of the imperial family of the Keetan, so was Wanyen that of the imperial family of the Kin, from Wanyen, the name of a principal tribe of the Nyuchi. This Mandshoor dynasty reigned 117 years over Northern China, Mandshooria, and Mongolia, as far as the 50th degree of N. lat. and 20 degrees W. of Pe-king. The princes of this dynasty were the Altun Khans of the Mohammedan writers, an appellation denoting the Golden Khans,' equivalent to Kin or Golden,' the name which Ogota, the first of the dynasty, gave to his new dominion. This dynasty was extinguished in 1234, under the reign, and by the power, of Oktay, son and successor of Jenghiz Khan. One of the Kin princes endeavoured to persuade Ningtsong, emperor of the Song dynasty, then reigning in Southern China, to make common cause with him against the Mongols, the enemies of both. But Ningtsong, instead of complying, refused, and exhorted all his subjects to assist the Mongols in driving the Kin out of China. When the Kin emperor was informed of the inflexibility of Ningtsong, he told him, by his ambassador-" To-day, Sir, the Western Tartars will destroy my empire; to-morrow they will conquer your's;" which prophetic declaration was exactly verified in 1279, when China was entirely conquered by Hoopitee, or Koobloy Khan.

It is believed that the present Mandshoorian family, who conquered China in 1644, are descended from the Kin imperial family; and the emperor Kaung-hu often affirmed it. But whether this really be the case or not, those of the Kin who escaped the sword of the Mongols, aided by the Keetans and Chinese, who all hated the Kin, fled into the N.W. parts of their ancient country, now inhabited by the Solon Tartars. Towards the commencement of the 17th century, the Nyuche began again to rear their heads, and become formidable to the Chinese, as the Kin of old had been in their day. This was accomplished by the union of seven chiefs, of so so many different tribes, into one goverment, under one prince, who, by this means, became the founder of the Mandshoor monarchy. This prince, Tyenming, reduced the khan of the Southern Mongols, now no longer for

Canada and the United States, and the Americans are in the habit of exporting it to Canton, so that its price is much fallen. This plant supposed for long to be peculiar to Mandshooria, grows only on the declivity of wooded mountains, on the banks of deep rivers, or about steep rocks. It can neither bear much cold nor heat, for it does not grow beyond 47° N. lat.

CHAP. II.-INHABITANTS AND POPULATION. THE terms Tartar and Tartary have been so long, though erroneously, applied to all the nomadic tribes and regions of Asia, by writers of all classes and every country in Europe, that it is now become impossible to eradicate them from our ethnographical nomenclature, so firmly have they taken root in our language. In compliance with established custom, therefore, we have been obliged to apply the term of Eastern Tarlary to the region of the Lyau and Mandshoors; and if we are guilty of applying the name Tartars as a general appellation to all the Asiatic hordes, their very neighbours the Chinese are equally guilty, as they class them all under the general name of Ta-tse: though the Turks, Mongols, and Mandshoors, are as radically different in their features and language as Hindoo, Chinese, and Arabs. Whether the Mandshoors are the aboriginal natives, or succeeded a previous race, we cannot determine, as they have no historical records ; but they are called Ny-uche, by the Chinese, and are supposed to be the descendants of the Kin, who, in the 12th century, subdued Northern China, and were, in their turn, subdued by Jenghiz Khan, in the 13th century. We are told, that the Mandshoors are the same race who, at different periods of the Chinese monarchy, have been successively denominated Sienpi, Geougen, Yew, Ookee, Sooshin, Moko, and finally Nyuching, or Kin; and we know another tribe, called the Syetan, Keelan, or Lyau, which came from the same region as the Kin, and preceded them in the path of conquest. But whether these names really belonged to one and the same race, or to different tribes of that race, who successively acquired domination over the other tribes,—or were appellations of different races, cannot now be determined; but it is probable they were all names of different tribes of the Mandshoorian race, and that these names are all Chinesian, not Mandshoorian, appellations.-The first tribe of whom mention is made in the Chinese annals, is the Keetan, who seem to have come from Mandshooria Proper, and to have fixed themselves in Lyautong, and founded there a monarchy, which lasted from 916 to 1117, or 200 years. They had two capitals in Lyautong,-Lyauyang, and Mookden or Shin-yang. This tribe gave more trouble to the Chinese than all the other Tartars. Though they made no fixed settlement in China, yet they so harassed the Chinese, that one of the emperors was glad to compound with them by an annual tribute of 200,000 taels of silver, and 300,000 pieces of silk. Unable to repel these Tartars from the frontiers, the Chinese emperor Whaytsong called the Kin, another tribe of Mandshoors, to his assistance, who, uniting their forces with the Chinese, defeated the Keetan in every battle, and reduced them to such extremities, that the remainder were compelled to abandon Lyautong and fly to the W., where they founded a new dynasty, called the Western Lyau, or Kara Keetayans, which comprehended all the tract between the Bogdo Alin and the Caspian sea, and of which Khashghar was the capital. This dynasty did not last a century till it, in its turn, was overthrown by the Naimans under Kushluck Khan, who, in

