Nov. 22, 1858.] AND THE PEIHO RIVER. 65 



We found, as I have before said, vast numbers of junks riding at 

 anchor in the Strait. It is from this spot, as I learned at Shanghai, 

 that the native traders from the south take their departure afresh for 

 the ports of Manchuria (or Shingking), the Corea, or Chili. Those 

 bound to either of the two former provinces steer north along the 

 islands which guard the entrance of the Gulf, until they strike 

 Cape Lao-thie-shan (the extreme of a peninsula strangely named in 

 our maps the Eegent's Sword) : thence they diverge on their re- 

 spective coasting voyages ; whilst the grain-junks bound to the 

 Peiho Eiver take advantage of a propitious breeze, and strike direct 

 for it across the Gulf from Mia-tao Strait. 



Thither we must now follow the Furious, which through a muddy 

 sea and murky atmosphere, which sadly limited the circle of vision, 

 staggered before a freshening breeze, in never more than twelve 

 fathoms water, for the low and shallow coast of Chili. Knowing 

 how limited was our knowledge of this sea, how scant the soundings, 

 the set of currents, or existence of shoals or rocks, one might have 

 been serious or anxious in thus plunging along at a speed of eight 

 knots per hour, had it not been that we were constantly sighting 

 some queer-looking "argosy " of China, rolling along like nothing else 

 earthly but what she was — " a junk at sea," and the feeling that a 

 sea which a Chinaman can navigate in such clumsy craft ought to 

 be and is child's play to an English seaman. 



At noon, on April 14th, we found by observations obtained that 

 the current had set the ship 2-2 miles per hour to the south-west 

 since entering the Gulf, and we altered course accordingly. This 

 southerly current we had subsequently reason to believe to be 

 very frequent, if not constant, at this season of the year, for nearly 

 all the vessels which made the traverse experienced it, in a more or 

 less degree, until the end of May, and it is so far advantageous that 

 it will always keep a ship clear of the Sha-lin-tien shoals, and of 

 her approach to the coast the lead-line will always give ai^ple 

 warning. The cause of such a current is very easily explainable. 

 A prodigious discharge of water, occasioned by summer thaws, 

 must, in March, April, May, and June, be thrown into the Gulfs of 

 Leo-tung and Pecheli from the high lands and snow-covered plains 

 of Mongolia and Manchuria. The surplus of what is not carried 

 off by evaporation must flow southward into the Yellow Sea, 

 naturally causing a constant current in that direction, only partially 

 checked by the flood-tide. 



From noon the soundings graduallj'- decreased ; many junks were 

 seen on every hand, standing in the same way as ourselves, and 

 just as we had run by patent log the distance from our position 



