Now for their mechanical arts, should I commit them here to silence whenas there is not a country in the world where they do more flourish both for variety and for excellence of skill and workmanship? Which proceedeth also out of two causes, whereof the one I have commended before, in that idleness is everywhere forbidden there, and every man compelled to work; no man suffered to be idle, no, not the blind nor the lame nor the maimed, if they be not altogether impotent and weak. And the women also, by a law of Wu-ti King of China, are bound to exercise their father' s trades and arts, and how noble or great soever they be they must at least attend their distaff and their needle. The other cause is that the sons must of necessity follow their father's mysteries, so that hereupon it comes that artificers are infinite and that children as well boys as girls, even in their infancy, can skill to work, and that arts are brought unto most excellent and high perfection.
They suffer not anything to go to loss. With the dung of the bulls and oxen and other cattle they use to feed fish; and of the bones of dogs and other beasts they make many and divers carved and engraven works, as we do make of ivory. Of rags and clouts they make paper; to be short, such is the plenty and variety of the fruits of the earth and of man's industry and labour, as they have no need of foreign help to bring them anything. For they give away a great quantity of their own to foreign countries. And (to speak of no things else) the quantity of silk that is carried out of China is almost not credible. A thousand quintals of silk are yearly carried thence for the Portuguese Indies; for the Philippines they lade out fifteen ships. There are carried out to Japan an inestimable sum, and unto Cathay as great a quantity as you may guess by that we have before declared is yearly carried thence to Cambaluc. And they sell their works and their labours (by reason of the infinite store that is made) so cheap and at so easy price as the merchants of Nova Hispania that trade unto the Philippines to make their marts (unto which place the Chinese themselves do traffic) do wonder at it much. By means whereof the traffic with the Philippines falls out to be rather hurtful than profitable unto the King of Spain. For the benefit of the cheapness of things is it that makes the people of Mexico (who heretofore have used to fetch their commodities from Spain) to fetch them at the Philippines. But the King of Spain, for the desire he hath to win unto familiarity and love, and by that means to draw to our Christian faith and to the bosom of the Catholic Church, those people that are wrapt in the horrible darkness of idolaties, esteemeth not a whit of his loss, so he may gain their souls to God.
By these things I have declared it appeareth plain that China hath the means partly by the benefit of nature and partly by the industry and art of man to sustain an infinite sight of people.
And that for that cause it is credible enough that it becometh so populous a country as hath been said. And I affirm this much more unto it, that it is necessary it should be so for two reasons: the one, for that it is not lawful for the King of China to make war to get new counties but only to defend his own, and thereupon it must ensue that he enjoyeth in a manner a perpetual peace. And what is there more to be desired or wished than peace? What thing can be more profitable than peace? My other reason is, for that it is not lawful for any of the Chinese to go out of their Country without leave or licence of the magistrates, so that, the number of persons continually increasing and abiding still at home, it is of necessity that the number of people do become inestimable, and of consequence the cities exceeding great, the towns infinite and that China itself should rather, in a matter, be but one body and but one city.
To say the truth, we Italians do flatter ourselves too much, and do admire too partially those things that do concern ourselves, especially when we will prefer Italy and her cities beyond all the rest in the world. The and figure of Italy is long and strait, divided withal in the midst with the Apennine Hills.
And the paucity and rareness of navigable rivers doth not bear it that there can be very great and populous cities in it. I will not spare to say that her rivers are but little brooks in comparison of Ganges, Menam, Mekong and the rest, and that the Tyrrhenian and the Adriatic Seas are but gullets in respect of the ocean. And of consequence our trade and traffic is but poor in respect of the marts and fairs of Canton, Malacca, Calicut, Ormuz, Lisbon, Seville and other cities that bound upon the ocean.
Let us add to the aforesaid that the difference and enmity between the Mohammedans and us depriveth us in a manner of the commerce of Africa, and of the most part of the trade of the Levant. Again, the chiefest parts of Italy, that is, the Kingdom of Naples and the Dukedom of Milan are subject to the King of Spain. The other states are mean, and mean also the chiefest of their cities. But it is time we now return from whence we have digressed long.
The residence of princes is so powerful and so mighty as it alone is sufficient enough to set up and form a city at a trice.
In Ethiopia (Francis Alvarez writeth) there is not a town (although the country be very large) that containeth above a thousand and six hundred houses, and that of this greatness there are but few. For all that the king (called by them the Great Negus, and falsely by us the Prester John) who hath no settled residence representeth with his only court a mighty great city, forasmuch as wherever he be he shadoweth with an innumerable sight of tents and pavilions many miles of the country.
