Up till now a long time has elapsed, and I have heard nothing from the security merchant about the repairs, nor does it appear that the said ship has taken in cargo to leave the harbor. I therefore immediately command examination, and when this decree reaches the principal security merchant and the rest, let them immediately obey, and examine clearly what is the reason that Baker's ship tarries so long, and does not receive cargo; and if there is any evil circumstance connected with it, and report to me by petition. No glossing or concealing, which is a crime. A special edict. (July 17th, 1837.)

No. 2.

Tăng viceroy of Kwangtung, &c., &c., proclaims to the hong merchants for their full information. Whereas on the twenty-eighth of the eleventh month of the seventeenth year of Taoukwang (December 25th, 1837), the hong mechants having presented a petition to the following effect. (Here followed a copy of the petition.) And this coming before me the viceroy, I find that in the course of the seventh month of the present year, the superintendent Elliot petitioned, that he might be permitted to take the foreign ship Baker's, now lying at anchor for the time being at Whampoa, and make her a receptacle for curing sick people, and words to that effect. At that time I examined and found that at Macao there has hitherto been a place (or temple?) for curing people, and whenever it happens that any merchant or sailor of any country is sick, he is permitted to report the same clearly to the hoppo, who will accordingly send him to be cured; therefore I could not allow the said ship to be anchored at Whampoa, for the purpose of curing sickness, and 1 commanded the principal security merchants to enjoin all this upon the said superintendent that he might obey accordingly. After that I received a cominunication from the hoppo, urging that the said vessel should be compelled to take in cargo and leave the port, when in course I commanded the hong merchants within the limit of five days to load and dispatch her. In continuation it appears that the security merchant Leang Chinghe (young Kingqua) petitioned for an extensión of the limit, as the hull of the ship was rotten, and was to be bought in to be broken up. I then replied that it might be bought in and broken up. All these particulars are recorded.

Now again Baker's ship, of his own will and pleasure, continues to loiter about, and has neither according to the limited time taken on board cargo to leave the port, nor been advertised for sale to be broken up, and the said foreign merchants again dare to come forward with an excuse that the ship is the property of the sovereign of their country, and that they dare not take it upon themselves to act, without receiving their sovereign's orders. It does not matter whether it be or not, they have made this petition as a mere pretence for delay. Now just think for a moment- the fixed laws of both the inner and the outer kingdoms are stern and severe, and supposing the ship to be the property of the said sovereign of that country, the said sovereign has hitherto been styled respectful and submissive, how then could he for the sake of a ship, oppose the statutes of the celestial dynasty? AcVOL. VII, NO, IX. 61

cordingly the said petition is nothing but the most outrageous and fabulous nonsense. In one word then, as for the sick sailors, if there are really any who are not yet cured, they ought immediately to obey the fixed laws, and report to the hoppo, requesting that he will immediately forward them to Macao to be cured, and let (the said ship) instantly take down cargo and leave the port. If indeed the hull of the ship be rotten and unseaworthy, let them also speedily have her bought in and broken up. As for what they say about begging to have a Bankshall at Whampoa for curing the sick, this will never be granted them.

I accordingly issue these orders, and when this edict reaches the principal security merchant and others, let them straightway enjoin it on the said foreign merchants, that they may obey accordingly. If they dare again involve themselves in the crime of opposition and delay, it will certainly be requir ed only at the hands of the principal security merchants, and the hong merchant who secures the ship. Tremble hereat! Do not oppose! Hasten! These are the commands !

Taoukwang 17th year, 12th month, 1st day. (December 27th, 1837 )

No. 3.