his turn, was defeated and slain by that mightiest of Asiatic conquerors, Jenghiz Khan. It is from the Keetan that the name of Keetay was applied to Northern China, and Kara-keeta to their Tartarian dominions, which extended from Korea to Kashgar. The name of Kheeta or Kathai is still applied by all the Mohammedan historians to the whole tract extending from China to Toorfan, and even W. to the Beloor. In the time of Jenghiz Khan, the Keetan rebelled against the Kin in Lyautong, headed by a prince of the old dynasty, called Lyewko, who raised 100,000 men to assist that conqueror; and, ascending the mountain Kin, to the N. of Mookden, sacrificed a white horse and a black ox, broke an arrow, and swore to be faithful to Jenghiz Khan. In 1215, he sent a list of the families which had submitted to him, namely, 600,000 which would give a population of 3,000,000 to Lyautong, all Keetans, independent of Kin families, so that Lyautong must then have been a very populous province. After the death of Lyewko, in 1225, his son Peetoo was raised to the throne of Lyautong as a dependent sovereign of the Mongol Khans. We hear no more after this of the Keetan princes of Lyautong. A Keetan prince, named Yeloo Chutsay, was prime minister to Jenghis Khan and his successors for more than 30 years, and proved himself an able and enlightened statesman for the age in which he lived.-The Kin dynasty, which ruined the Keetan in 1117, were another Mandshoorian tribe, who dwelt to the E. of the Keetan, to the N. of Korea, and alongst the Eastern sea. As Yeloo was the name of the imperial family of the Keetan, so was Wanyen that of the imperial family of the Kin, from Wanyen, the name of a principal tribe of the Nyuchi. This Mandshoor dynasty reigned 117 years over Northern China, Mandshooria, and Mongolia, as far as the 50th degree of N. lat. and 20 degrees W. of Pe-king. The princes of this dynasty were the Altun Khans of the Mohammedan writers, an appellation denoting the Golden Khans,' equivalent to Kin or Golden,' the name which Ogota, the first of the dynasty, gave to his new dominion. This dynasty was extinguished in 1234, under the reign, and by the power, of Oktay, son and successor of Jenghiz Khan. One of the Kin princes endeavoured to persuade Ningtsong, emperor of the Song dynasty, then reigning in Southern China, to make common cause with him against the Mongols, the enemies of both. But Ningtsong, instead of complying, refused, and exhorted all his subjects to assist the Mongols in driving the Kin out of China. When the Kin emperor was informed of the inflexibility of Ningtsong, he told him, by his ambassador-" To-day, Sir, the Western Tartars will destroy my empire; to-morrow they will conquer your's;" which prophetic declaration was exactly verified in 1279, when China was entirely conquered by Hoopitee, or Koobloy Khan.

It is believed that the present Mandshoorian family, who conquered China in 1644, are descended from the Kin imperial family; and the emperor Kaung-hu often affirmed it. But whether this really be the case or not, those of the Kin who escaped the sword of the Mongols, aided by the Keetans and Chinese, who all hated the Kin, fled into the N.W. parts of their ancient country, now inhabited by the Solon Tartars. Towards the commencement of the 17th century, the Nyuche began again to rear their heads, and become formidable to the Chinese, as the Kin of old had been in their day. This was accomplished by the union of seven chiefs, of so so many different tribes, into one goverment, under one prince, who, by this means, became the founder of the Mandshoor monarchy. This prince, Tyenming, reduced the khan of the Southern Mongols, now no longer for

midable, and who was besides hated by his own vassals, to the state of a mere dependent of the Mandshoors; and Tyentsong, his son, deprived him of the title of khan, giving him only that of wang or duke. His grandson, Tsongte, became the founder of the reigning imperial dynasty, by his conquest of China in 1644, and extinction of the Ming dynasty.

