[CHINA - ANTIQUE PRINT]. THE SATURDAY MAGAZINE.

Chinese Boat-trackers Refreshing. [caption title]

(London). (John W. Parker). March 4th, 1837. Stock ID #178370

Engraving on a single newspaper leaf, 14.3 x 20.5 cm; related text on the verso, spot of browning affecting the upper edge of the image, in very good condition.

Front-page illustration prepared for "The Saturday Magazine" a 19th Century British journal for the improvement of "the working man" published by the Committee of General Literature and Education. The text on the verso notes the harsh life of boat-trackers: "Their labour is extremely severe; we read of their toiling for sixteen hours consecutively, against a stream whose swiftness precluded the slightest intermission of their exertions. They are obliged sometimes to wade up to the middle in mud, sometimes to swim across creeks, and immediately afterwards perhaps, to expose their naked bodies to a scorching sun. They are kept constantly at their work by a soldier..." The editor also notes that the 1816 Amherst Embassy to China, was provided 300 trackers for 20 vessels.

When referring to this item please quote stockid 178370.

Price: $65.00 AU

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