The Courier. (Genoa, Nev.) 1899-1904, 1900-07-20
THE GREAT BULK OF THE CHI
NEsE PEACEFUL.
Agriculture Their Principal Occupation

Pekin and the larger cities of China,
worked up to a state of frenzy and
fanaticism, have rendered impossible
any satisfactory action by the avail
able forces of the Powers, the great
Chinese population proper is agricul-
tural and naturally extremely peaceful
and peace-loving. Agriculture, how
ever, is most primitive and the wonder
is how such an immense population
can be supported from the soil, until
the great economy practiced in all
things Is understood. On the Great
Plain of China, every available foot of
land is utilized for growing something
and every particle of fertility returned
to the soil. Waters are used for irriga-
tion and in many cases laboriously dis
tributed over the fields.
The Great Plain itself is one of the
most wonderful sections of the globe.
1t is about 700 miles in length and
varies from 200 to 400 miles in width,
occupying the northeastern part of the
empire, and containing over 100000
square miles of wonderfully fertile soil.
The most interesting feature of this
plain is its enormous population as it
supports, according to the census of
1872 not less than III million human
beings, making it the most densely
settled of any part of the world of the
same size, it's inhabitants amounting to
nearly two thirds of the entire popula-
ton of Europe.
The most wonderful feature in the
physical geography of China is the ex-
istence of vast region of loess in this
portion of the Empire. Loess is a very
solid but friable earth, brownish yellow
in color and is found in many places
from 500 to 1000 feet deep. The loess
hills rise in terraces from 20 to several
hundred feet in height. Every atom
of loess is perforated by small tubes
after the manner of root fibers, only
the direction of these little channels is
always from above downward so that
cleavage in the loess mass is invaria-
bly, vertical. The loess region of China
is perhaps the most broken country in
the world, with its sheer cliffs, and up
right walls, terraces and deep cut ra-
vines. Owing to the ease with which
1t can be worked, caves made at the
bases of straight cliffs, afford homes to
millions of people in the densely popu-
lated northern provinces where the
Boxers have thus far been most active.
Whole villages cluster together in
carved out chambers, some of which
extend back more than 200 feet. The
capabilities of defense in a country
such as this, where an invading army
must necessarily become lost and abso-
lutely bewildered in the tangle of in
terlacing waysand where the defenders
may always remain concealed or have
innumerable means of escape is pecul-
iarly significant at this time when con-
sideration is being given to conquest
OF China.
1t may not be generally known that
the Chinese We're the discoverers of
coal as fuel. The Venetian traveller
M Mlrco Polo says, ''It is fact that all
over the country of Cathay (China)
there is kind of black stone existing
in the beds of the mountains which
they dig out and burn like tirewood.
This stone burns better and costs less"
The rivers of China are her glory
and there are few countries in the
world so well watered and none with
such splendid natural water transpor
tation facilities. The three great rivers
of the Empire are the Yang-tsz-Kiang
(Child of the OCEAN,, the Hoang Ho
yellow River) and the Chu Kiang
Pearl River or Canton River). Of
these the Yang -tsz- Kiang is much the
largest, flowing through extensive and
fertile plains and finally emptying into
the Eastern Sea, after traversing a dis
tance of over 1900 miles. It's discharge
ia estimated at one million cubic feet
per second. The banks of the Yang
tsz are crowded with towns and viii
lagos, the most famous of which are
Nankin and the new treaty port of
Hankow. The Hoang Ho or Yellow
River is noted especially for its fire.
uuent and violent floods Its current
is very rapid and it nearly approaches
in length the Yang-tsz. The Pearl or
Canton River while not nearly as large
as the others is stream of great inn
portance and innumerable vessels trade
upon its waters. At some points it
spreads into large lakes; in others it
passes between narrow gorges which IT
would afford large storage
for irrigation. The Chinese,
however, have not practically worked
out irrigation in its different phases as
as would be expected of
such an agricultural people.