The province of Shin-yang, or Mookden, has eleven fortresses of the first order, eleven of the second rank, and eight of the third. Some of these of the first rank are said to be as rich and populous as some of the provincial capitals of China; but, on the other hand, we are told that a great number of large and populous cities and towns it once contained are now in ruins, and that, instead of them, the Mandshoors have built a great number of military cities, and fortresses, and castles, to keep the inhabitants under, who are a stout and warlike people, very numerous, and very uneasy under the Tartar yoke. The inhabitants of these fortresses, soldiers as well as others, are grown very rich and powerful, and drive a good commerce with the northern provinces of China; whilst the natives are, for the most part, kept in a state of slavery and subjection under them. If it be considered that the great mass of the Lyau-tongers are perhaps of Keetan descent; and that between them and the Kin, the ancestors of the present dynasty, a constant hatred always prevailed; that they bore a principal hand in the destruction of the Kin by the Mongols, in revenge for past injuries; and that they were well affected to the Ywen and Ming dynasties, as their surest protection against the descendants of these Kin or Nyuche, -it may help to explain the reason why the Lyautongers have been worse treated by the Mandshoor sovereigns of China than the rest of their Chinese vassals. The population of this country is very small, considering the extent, if we admit the statements of 1743 and 1761. By the former it is given at only 235,620, and by the latter at 668,852; and by the latest statement given by Mr Morrison, in the reign of Keea-king, it is made only 390,000; whilst in that given by the mandarins to Lord Macartney, Lyautong is made to have a population of 10,000,000. Nothing can be more stupid, discordant, and unsatisfactory, than such statements as the above. That it should have no more inhabitants, on the one hand, than one tenth or one fifth of that of Scotland, a country equal in dimensions, and lying between 40° and 43° N. lat., is so glaringly improbable as at the very first sight to render it utterly unworthy of all credit; and that, on the other, it should have a population five times that of Scotland, is equally inadmissible. That it should have had a population of 600,000 Keetan families in the commencement of the 13th century is at least possible, not to say probable; but, at the same time, is irreconcilable with a statement given by Fadlallah, which is only 700,000 inhabitants at the same period, unless it be supposed that the males only, fit for war, are intended, which is frequently the case in oriental statements, as is known to have been the custom of the Jews. It is a mortifying circumstance that something must be said on a subject on which nothing but what is discordant can be stated. Respecting the number of the present inhabitants of Mandshooria Proper, we are told that in the province of Tsitsicar, 740 miles long by 600 broad, according to the Jesuits' maps, and which occupies all the N.W. part, there were not above 10,000 families, as the governor told Gerbillon; and we are informed by the Dai-syn-i-toundshee, that the whole of Mandshooria contains only 47,124 tributary peasants, not including the aboriginal natives, and that it furnishes 10,000 Mandshoor sold rs. Nothing in this way can be imagined more unsatisfactory and meagre than this statement, but we have nothing better

to communicate; and it is really a problem worthy of solution, how a country ten times the area of Great Britain, and the major part of it in more southern latitudes, should be allowed to remain almost a tenantless waste, occupied by the beasts of the forest, in the very threshold of China, and how a few thousands of Mandshoor shepherds and hunters should still continue masters of 150 millions of industrious agricultural subjects.

The Mandshoors belong to the great race called Tongooses by the Russians and Tartars, and Even in their own language. Their tribes are: 1st, The Mandshoors of Ningouta, the dominant tribe. 2d, The Lyau or Keeans of Lyautong, in subjection to the first tribe. 3d, The Daoorians or Tagoorees, under which are included the Solons near mount Siolki and the Humari on the Amoor, above its junction with the Soonggaree or Chuntungian of the Chinese. 4th, The Diuchari, as they are called by the Russians, above the Humari, removed into the interior by the Chinese government. They seem to be the same with the Han Hala Tatse of Gerbillon, and to have dwelt anciently to the N. of the Amoor, and to the E. of the Hinkan Alin, on the banks of the Han Hala, running E. to the Amoor. 5th, The Mandshoor fishers, called Yupi Tatse by the Chinese. This appellation comprehends the Natki or Fiatta on the Amoor, the Ghilakee or Ketching Tatse near its mouth, the Orotchys on the bay of Castries, the Belchys more to the S., and a tribe of Mandshoors settled in the north part of Saghalien island. There is a tribe who dwell near the Chikiri Oola on the N. of the Amoor, and W. of the Hinkan Alin, called Orochon by the Mandshoors, who may perhaps correspond to the Orotchys of Castries bay; but as it seems to be a hunting tribe, so denominated from the deer which draw their sledges, they must either have removed down the Amoor to the S. side near its mouth, or else that there are two tribes of the same name, the one hunters, the other fishers. The Natki employ dogs to draw their carts, and the Ghiliaks are said to use tamed bears for the same purpose. Whilst these tribes follow fishing and know nothing of agriculture, but are generally a good natured, simple, ignorant race, the Deucharee or Han-Halas, E. of Ningouta, are agriculturists, have both oxen and horses, and raise good crops of grain and pulse, though, like the Yupees, they are clothed in fish skins. The Tagoorees, who are a mixed race of Mongols and Mandshoors, submitted to the father of the emperor Kaunghee, whose protection they implored against the Russians: for these latter passing in armed barks out of the Amoor into the Soonggaree, secured all the rivers belonging to both, and became terrible to all the Mandshoors residing on their banks. The Solons, descended from the Kin who escaped the general destruction of their nation, are a stout, robust race, brave, and skilful hunters. Their women ride on horseback, draw the plough, hunt stags, and other game. A great number of Solons reside at Nierghi, a pretty large town, not far from Merghen and Tsitsicar.

Language.] The Toorkish, Mongolian, and Mandshoor languages, are radically distinct from one another. That of the last race is written in the character of the Mongols, who in their turn received it from the Oigoors, a Tibetian race, according to Mr Schmidt. It was not till the reign of Kaunghee that this character was adopted; as before that period they had attempted to express the sense and sounds of the Mandshoor language by Chinese characters, which was found impracticable. Kaunghee, therefore, in order to preserve the language of his nation, which was going rapidly into disuse, and in danger of being lost, ordered a special commission of