The question of, the population of China is an antique, which seems to have been viewed from. almost every point ut vision, with results extremely inharmonious,: The reasons for this are-sufficiently well known, and have often been explained at length in these columns... Ttappears to be well settled that no real dependence can be placed upon the Chinese official returns, yet that they are the only basis upon which rational estimates can be based, and therefore have acertain value, So faras we are aware, all efforts to come atthe real population per square wile, have proceeded from auch extensive units as provitices, or at least prefectures, the foundation and superstructure being alike a mere pagoda ut guesses. Some years ago an effort was made in this district to make @ more exact computation -of the population of a very limited area, as a sort of unie of measure. "For this purpuso a circle was taken, the radius of which was twenty li, the foreign residence being at the centre. A list was made of every village having received famine relief in the: your 1878, 80 that it was not ditticult to make Proximate guess xt the average number of families. The villages were 150 in number, and the average size was taken. as 80 families, which, allowing five persons to the family, gave a total ut 60,000 persons, Allowing six miles to be. the equivalent of twenty the population of the square mile is 531, or considerably above the average of the kingdom of Belgium (the most densely -populated country in Europe), which: lad in 1873 an average of only 462 tu the square mile. At a distance of a few miles beyond this circle, there is a tract called the Thirteen Villages cause there are that number with tance of five li! This shows that the particular region in which this estimate was nade, happens to be an unfavourable one for the purpose, us a considerable part of it is waste, owing to an uld bed of the Yellow River which has devastated a broad baud of Jand, on which are no villages. "There is also a canal leading from the Grand Canal to the sea, and a long depression much. below the' genorsl; average,. thinly occupied by villages, because it is liable to inundation, s in,1890. For these reasons it seemed desirable tu make a ow count in a better sput, and for this purpose a district was chosen, situated about ninety li east of the sub-prefecture of Linch'ing, to which it belongs. The area taken was only half the size of the former, and instead of merely estimating the average population of the villages, the actual number of families in each was taken, so far as this number is known tu the natives. The man. who prepared the village map of the area is 'a native of the central village, and a person of excellent sense, He. put, the. population in every case somewhat below the popular estimate ov as to be certainly within bouude, 'The number of persons to a family' was still taken at five, though, as he pointed out; this is a totally inadequate allowance, Many families' live and have all things in common, and are therefore counted as ove, although as in the case of this particular individual, the family' may consist of some twenty persons... To the traveller in this region, the villages appear to be but! Jarge and thickly clustered, and the enunieration shows this to be the case. Within a radius of ten /i (three miles) there are sixty-four villages, the smallest having thirty families and the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.