Canton, or Kwangchau fu (_i.e._ Broad City), the provincial capital, lies on the north bank of the Pearl River, in lat. 23° 7′ 10″ N., and long. 113° 14′ 30″ E., nearly parallel with Havana, Muskat, and Calcutta; its climate is, however, colder than any of those cities. The name _Canton_ is a corruption of Kwangtung, derived in English from _Kamtom_, the Portuguese mode of writing it; the citizens themselves usually call it _Kwangtung săng ching_, _i.e._ the provincial capital of Kwangtung or simply _săng ching_. Another name is _Yang-ching_, or the ‘City of Rams,’ and a third the City of Genii, both derived from ancient legends. It lies at the foot of the White Cloud hills, along the banks of the river, about seventy miles north of Macao in a direct line, and ninety northwest of Hongkong; these distances are greater by the river. The delta into which the West, North, and East Rivers fall might be called a gulf, if the islands in it did not occupy so much of the area. The whole forms one of the most fertile parts of the province, and one of the most extensive estuaries of any river in the world,--being a rough triangle about a hundred miles long on each side. The bay of Lintin--so called from the islet of that name, where opium and other store ships formerly anchored--is the largest sheet of water, and lies below the principal embouchure of the river, called _Fu Mun_, _i.e._ Bocca Tigris, or Bogue. Few rivers can be more completely protected by nature than this; their defences of walls and guns at this spot, however, have availed the Chinese but little against the skill and power of their enemies. Ships pass through it up to the anchorage at Whampoa, about thirty miles, from whence Canton lies twelve miles nearly due west. The approach to it is indicated by two lofty pagodas within the walls, and the multitude of boats and junks thronging the river, amidst which the most pleasing object to the “far-travelled stranger” is the glimpse he gets through their masts of the foreign houses on Sha-meen, and the flagstaffs bearing their national ensigns. ~SIZE AND SITUATION OF CANTON.~