THE Chinese merchants and tradesmen are most expert and ready reckoners; but they perform all arithmetical operations mechanically, by means of a table divided into two compartments, through which pass iron wires; and on these wires are strung in one compartment five, and in the other two, moveable balls. The principle is something of the same kind as that of the _abacus_ of the Romans, and is with some little variation still made use of in Russia. It has been observed, that in weighing several thousand chests of tea, or bales of goods, at Canton, the Chinese accountant can invariably name the sum total long before the European can cast up his account. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: CHINA—PLATE 37 ] Plate XXXVII. FEMALE PEASANT. BLUE or brown cotton frocks with green or yellow trowsers are the ordinary dresses of the female peasantry, all of whom, except such as labour in the field or the fisheries, have the vanity to cramp their feet, in imitation of their superiors. Those in the print are employed in winding cotton yarn. They are, in general, ill featured, and their countenance void of expression. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: CHINA—PLATE 38 ] Plate XXXVIII. A TARTAR DRAGOON. OF the Tartar horse another specimen has been given in this work. This represents a Tartar dragoon armed with the common instruments, the bow, and a short sabre. This corps is probably of little use beyond that of carrying dispatches, and assisting in the imperial hunts in the forests of Tartary. All the cavalry that were seen by the British Embassy had a mean, irregular, and most unsoldierlike appearance. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: CHINA—PLATE 39 ] Plate XXXIX. PUNISHMENT OF THE _TCHA_, OR CANGUE. THE punishment of the cangue may be compared to that of our pillory, with this difference, that in China a person convicted of petty crimes or misdemeanours is sometimes sentenced to carry the wooden clog about his neck for weeks, or even months; sometimes one hand, or even both hands, are inserted through holes, as well as the neck. The annexed representation is not a common one, and far less painful than the plain heavy tablet of wood, the whole weight of which must be supported on the shoulders; whereas in this it is mere confinement, without the person being compelled to carry a heavy load. The nature of the offence is always described in large characters, either on the edge of the cangue, or, as in the present instance, on a piece of board attached to it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: CHINA—PLATE 40 ]