ON THE PAGODA STONE OF THE CHINESE. 397 



below the town the river runs for a mile through 

 a gorge called the Tiger-Teeth Gorge, whose walls 

 are 200 feet perpendicular, and rise in hills for 200 

 feet higher. Five miles above I'chang the river 

 narrows from half-a-mile to 400 or 500 yards, and 

 for the next hundred miles floAvs over several 

 rapids and through a succession of limestone gorges 

 (the last one being twenty miles in length), which 

 have been well described by the late Captain Gill 

 in his River of Golden Sand, and by the few 

 travellers who have gone through to the West. 



"Steep spurs from mountains 3,000 feet high run 

 right down to the water's edge, their sides, where 

 they are not absolutely perpendicular, covered with 

 long orange-brown grass that seems to grow almost 

 without any soil. On the more gentle slopes terrace 

 cultivation is carried on : little patches of the most 

 brilliant green, sometimes a thousand feet above the 

 river and looking almost overhead, showing the 

 presence of some industrious farmer, who will not 

 leave a sqviare yard uncultivated if he can help it. 

 Sometimes the hills are broken with precipices 

 rising 300 feet sheer up from the water, beneath 

 which the river rvms with a glossy surface; at 

 other times there are loose i^iles of debris or 

 gigantic masses of rock strewn about the bed, 

 when the river dashes in wild confusion.* . . . 

 After passing through these deei3 gorges, where we 

 could seldom see more than a narrow strip of sky, 

 the gentle slopes and open valleys of the province 

 of Szechuen is a pleasant change. The richness and 

 verdure of this part of the country is almost in- 

 conceivable. The soil is bright red " — showing the 

 presence of the red sandstone rocks, while this 

 province probably contains the richest coal-field 

 in China. 



Up these rapids native boats are tracked at great 

 risk, and a considerable traffic is carried on up and 

 down, but no attempt has yet been made to take 

 * Biver of Golden Sandy p. 63. 



