Mouth of the Yang-tse-Kiang. 409 



enabled to He our proper course, and by sun-down had cleared 

 Piedra bianca. 



With fine weather and a fresh S. W. monsoon our voyage 

 was so speedy, that by 2nd July we were in the latitude of 

 Fonnosa, but without being able to distinguish the high land, 

 either on the Chinese coast or on that island, and by 23rd 

 July we were off the Saddle Islands, at the mouth of the 

 Yang-tse-Kiang. 



Just as we reached this, the door, as it were, through which 

 we had to enter, the weather chose to change with the utmost 

 suddenness. Calms and contrary winds, coupled with the 

 powerful current of the mighty river, sweeping through the 

 islands, prevented our further advance, and on the 24tli we 

 had to cast anchor near the easternmost Saddle Island. Close 

 to us on every side were numbers of other ships equally un- 

 fortunate with ourselves, while the spectacle of the steamers, 

 pui'suing their course without feeling any obstruction, filled 

 us with Qiwj. We had taken a Chinese pilot on board, and 

 by 25th July were in sight of Gutzlaff, a small islet of rock 

 210 feet high, the best land-mark of the " Son of Ocean," 

 and just before sunset anchored off the outer bar. We now 

 had fair breezes, and without further obstacles passed over 

 the bar in from 30 to 33 feet water, which in bad weather, 

 however, is exceedingly dangerous. We were still out of 

 sight of land ; even the islands we had already passed sank 

 below the horizon, and still there was nothing visible but an 

 unbroken expanse of yellowish red water, which reflected 



