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

the Min unite at Sui Flu. the great river is Justly
regarded a. the most important Of Asiauo water"
ways. furnishing, as IL does, by is main stream
aud the tributaries which enter II, routes easy
Of navig alton through the rich and crowded cen
trail provinces Of China. also water connection
with Canton by the Fu.ling. with only two port
ages, and with Tientsin by the grand canal which
Il cuts in twain al Chin kiang.
Mrs. Bishop directs attention TO the nAvigsble
~afluents OF the Yangtie. reminding us that. In
order to estimate their importance, We should
keep In view that the great river OF which they
are feeders IL not only an outlet, but the only
outlet, for the commerc OF Szechuan, when,
owing to Its size, population, actual wealth and
capabilities. may be truly termed the Empire
Province ~ China. On the north. or left bank
the Min. before uniting with the Chin Sha at
Sui Flu, receives near the beautiful trading city
OF CHA ling Flu, the Tung, or Tatu, a river with
a volume OF water 20 much larger than lis own,
az to Justify the view taken by scientific ohserv-
ers that II ought to be considered the main stream.
the va, also an allucnt Of the Min, Is nayigable
for bamboo boats up to Yachow, the centre Of the
brick tea trade with Tibet. After leaving Sui
Flu the Yanetle receives at Lu chow the To-
which gives access to ono OF the richest sections
o. the province, and at Chungking. the trad ing
ca pital, II Is Joined by the CHA ling. The latter
IL In itself n river OF great size, being nayigable
for over 800 miles, and actually penetrating
the province OF Kansuh. II receives In its turn
several navigable feeders, passes for much oil
its course through a rich aud fertile region, as
well a. a tract which produces large quantities
OF salt. and It bi,ects the vast coal fields which
mderlis central Szechuhn. On the right, or
south bank, above the gorges, at the picturesque
city Of Fuchow, the Fu-ling, which has three
aliases. enters the Iangtze. The Fu-ling Is an
aAluent OF much commercial utility, as being
the first Of II network OF rivers. by which. as we
have said. with only two portages, goods from
the Far Vest can reach Canton. and az ai'oring
with its connections, the Yuan Ho and the Tung-
ting I.ake, an alternative route TO Hankow, by
which the risks Of the rapids are avoided After
the Yangtzs enters the gorges, which, at one
point. narrow it to q width OF 100 yards. there
ars no ~atiuents worthy Of special notice
until lchans ia passed, when .he Ian,
nayigabls for cargo boats for l,200 miles
OF northwesterly windings from its mouth at
l~lankos, takes the first place. followed by the
Yuan Ilsiang, Kan, Shu and other tributaries
which Join the langtzs through the Tungting
and Poyang lakes. These rivers, especially
the Han, are themselves swelled by a great num-
Der Oh naNlBhDie ieeue1s, WnCn, tdst u oitn Nh'h
In the Great Plain. are connected by a vast net
work Of navigablc canals, the differences IN level
being overcome by an ingenious contrivarce
called the pah. These numerous natural and
artificial waterways are among the chief eIe-
nents OF the prosperity of tho langtze Valley
afTordins, as they Go, cheap transit for merchen'
disc, land carriage In China costs. mile for mile,
twenty times as much as water carriage
Ia .... ~, a., ,f,,a - ,Ia np,ta ViSa and
fall Of tho Yangue can be counted on with tolcrable
certainty From this point Of view, tie river is
more trustworthy than tie Nile. The rise of tho
Yaugtle, which varies from forty feet or thereaDOut
n, llankow 10 ninety feet and upward at
Chungking. begins late in March, is at It's height
early in August and then gradually falls until
December or January. During three months
of the year the rush Of the huge volume Of water
is SO tremendous that traffic Is, for the most part,
suspended, and even in early June many hun
dreds Of tie large iunks are laid UP until the au-
tumn. The annual Use Of the river as we'll as
its rapids have IN lie taken into consideration In
the discussion Of the question as tn whether steam
navigation on the upper iangtle can be made
| commercially profitable. We should here point
out that il, IS not solely by deposits Of rich alluyium.
brought down by the annual rise Of the river,
lIlfl Tie euIldif VI klt bIc nam LiN v n
ually raised. The agency of dust storms Is an
4 important one; these occur extensively through
ont central as well as northern China. moving
much material from place to place. Mrs Bishop
saw a dust storm Which lasted for seven hours.
burying some novels and much agricultural
country, and even producing a mctamorphosis
Of the rocky bed Of tie Yangtze. our author
thinks that Tennyson $ description Of the work
Of rivers as being destined TO SOW the dust Of con
tirents To- he" Is especially applicable u the
lanGt1e, which, after creating the vast alluvial
plains which stretch from Sha-slih for 500 miles
n the ocean, and endowing them through It's
! annual overflow with sufficient fresh deposits
h keep up on UNSURPASSED fertility, las yet enough
10 spare 10 discharge 10000 cubic feet Of solid
substance every second into the sea, within com
paratively recent years the Yangtze has done
much to create the eastern portion Of the province
Of Kiang Su, and the islsnd Of Tsung. ming. near
Shanghai, capable Of supporting a population
Of considerably over a million souls