Junction of the Wusung and Yang-tse-Kiang. 411 



arm of the Yang-tse-Kiang, as formed by tlie above-named 

 island, is about six and a half nautical miles in width, and a 

 little higher up is further narrowed by Bush Island to a width 

 of four miles. 



The first inhabited spot at the junction of the Wusung 

 and Yang-tse-Kiang is the wretched filthy village of Wu- 

 sung, which ow^es its importance solely and exclusively to 

 the opium boats, which the merchants of Hong-kong and 

 Shanghai used to station here in the stream, in order more 

 readily to sell and deliver to the Chinese that forbidden 

 article. Thus the natives took on themselves the responsi- 

 bility of opium] smuggling, while the foreign merchants be- 

 came thereby involved in a conflict with the Chinese Govern- 

 ment. The opium sold per month from the ships stationed 

 at Wusung amounts to from 2500 to 2800 chests, in value 

 about 500 taels (£150) per chest (£375,000 to £420,000). 



The mouth of the Wusung is the entrance to Shanghai, 

 which lies about 12 miles up the Wusung or Shanghai river, 

 but in consequence of a mud-bank is only accessible to large 

 sliij^s at spring- tide. Nankin lies up the Yang-tse-Kiang 180 

 miles from Shanghai, the channel being so deep that even a 

 frigate may sail close up under its walls. Six hundred miles 

 distant from the embouchure of the Wusung lie the three 

 immense cities of Wu-chang, Hang-iang, and Shan-Keu, con- 

 taining 8,000,000 inhabitants, the central point of the in- 

 ternal commerce of China ; and about 400 miles further up 

 are the first rapids of the Yang-tse-Kiang, which completely 



