who thus perished, is exactly known; because the Chinese are extremely nice in the account they keep of them. He also cut down the mulberry trees, and almost all the trees of other kinds; but we speak of the mulberry in particular, because the Chinese carefully cultivate it for the sake of its leaf, wherewith they subsist and propagate their silk-worms. This devastation is the cause why silk has failed, and that the trade which used to be driven with if, in the countries under the Arabs, is quite stagnated.
"From these combustions there arose many unjust dealings with the merchants who traded thither, which having gathered the force of a precedent, there was no grievance, no treatment, so bad but they exercised upon the foreign Arabs, and the masters of ships. They seized upon their effects, and behaved towards them in a method of procedure quite contrary to the ancient usages. And for these things has God punished them by withdrawing his blessings from upon them in every respect, and particularly by causing the navigation to be forsaken, and the merchants to return in crowds to Siraf and Oman, pursuant to the infallible orders of the Almighty Master, whose name be blessed."
If what is here said of the "thousands" put to the sword, and of the "crowds" returning, be true, it proves that the intercourse between eastern and western Asia was, at that period, of a most interesting character, and of vast extent. The period referred to, is that of the Emperor He-tsung of the Tang dynasty. It is briefly noticed in Du Halde's history; and an extended account of it, noticing the principal leaders of the rebels, places taken, and so forth, may be found in the 59th Section of Kang-keen-e-che, the 20th volume.
Neither of the two travellers tell us at what time their countrymen first came hither. In Morrison's view of China, it is stated that, "In the time of Hwan-te, whose reign closed A. D. 167, India, Ta-tsin (Egypt or Arabia), and other nations, came by the Southern or Chinese sea with tribute, and from this, trade with foreigners was carried on at Canton." It is farther stated in the same work, that the Ta-tsin was situated on the west of the western ocean, very remote; and that, "the people were tall, and well formed, of the same race with the Chinese, and therefore called Ta-tsin. There is a most splendid account of the country, and it is added, when Matthew Ricci came to Peking, he affirmed that Jesus was born in Judea, which was the Ancient Ta-tsin."...."Does not this favour the late De Guignes' supposition, that the Chinese were originally a Colony from Egypt?"
The first Tsin dynasty of China closed about two centuries before the Christian era. We are not prepared to hazard an opinion, concerning the origin of the Chinese, or the time when the people of western Asia or Egypt first came to China. If we credit the writers, whose account we review, it appears that, before their day, the number of foreigners and the privileges they enjoyed in China, were far from being inconsiderable. The first writer says,
