resides here, and the town contains about three or four
thousand beggarly inhabitants, mostly soldiers and fishers; for, as the
trade of this island has only been granted of late, it has not hitherto
attracted any considerable merchants.

This island abounds in all sorts of provisions, as cows, buffaloes,
deer, hogs, both wild and tame, geese, ducks, poultry, rice, wheat,
calavanccs, cole-worts, turnips, carrots, potatoes, beets, spinach, and
so forth. It has, however, no merchandise, except what comes from
Ning-po, Stan-chew,[326] Nankin, and other inland towns and cities. Some
of these I hope to see, when I have acquired a little of the Chinese
language. Tea grows here in great plenty on the tops of the hills, but
is not so much esteemed as that which grows on more mountainous islands.
Although tolerably populous, this island is far from being what it was
in the time of Father Martini, who describes it under the name of
_Cheu-xan_. The superstitious pilgrimages mentioned by him, must refer
to the island of Pou-to,[327] which is nine leagues from this place, and
to another island three miles to the eastwards, to which the emperor
proposes coming to worship at a pagoda greatly renowned for its
sanctity, in the ensuing month of May, being his birth-day, and the
fortieth year of his age. One of his bonzes is already come there, to
get all things in order.

[Footnote 326: Probably Hang-tcheon, a city about forty miles W. from
Ning-po.--E.]

[Footnote 327: Pou-teou, is directly E. from the eastern end of
Tcheou-chan.--E.]

Sec.2. _Ancient and modern State of the Country, and of the coming of the
English to reside there.[328]_

In my former letter, I informed you that the emperor designed to have
come to worship at Pou-to in May last, being the fortieth year of his
age, but I ought to have said of his reign. After every thing was
prepared for his reception, he was dissuaded from his purpose by some of
his mandarins, who made him believe that the thunder at that place was
very dangerous. This Pou-to is a small island, only about five leagues
round, and at the east end of Chusan. It has been famous for the space
of eleven hundred years, for the superstitious pilgrimages made to it,
and is only inhabited by bonzes to the number of three thousand, all of
the sect of _Heshang,_ or unmarried bonzes, who live a Pythagorean life.
They have built four hundred pagodas, two of which are considerable for
their size and splendour,