credited with 520 persons per sq. m.,
Fu-kien with 490 and Kwang-tung with about 320.

The Chinese government prints from time to time in the _Peking
Gazette_ returns of the population made by the various provincial
authorities. The method of numeration is to count the households, and
from that to make a return of the total inhabitants of each province.
There would be no great difficulty in obtaining fairly accurate
returns if sufficient care were taken. It does not appear, however,
that much care is taken. Mr E.H. Parker published in the _Statistical
Society's Journal_ for March 1899 tables translated from Chinese
records, giving the population from year to year between 1651 and
1860. These tables show a gradual rise, though with many fluctuations,
up till 1851, when the total population is stated to be 432 millions.
From that point it decreases till 1860, when it is put down at only
261 millions. The Chinese Imperial Customs put the total population of
the empire in 1906 at 438,214,000 and that of China proper at
407,253,000. It has been held by several inquirers that these figures
are gross over-estimates. Mr Rockhill, American minister at Peking
(1905-1909), after careful inquiry[9] concluded that the inhabitants
of China proper did not exceed, in 1904, 270,000,000. Other competent
authorities are inclined to accept the round figure of 400,000,000 as
nearer the accurate number. Eleven cities were credited in 1908 with
between 500,000 and 1,000,000 inhabitants each, and smaller cities are
very numerous, but the population is predominantly rural. In addition
to the Chinese the population includes a number of aboriginal races
such as the Lolos (q.v.), the Miaotsze (q.v.), the Ikias of Kwei-chow
and Kwang-si, the Hakka, found in the south-east provinces, and the
Hoklos of Kwang-tung province.[10] The Manchus resident in China are
estimated to number 4,000,000. According to the Imperial Customs
authorities, the number of foreigners resident in China in 1908 was
69,852. Of these 44,143 were Japanese, 9520 Russian, 9043 British,
3637 German, 3545 American, 3353 Portuguese, 2029 French, 554 Italian
and 282 Belgian.

Emigration.

The Chinese are a colonizing race, and in Manchuria, Mongolia and
Turkestan they have brought several districts under cultivation. In
the regions where they settle they become the dominant race--thus
southern Manchuria no