Wăn hoppo of Canton, &c., &c., proclaims to the hong merchants for their full information. It appears that Baker's ship has lingered for a long time, laying anchored at Whampoa, and will not go away. Repeated edicts have been issued commanding her instantly to take in cargo and leave the port. When you petitioned, saying, that the ship's hold was rotten and unseaworthy, and that they (the foreigners) were most anxious to have her broken up and sold, at that time I communicated the matter distinctly to the viceroy, and commanded to urge on the business, as is on record. Up till now, which is a long time, there is no proof that she has been broken up, and although repeated edicts have emanated from my tribunal, commanding investigation and that she be driven out, the said principal security merchants look upon them as prepared documents (i. e. matters of course, mere waste paper) and exert not their strength in the business. They have now been urged several times. At first, in order that the ship might delay, they horrowed an excuse about stopping leaks (?) and replied so by petition; and the said hong merchants, only anxious to keep aloof from the matters, it is likely that they allowed them to delay as they liked, darkly fomenting evil practices, which is really not at all a proper way of doing business. Again I find that, whenever any foreign ship enters the port, it has hitherto been the practice to appoint a small mandarin man (hoppo man?) to attend and take care until she leaves the Bocca Tigris, and that while the ship stops he is every day allowed so much money for food, in virtue of a request from the Chungheep's public office to that effect and when the time that a ship may lay at Whampoa is up, the sum so paid is put down in a record, and handed up to the Board for examination.

Now this said ship arrived in the ninth month of the 16th year (1836), her time for laying at Whampoa was fully up on the fourth month of last

year, and on examining the record of the hoppoman of the said ship, I find that his victuals' money already amounts to more than fifty taels! As she still loiters at Whampoa, it is difficult to keep this expense forth running on, and if it be so year after year accumulating, it will not only prevent me settling my accounts, but also bring down an investigation of the Board! If we do not sternly drive her out, if we allow foreign scamps to make game of us, and carry through matters with a bold face, how can we show our respect for the laws?

So uniting these circumstances, I again issue this ediet, and when it reaches the principal security merchants, let them in conformity issue their commands that the said Baker's ship be within a limited time taken and driven out of the port. I will not allow the least delay!

If ye dare again loiter and play, and do not show yourselves smart about it, it will be a proof that you do not know the laws, and for that you will not be able to stand up under the weight of your crime!! Hasten! Hasten! A special edict. Taoukwang 18th year, 3d month, 9th day. (April 2d, 1838.)

No. 4.

Wän hoppo of Canton, &c., &c., proclaims to the hong merchants for their full information. Whereas every foreigner who comes to Canton to trade, when his ship comes to Whampoa, is only allowed to sit in a small boat without either mast or hold, and whether at the city, or Macao, coming or going, or sending letters, or passing the different custom-houses, he must stop till he be examined and allowed to proceed, they are not to use large boats with holds and masts, rambling about, in order to cut off the evils of leaking and smuggling. Numerous edicts have been issued concerning it, and prohibiting it, and the hong merchants have often been told to drive them out, and in their turn to communicate the orders to the foreigners for their obedience, as is on record; but the said hong merchants look upon these as mere waste paper, and exert not themselves to put them in force.

Now then we have been inquiring, and we find that all along the front of the foreign factories, as well as the river's surface at Whampoa, is covered with decked and masted sampans, which avail themselves of the tide to go up and down, set sail and cast anchor, even worse than before. Still more their appearance and their motions are secret and mysterious, and this shows more plainly than ever, that they are a leaking of the revenue and doing a smuggling trade as is forbidden by the law. Before, the hoppo's people in front of the factories caught a foreign boat with opium, which gives one a pretty good general idea of what is going on; and still more, there is now at Whampoa Baker's foreign ship which has been lingering there for a long time, how are we to know that she is not borrowing the excuse of being a doctor's house, occultly to become a regular depôt for smuggled goods? The sampans would then come and go, and smuggle away most quickly and conveniently. If they wish secretly to establish a store ship in the inner waters, and the said hong merchants secretly connive at it, really it is the extreme of during!

