There are nine other tourists in the boat. There are four trackers. Three of the trackers are standing in waist-deep water. They are chanting and they are pulling our boat through a light rain along the shallow river. Wearing grass sandals, they run along the banks and forge through the river.
Footing is difficult and progress is slow.
There are sometimes wild monkeys here. When their day's work is done, they drink cheap potent Chinese white alcohol, for opium is now illegal. The Niu Kan gorge suddenly opened to view, a huge split in the mountain mass ahead of us by which the river escapes as through a funnel. In the Ichang gorge the water is from 50 to 100 feet deep, of a striking bottle-green color, and flows along without a swirl or ripple in a grand full volume. The stillness is profound, enlivened only by the passing now and again of some big cargo junk, with lowered mast, gliding past at great speed, with 50 or 60 men at the sweeps, raising a wild chant in keeping with their movements.