BAMBOO — McCLURE 403 



ing distance has to be traversed by taking hold of the hawser and hauling 

 hand over hand. Crossing by these bridges is fearsome work until one is ac- 

 customed to it. It is speedily accomplished, and there is practically no danger 

 so long as one keeps a cool head and the ropes do not break. It is a common 

 sight to see men with loads and women with children on their backs cross 

 these bridges. But heavy loads are usually fixed to the runners and hauled 

 across by a rope attached to them. 



These cables are used in another very interesting manner to ex- 

 pedite and make safer the crossing of some of the streams which are 

 too swift for ordinary navigation. Here the cable is suspended at a 

 height of a few feet above the surface of the water, and instead of the 

 "saddle," a boat is attached to the wooden "runner." Then the force 

 of the current, which would otherwise carry the boat downstream in 

 spite of all human efforts, is transformed by means of an oar or 

 rudder set at the proper angle into lateral thrust which carries the 

 boat quickly from one bank to the other (pi. 6, fig. 1). 



The next natural step in the evolution of these structures is as a 

 suspension bridge which may well be considered the prototype of our 

 modern ones, of which the Brooklyn Bridge is a well-known example. 

 Thinly populated mountainous western China boasts the most mag- 

 nificent of these, and for the following description we are likewise 

 indebted to E. H. Wilson (op. cit., p. 171) : 



This remarkable structure is about 250 yards long, nine feet wide, built en- 

 tirely of bamboo cables resting on seven supports fixed equidistant in the bed 

 of the stream, the central one only being of stone. The floor of the bridge rests 

 across 10 bamboo cables, each 21 inches in circumference, made of bamboo 

 culms, split and twisted together; five similar cables on each side form the 

 rails. The cables are all fastened to huge capstans, embedded in masonry, 

 which are revolved by means of spars and keep the cables taut. The floor of 

 the bridge is of planking held down by a bamboo rope on either side. Lateral 

 strands of bamboo keep the various cables in place, and wooden pegs driven 

 through poles of hard wood assist in keeping the floor of the bridge in position. 

 Not a single nail or piece of iron is used in the whole structure. Every year 

 the cables supporting the floor are replaced by new ones, they themselves 

 replacing the rails. This bridge is very picturesque in appearance, and a most 

 ingenious engineering feat. 



BAMBOO IN THE FISHING INDUSTRY OF THE ORIENT 



To most Americans "bamboo" and "fishing" are ideas almost as 

 intimately associated as are the words "bread" and "butter." Indeed, 

 for many the term "fishing pole" is synonymous with the word 

 "bamboo." In the Orient, however, this association is very much 

 more profound and intimate, as well as more ancient. This fact 

 may be verified by anyone, even though he may not be privileged to 

 see the varied bamboo gear that is an essential part of the Oriental 

 fisherman's paraphernalia. It is sufficient to look up the names of 

 these objects in a Chinese dictionary, for it will be found that a great 