Besides communicating to the viceroy and fooyucn upon the subject, that they may take their measures, I issue this edict, and when it reaches the said hong merchants, let them immediately enjoin the orders on the foreigners that they obey, and speedily take all their sampans with holds and masts, and drive every one of them out. We will not have them coming up to the city, leading to trouble and evil. If they dare again oppose my edicts, they the hong merchants must be in connivance, so I shall certainly have them rigorously examined without mercy. Take up the measures you are adopting, and let us immediately know them by petition. Do not oppose! A special edict! Taoukwang 18th year, 3d month, 9th day. (April 3d, 1838.)

It does not appear, from the preceding documents, that the government ever suspected the Hope of being connected with the traffic in opium. Moreover, it is known that at one time the governor, convinced no doubt of the necessity of having a hospital at Whampoa,- was pleased to intimate verbally his intention to take no further measures to molest her,—though he could not give his formal sanction to her establishment and stay there. That vessel (as we twice had opportunity to witness) was fitted up in excellent style; and so favorable were all the circumstances of the case, that some of the British merchants who had kept themselves aloof from the plan, were on the point of joining in its support. We have heard the opinion expressed, that the immediate cause of her final removal was a quarrel between their excellencies the governor and hoppo-in which the latter by repeated petitions compelled the other to swerve from the purpose of allowing her to remain.

We have gone thus into detail, in order to show, that the plan of establishing and maintaining a seamen's hospital at Whampoa is not impracticable, and that the late failure is attributable to causes which could not have been foreseen when the plan was projected. A hospital at Whampoa is a great desideratum; the fitting up a ship for that purpose is most feasible; and the plan so free from all reasonable objections, that if properly urged on the Chincse authorities (here and at Peking), it must eventually succeed. We de not know what are the present prospects and intentions of the Hospital Committee, but there is surely no less need now than heretofore for their exertions. Their surgeon is still at Whampoa; and his labors have, we are happy to hear, been extended in numerous instances to the Chinese. We sincerely hope that the purpose of providing a hospital for seamen "in the inner waters of China," will be persisted in, and be finally rewarded with complete success.

ART. IV. Notices in Natural History: 1, the fung or bee, comprising also the various kinds of wasps, and the products of the hive; and 2, the yě ung or solitary wasp. Selected from Chinese authors.

1. APIARIES Were very early known to Chinese husbandmen, according to native authors; and the bee was domesticated, not only for its honey and wax, but also for the larvæ, which were used as an article of food. The Book of Rites says, "Unfledged nestlings and the larvæ of the cicada and bee, were all provided to be eaten;" so that, as a native author remarks, "from remote time they have been articles of food." The compilers of the Pun Tsaou place the bee at the head of zoology, an arrangement that may have been adopted because the products of the hive were highly prized; they are not, however, so far as we know, imitated in this respect by any other systematist. The etymology of the character fung, the term by which bees, wasps, spheges, &c., are generally known, is the awl insect, alluding to the sting; another term for it is fan, composed of rule and insect, referring to the propriety and order observed in its hive, as if it was, par excellenee, the insect of order. "The bee," says one writer, "occurs everywhere; the young are found in the honey cells, of a white color, like the larvæ of silkworms; these the people south of the Mei ling collect before the legs and heads are perfect, and fry them in oil to eat." Le Shechin, the most accurate among Chinese naturalists, describes the bee with considerable spirit: "The young of the honey bee, before it is perfect, resemble the white larvæ of silkworms. There are three sorts of bees; the first is found in forests upon trees, or else in caverns under ground, where it constructs its nest; this is the wild bee. The second sort is the house bee, which men domesticate by nourishing in hives; it is small and yellowish, and the honey is very delicious. A third kind makes its nest in precipices and rocky places, from whence comes the rock honey; it is of a blackish color and resembles an ox-fly, All these live in swarms, and have a king over them, which is bigger than any other bee in the swarm, and of an azure color. All of the bees go out of the hive twice a day, in a manner similar to the rise and fall of the tide. The males among bees have subulate tails, and the females have forked tails. They smell flowers by their antennæ instead of the nose; and