Peking, and merely gave it as a general estimate, without entering into particulars on the subject; and this is, by no means, an uncommon case with ourselves. The population of England, France, Germany, or Spain, is frequently given in round millions, without the specification of the units, except when a census is particularly demanded or published by government; and when a population is thus roundly stated, it does not throw discredit on the whole, to say, that two different regions, Austria and France, for instance, contain the same number of millions. With regard to Sir G. Staunton's informant, we may look upon his statement as entitled to credit, as far as general estimates go; and while it does not profess to give a particular account of the population, we may take it as corroborating or explaining some cotemporaneous statement derived from more authentic sources. Now this account of the population was delivered to Sir G. Staunton, in 1792, and does not materially differ from an official return, published in the same year, which makes the population amount to 307,467,200; and, considering that the one was a rough guess, in round numbers, and the other, the result of a minute investigation, we need not be surprised at the discrepancy that appears in the aggregate. The two together are sufficient, however, to prove that the population of China, at that period, exceeded three hundred millions.
We shall now present the reader with a comparative statement of the number of inhabitants in each province, according to the various accounts, accompanied by other statistical returns, calculated to throw light on the subject.
