Illustrated Gazetteer of the Maritime Countries (Vol. 34)

The state governs three combined departments for Legislative, Executive, and Judicial affairs original: "立法行法判事衙門" (lìfǎ xíngfǎ pànshì yámén); "Yamen" refers to a traditional Chinese government office. Every year, these are changed and rotated according to the regulations.

Those who nominate and elect officials must have resided within the district for one year and must have paid the poll tax original: "丁糧" (dīngliáng); a tax paid by individuals to the state before they are eligible to vote. Judicial officers are selected by the Governor original: "統領" (tǒnglǐng); literally "Commander," here used for the Governor acting together with the Council original: "崗色爾" (gāngsè'ěr); a phonetic transcription of the English word "Council". The fixed rule is that these positions also change every year, though if the majority of the people agree, some may continue for another one or two years.

The total territorial extent is seven thousand five hundred square miles original: "里" (lǐ); while the li is a Chinese unit of distance, Wei Yuan uses "square li" here to represent Western miles, with a population of six hundred and ten thousand four hundred souls. The state governs twenty-nine small districts likely referring to counties or townships, with Boston original: "摩士頓" (Móshìdùn) as the primary district.

In terms of local customs, they follow Protestantism original: "波羅特士頓教" (Bōluótèshìdùn jiào); a phonetic transcription and Catholicism original: "加特力教" (Jiātèlì jiào); a phonetic transcription. There are two thousand three hundred and ninety-seven schools, the expenses for which are provided by each small district in rotation.

The local products include lead, iron, alum, slate, coal, broadcloth, textiles, fish oil, and salted fish. These are worth approximately four million, six hundred and seventy-two thousand, seven hundred and forty silver dollars original: "員" (yuán); referring to the Spanish or Mexican silver dollars commonly used in international trade at the time. The textiles total seven thousand nine hundred and twenty...