The state herald., 1912-12-20

tHe WHiTlpOOi St- LdWreuCe,
" skiffed on the willow-lined
Merrimac; excursioned along
the Potomac; houseboated on the
Ohio: steamboated past the levees
of the Mississippi; barged at evening
on the Sacramento; seined in the Co
lumbia: mined on the Yukon; gath
cred rubber along the Congo: shot big
game by Zambesi's cataracts; attend
ed regatta on the Thames; pulled
grapes on the Rhine hills; reveled in
art by the Arno; been stranded in
the Volga; swan the Tiber: crossed
the Jordan: iloated under the Nile
palms: roamed in the palaces OF the
Jumna: smelled the CHATS OF the
Ganges and the stencil of the Hoogh-
ly; hobnobbed with cannibals and
eaten Doorian nuts on the Irrawaddy
all these he may have done and
more, but his river reveries are In
complete unless he has sailed on
Chinese waters; for like everything
else in the Celestial land. its rivers
are not like anything else found any.
where else In the world.
Few have had the JOY of exploring
the great HoangHo or the Kiang; but
those who know the latter put It first
among their river experiences. writes
Sarah G. Morrison. The Yangtse-Ki.
ang. as most Americans call II. is the
third greatest river In the world. over
three thousand miles long and seven
teen miles wide at Its mouth at Shang-
hal. where the writer well remembers
its yellow flood which stained tie
ocean for $50 miles from shore.
One may have taken the 70o-mile
steamer trip up to Hankow: changed
for a smaller boat and three days
ride to Shasi; then houseboated for
100 miles to ChunskinS. where one
sees the finest ''honss" on the street
Of the White Elephant It Ia In the
houseboat days that ones adventures
begin and the grandeur OF the Yangtse
Ia encountered. Brown and blue and
~hite-striped sails OF many junks.
with long-Queued. chanting crews. dot
the wnter between needie-spired pa
godas and bold headiands. At Ichanx
and tho river is n mass OF blue bodied
and yellow-decked native steamers:
war junks with red standards and
pennants and throbbing tom.toms
Through Mountain oorpes.
During the next 500 miles the river
rises 500 feet as II runs through the
mountains OF the Seven Gates and
then the boat fights It's way or
tracks" along over thirteen big rap
ids and seventy-two minor ones. Yet
ibis region OF pcfiis Ia annually tray.
eraed by over seven thousand junks,
The average loss being more than
Ave hundred.
The mountain gorgcs being passed.
md these are often 1890 feet high.
sno hnda himself In riee.irrigntod
,ootion. or. that impossible. sugar,
cane. sweet potatoes. or tea In the or.
der. Here the persistent. peculiar
chiuoa lives simply. crudely and pic.
.uresquely. with no malice toward
foreign devils" n phrase never
heard In these parts Here tho head
man Of the village. In uilken gown.
offers hospitality OF twenty or thirty
Courses iiom c'nuh ulhh, MS menu
including such raro delicaeiea aA
sharks fna. cod bladdorr, frog legs.
birds nests and slugn,
hut II Ia given 10 moro people 10
take tho voyage from ilonFkong 20
Canton on tho Pearl river. In south.
ern China To begin with. Hons aong
harbor In one OF tho 1neHt and most
"a.
phirc sea ,hronged with fuuay steam
launches. cumbersome morchantmon.
hundreds OF junkn and thousands OF
aampans. rises a steep slope. terrace
on terrace. to i.seo feet, while the
island edge IN crowded with three
miles OF solid ntono buildings. The
many .coiored highways OF the oily are
Ailuring with their motley array OF
Chinese MohammsdanA Turks. Hin.