The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1883-11-07
ANOvEL VOYAGE BY BOAT.
PxcTUREsouz SCENES ON A CHI.
NEsE RIVER.
Varied Sights ON n Trip from ShRng-
haA 20 EEnngchOw---ThOusR of
People Living i'm Boats.


account of trip which he made by boat
from Shanghai TO Hongchow in China.
BE says: About 10 o'clock in the morn
ing, after quitting Shanghai, my boat
passed Skin, struggling town boasting
a bridge built in the Gothic style-a
single pointed arch. Our sail and mast
had to be lowered, and we went through
Skin very slowly, the boat being pro-
PEELED by huge stern oar worked by the
entire crew. l did not land at Skin.
My cook said that its principal street was
about three feet wide, and l felt could
live a little longer without tasting the
truth of this report. Two hours later
brought us to Kasi, large town on the
Hue. This city certainly surprised me,
for found it a huge place. having the
river and several of its branches running
through it, and covering many square
miles of ground. How many people it
contains do not pretend even to guess,
but to me it appeared uncommonly ex-
tensive. On the river approaching it
thousands of sturdy-lool1ing people were
TO be seen living in boats. Yet these
were only the fringe of its population.
The mass of people covered the ground
ran down to the waters edge, and their
rooms opened upon it-not the perfume
tory way in which a European room opens
upon any place-that is to say, by a door
or window, but with whole side, the
room consisting only of three walls, with
the river frontage for the fourth boun-
dairy. was thus enabled to see the do
nestle arrangements of the Chinese
about which the less said the better.
Our boat went through vast quantities
of timber and bamboo tied up in the
form of RATS, frequently coming in col
hsion with them, and causing much bad
language in the Chinese tongue. Pariah
dogs, very much like those which can be
seen in India, barked at us; children
stuck out their tongues and their fingers,
and squeaked, "Fanqui!n Foreign deviD
as we went by; but the boat happily
stayed not. 1t was, perhaps, as well, for
at--Kasi they love not strangers. They
testify their dislike by hurting large
pieces of pottery of which there is
plenty at hand, at visitors. Pottery, in
deed, seems to vie with baskets in being
the principal industry at Kasi. Pots of
oil sizes, shapes and colors, were to be
seen on every side. At last we came in
view of Kasi proper, the city within the
walls; curious walls, too, they were
huge in height, surmounted by battle
ments, these latter pierced for arrows in
the long time ago. At first l thought we
had to pass under the curious bridge
which spanned the river and led into the
Notifications; but my boatmen made me
understand that branch of the stream
skirted the walls, and that we could 90
out that way Round we went, circling
an immense city, full of people all as busy
rs bees, and surrounded, outside the
walls, by numberless coffins and graves
q living center to a dead and decayed
girdle. Presently we gained the open
champaign once more, and so flew away,
by dint of large latteen sail, to the coun-
try beyond. A three hours journey
brought us to Kashin, or Casheen, a fresh
center of agricultural industry. \
Here again walls like those of Kasi
fronted us, and the river was covered
with boats; again the tongues a1d fingers
of the children were pointed az the ''for
eign devil" / resolved to land. This
proved no such simple matter as I had
hoped; in an instant l was surrounded
by great crowd which behaved as
though it had never seen such a curiosity
before. 1t mattered little that 1 moved
on; the crowd had nothing to do and
came on, its more youthful members
shouting out that a strange demon was
ashore, its older ones eyeing me as though
they thought l had come to run away
with the principal pagoda. Attended by
this motley assemblage went on through
the streets to the point where my boat
was to pick me up. found Kashin sin
gularly free from smells, very busy ham
pered somewhat by its narrow, ill-paved
streets, not more than five feet wide, but
doing an uproarious business in eatables,
baskets, books and bamboo.
My boat, having taken me on board,
moved forward at great speed, passing
presently treble-towered pagoda. Here
1t was my privilege to witness one of the
ceremonies of the country. The man
DARN of Kashin is, it appears, not pow
erful person. He may be good, but he
is not great, and, what is more to the
point, he knows it. Up away at Hang
chow lives a magnate compared with
whom the governor of Kashin is but the
grass of the field, which tomorrow may
be as least into the oven,' or the prison.
And this tremendous parsonage may de-
scend the river at any time; so the gov
} ernor of Kashin must needs be ready to
receive him with state. With a view,
then, to giving him becoming welcome
the Kashin mandarin maintains on the
river a large number of junks full of
soldiers, each armed with a cannon,
and all plentifully bedecked with
flags. Should the governor of Hang
chow come it is the business of these
soldiers to wave the flags, beat gongs,
and fire the cannon. Otherwise some
body's head must come off. When we
passed the long line of flag-ornamented
boats the governor of Hangchow was
still expected. He had been looked for,
we learned, for nearly three months; but