May 23, 1859.] CHINA— ASCENT OF THE YANG-TSE-KEANG. 295 



has man been more stimulated than along large portions of the 

 banks of the Yang-tse-Keang, where the moveable surrounding 

 objects have compelled him to apply his industrial and inventive 

 talents. For, after the floods of the rainy season have retired from 

 the lagoons and temporary shallow lakes which spread out from the 

 great central river of China, wherever its banks are low, the 

 inhabitants flock rapidly to the desiccated soil, cultivate it zealously, 

 and inhabit temporary dwellings until the next approaching inunda- 

 tions drive them into higher grounds. 



The accumulations and excavations occasioned by the Yang-tse- 

 Keang are indeed good illustrations of certain geological pheno- 

 mena. They teach us to be cautious in inferring that much time 

 has necessarily elapsed in forming masses of ancient sediment which 

 have since been converted into stone. For example, the geologist 

 who has drawn his conclusions mainly from countries watered 

 by rivers that rise in low hills, carry with them little detritus, 

 and exercise a small degree of degrading power, might naturally 

 suppose that a cliff of sandstone, of 30 feet in height, composed of 

 layer over layer, must necessarily have occupied many years in its 

 formation ; whilst the Yang-tse-Keang, fed by affluents descending 

 from lofty snowy mountains, accomplishes such a deposit or exca- 

 vates a deep channel in a single season ! Hence we see the impos- 

 sibility of inferring, from physical features alone, that thick accu- 

 mulations of sediment or the deep denudation of lands have neces- 

 sarily been periods of great duration, and hence it follows that the 

 evidences obtained of the entombment of different animals in the 

 successive accumulations which under pristine physical conditions 

 have enveloped the globe and thickened its crust, when combined 

 with the signs of their order of superposition, are by far the surest 

 proofs of the vast antiquity of our planet. 



Apart from such natural phenomena, the voyage up the Yang-tse- 

 Keang has made known to us many circumstances deeply exciting to 

 the political and mercantile communities ; though the sketch of Mr. 

 Oliphant would lead us to modify to some extent the alluring 

 picture of wealth and prosperity of the interior which some writers 

 have drawn. The rebellion has, however, caused a wide-spread 

 desolation, which is feelingly narrated. Opulent cities have been 

 razed to the ground and converted into jungles, where wild animals 

 have occupied the resorts of man. 



Independently, indeed, of the rebel devastation, Mr. Oliphant 

 seems to be of opinion that the views formerly entertained of the 



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