76 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



serve in a district in which he was born. The reason for this is that, 

 being a stranger, without local prejudice or interest, it is believed that 

 he will administer justice quite impartially. Unfortunately, human 

 nature being the same in China as elsewhere, the official, on account of 

 his lack of local prejudice, administers justice in such a manner as will 

 best promote his own interests and secure his advancement. 



Topographically considered, China lies on the eastern flank of the 

 great Central Asian plateau and, therefore, its main drainage lines lie 

 east and west. There are three great valleys: that of the Yellow, in the 

 north; Yang-tze in the center; and the Si (or West), in the south. The 

 Yellow Eiver, or Hoang-ho, or as it is frequently called, on account of 

 its erratic and devastating floods, 'China's Sorrow,' is a stream very 

 much resembling the Mississippi, carrying a great amount of alluvium, 

 which it deposits at various places, forming bars and shoals. In 

 order to protect the shores from inundations, the Chinese for many years 

 have been building dykes with the result of gradually raising the bot- 

 tom of the river through the deposition of alluvium. There are now 

 many places where the bottom of the stream is actually higher than the 

 normal banks. Under such circumstances the breaking of a dyke means 

 untold destruction, with possible permanent change of bed. The loca- 

 tion of its mouth shows the character of this great river. Eighty years 

 ago it flowed into the Yellow Sea, south of the Shang-tung Peninsula. 

 To-day it enters the Gulf of Pe-chi-li two hundred and fifty miles in a 

 direct line northwest of its previous location, or about six hundred miles, 

 when measured around the coast line. The Yang-tze, on the other 

 hand, rightly merits its name of 'China's Glory.' This noble stream, 

 whose length is about 3,500 miles, of which 1,100 miles are navigable by 

 steam vessels, divides the country, approximately equally north and 

 south. Its drainage area covers more than one-half of the empire, 

 the richest and most valuable portion. This stream, like the Hoang-ho, 

 carries a large amount of alluvial matter, but it is much more orderly 

 and well regulated. Practically at its mouth, the gateway to Central 

 China, although actually on a small tributary called the Wang-Poo, is 

 Shanghai. The West River, or Si-Kiang, drains the southern and 

 southwestern section of the er ,ire, flowing into the sea at Canton, 

 where with the Pei (North) and Pearl rivers it forms the broad estuary 

 known as the Canton River. 



In agricultural possibilities and mineral wealth China is particularly 

 fortunate. On account of its great dimensions north and south it en- 

 joys all varieties of climate from the tropical to the temperate, and in 

 consequence possesses the ability to raise almost any crop. The great 

 bottom lands of the Yang-tze, Hoang and other rivers, which are sub- 

 ject to annual overflow, are thus by nature enriched and automatically 

 fertilized as are the bottom lands along the Mississippi and other allu- 



