Sonnerat says he has ascertained them to be no more than
seventy-five thousand;[105] but as this gentleman has not favoured us with
the grounds on which his calculation was founded, and, besides, appears as
desirous of depreciating every thing that relates to the Chinese, as the
Jesuits may be of magnifying, his opinion certainly admits of some doubt.
The following circumstances may perhaps lead the reader to form a judgment
with tolerable accuracy on this subject.

A Chinese house, undoubtedly, occupies more space than is usually taken up
by houses in Europe; but the proportion, suggested by M. Sonnerat, of four
or five to one, certainly goes much beyond the truth. To this should be
added, that a great many houses, in the suburbs of Canton, are occupied for
commercial purposes only, by merchants and rich tradesmen, whose families
live entirely within the city. On the other hand, a Chinese family appears
to consist, on an average, of more persons than an European. A _Mandarin_,
according to his rank and substance, has from five to twenty wives. A
merchant, from three to five. One of this class at Canton, had, indeed,
twenty-five wives, and thirty-six children; but this was mentioned to me as
a very extraordinary instance. An opulent tradesman has usually two; and
the lower class of people very rarely more than one. Their servants are at
least double in number to those employed by persons of the same condition
in Europe. If, then, we suppose a Chinese family one-third larger, and an
European house two-thirds less than each other, a Chinese city will contain
only half the number of inhabitants contained in an European town of the
same size. According to these _data_, the city and suburbs of Canton may
probably contain about one hundred and fifty thousand.

With respect to the number of inhabited _sampanes_, I found different
opinions were entertained; but none placing them lower than forty thousand.
They are moored in rows close to each other, with a narrow passage, at
intervals, for the boats to pass up and down the river. As the Tygris, at
Canton, is somewhat wider than the Thames at London; and the whole river is
covered in this manner for the extent of at least a mile, this account of
their number does not appear to me in the least exaggerated; and if it be
allowed, the number of inhabitants in the sampanes alone (for each of them
contains one family) must amount to nearly three times the number supposed
by M. Sonnerat