The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-02-04

let us first glance at The preliminary chapter,
which presents some important statistical data
relating 10 the region which the author was
to traverse. 1t is true enough that few read
ers appreciate the magnitude and resources 81
the great basin Which, in the spring Il 1898, was
cl1iined rs the Du'i. h"Srhrrc of influence" Mrs.
Bishop, for her part, ~confesses That II was only
at the md If eight morthS spent on the lArgt7e
and It's tributaries that she even began 10 com.
prrhend their immense capabilities and the enar-
gins OF their enormous population. Geogra ph.
ically, there can b. no mistakc about the limits
Of the Sangze Valley. The drainage area Of
this great river and its ~aftiuents must be taken
as extending from tho Goth to the l22d meridian
of east longitude, and as including all or most
Of the important provinces Of S1echuan, Hupeh,
! Human. Kiangsi. NEanhui, kiangsu and Honan,
with considerable sections Of Chekiang, Kuei.
chow and Human; the valley must even he held
To- COMPRISE the southeastern drainage areas
Of Kansuh, Shensi and Shantung. The whole
superhcies Of the basin is computed at about
$50 900 square miles. md its population, one
Of the most peaceable and industrious on earth,
at from l7O, 600, 900 to $50, 600, 900. The actual
length Of the Yangtze River is unknown, but
Is believed not To exceed 5000 miles. Rising,
according to the best geographical Information,
! almost due north Of Calcutta, it, upper waters
have been partially explored by Prjevalsky
and Rockhill up 10 an altitude in the Tang-la
Mountains OF lG, 400 feet, and rs lar as latitude
"a degrees 43 minutes North. and longitude 90
degrees As minutes East, Ii has thus been nscer-
tanned that tho great Waterway. although not
| tracked actually 10 it, source, rises on the south
eastern edge Of the Central Asian steppcs, and,
! alter draining an extensive and little known
area, pursnes n t%orrential course under the nam,
Of the Chin Shn, hemmed In by parallel ranges,
and raging through gigantic riffs in Yunnan
and southwestern S2cchuan, which riffs cul-
inmate in grandeur At the Sun Bridge, n noun
tain nbutting on the river In 4 pfeCi pice or preci-
pieces which must be 5000 feet above its wa tsrs.
It's not TIL these gOrges are passed and the Chin
Sha reaches Ping Shan, forty miles above Sui Flu,
II which the reader will hear more hereafter, that
the river becomes seryiCeablc tn man. In longi.
tude "a IS, AT about =, 200 miles from lis mouth.
Col. Prievanlky describes II As a rapid torrent
with ndepth of from FIVE to seven feet. and a width
In summer Of a mile and in autumn Of $50 feet
In travelling from its supposed source to Ping
Shan, a distance roughly estimated at 800 miles.
it- fall must be fully Il, 700 feet " lille for the yhols
distance from Ping Shan TO Shanghai The fall in
only ] ,O2o feet, and from IlhnkOw to the sea. A
distance Of 800 miles, only an inch per mile. The
Min, or fu River, appears to have its source in
the Baian Kara Range, and Joins the Chin Sha al
Sui Flu. While the Chin Shn is only nayig able
for about 40 miles above this Junction, the Min is
nnvigable TO Chengtu, about 266 miles from Sui
Fl, and by a branch to Kuan fIsien, 40 miles
higher. Mrs. Bishop descended the Min from
Chengtu to Sui Flu in a fair sized boat at the very
lowest OF low waters, The Min being nnyicable
from !. far greater distance. the Chinese biogra.
piers regard II as the true treat River, the superior
length Of the Chin Sha not being taken into nc.
count, 1t is noted by our author that the chinese
only give their great river the name Of Yang,e
for the extent Of It's tidal waters; above the head
Of the tide IL receives . series Of namsa There "