Produced by Stan Goodman, Meredith Bach, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net [Transcriber's Note: This version of the text contains a number of UTF-8 characters. These characters may not appear if you don't have Unicode selected as your encoding (usually found under the View/Page menu) or the right fonts installed. A good number of printer's errors have been corrected, including all those in the Errata. All other spelling and grammar inconsistencies have been retained. As a final note, the I section of the index contains both I and J entries.] [Illustration: _Hickey del^t T. Medland sculp^t_ _Portrait of Van-ta-gin_ _Pub. May 2, 1804, by Mess^rs. Cadell, & Davies, Strand, London._] TRAVELS IN _CHINA_, CONTAINING DESCRIPTIONS, OBSERVATIONS, AND COMPARISONS, MADE AND COLLECTED IN THE COURSE OF A SHORT RESIDENCE AT THE IMPERIAL PALACE OF YUEN-MIN-YUEN, AND ON A SUBSEQUENT JOURNEY THROUGH THE COUNTRY FROM PEKIN TO CANTON. _IN WHICH IT IS ATTEMPTED TO APPRECIATE THE RANK THAT THIS EXTRAORDINARY EMPIRE MAY BE CONSIDERED TO HOLD IN THE SCALE OF CIVILIZED NATIONS._ "NON CUIVIS HOMINI CONTINGIT ADIRE _CORINTHUM_." _It is the lot of few to go to_ PEKIN. By JOHN BARROW, Esq. LATE PRIVATE SECRETARY TO THE EARL OF MACARTNEY, AND ONE OF HIS SUITE AS AMBASSADOR FROM THE KING OF GREAT BRITAIN TO THE EMPEROR OF CHINA. _ILLUSTRATED WITH SEVERAL ENGRAVINGS._ _LONDON_: Printed by A. Strahan, Printers-Street, FOR T. CADELL AND W. DAVIES, IN THE STRAND. 1804. TO _THE EARL OF MACARTNEY, K. B._ ONE OF HIS MAJESTY'S MOST HONOURABLE PRIVY COUNCIL, _&c. &c. &c._ THIS VOLUME OF TRAVELS IN CHINA, _&c._ IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, BY HIS MOST FAITHFUL AND OBLIGED HUMBLE SERVANT, JOHN BARROW. CONTENTS. CHAP. I. PRELIMINARY MATTER. _Introduction.--General View of what Travellers are likely to meet with in China.--Mistaken Notions entertained with regard to the British Embassy--corrected by the Reception and Treatment of the subsequent Dutch Embassy.--Supposed Points of Failure in the former, as stated by a French Missionary from Pekin, refuted._--Kien Long's _Letter to the_ King _of Holland.--Difference of Treatment experienced by the two Embassies explained.--Intrigues of Missionaries in foreign Countries.--Pride and Self-Importance of the Chinese Court.--List of European Embassies, and the Time of their Abode in Pekin.--Conclusion of Preliminary Subject._ Page 1 CHAP. II. Occurrences and Observations in the Navigation of the Yellow Sea, and the Passage up the Pei-ho, or White River.