CHUSAN, the principal of an immense group of smaller islands off the eastern coast of China, in Lat. 30. N. Long. 122. E. It lies N.W. and S.E., and has a circumference of 51½ miles—the extreme length being 20, the extreme breadth 10, and the minimum breadth 6 miles. This island is beautifully diversified with hill and dale, and is well cultivated. Of the numerous small streams which run from the mountains and cross the plains to the sea, the most considerable is the Tungkeang, which falls into the harbour of Tinghae. On most of the hills there is a moderate coating
of earth, which by industry has been rendered very productive. Nineteen-twentieths of the inhabitants are engaged in agriculture. Wherever it is possible to rear rice, the cultivation of every other product is abandoned; yet the quantity produced is not sufficient for the wants of the inhabitants. Millet, wheat, sweet potatoes, yams, taros, &c., are also grown. The tea plant is found almost everywhere, but is treated with little or no care. Chusan annually exports about 30,000 dols. worth. The cotton plant is largely cultivated near the sea. The capital, Tinghae, stands about half a mile from the beach, and is surrounded by a wall nearly 3 miles in circuit. The ditch outside the wall is interrupted on the N.W. side by a spur from a neighbouring hill, which projects into the town, and forms an easy access to an attacking force on that side. The town is traversed by canals, and the harbour, which has from 4 to 8 fathoms water, is landlocked by several islands. Temple or Joss-house Hill, which commands the town and harbour, is 122 feet high close to the beach, and on its east side there is a canal. The population of the town and suburbs of Tinghae, which at the commencement of 1843 was about 27,500, had increased in 1846 to above 35,000. The population of the entire island was estimated at 200,000. Chusan has but few manufactures; of these the chief are coarse cotton stuffs and agricultural implements. There are salt works on the coast; and the fisheries employ a number of the inhabitants. In Tinghae a considerable business is carried on in carving and varnishing. The principal exports are fish, coarse black tea, cotton, vegetable tallow, sweet potatoes, and some wheat. Chusan was taken by the British forces in 1840 and 1841, and retained till 1846 as a guarantee for the fulfilment of the stipulations of the treaty.