purposes of irrigation the farmers resort to the method prevalent in 

 Ssuch'uan ; immense wooden wheels with buckets attached are placed so 

 that the current of the river causes them to revolve ; the water is thus 

 automatically carried up in the buckets, and being emptied into troughs flows 

 into canals thus fertilising the thirsty fields, which would otherwise be of 

 necessity useless. A considerable amount of opium is grown in the valley ; 

 tobacco, vegetables, and a little wheat forming the rest of the crops produced. 

 Immediately adjoining the city are some fine orchards, one of which was 

 within the grounds of our residence. For the rest, the surrounding country — 

 save for perennial streams along the ravine-bottoms — seems to be utterly 

 dessicated and sterile ; indeed, Europeans who have been long resident in the 

 district state that the desert is approaching slowly but surely from the north, 

 and engulfing the country. Of the truth of this there can be but little doubt, 

 and were it not for the Yellow River, Lan-chou would certainly cease to exist. 

 The river, at this point some 300 yards wide and 25 feet deep, was formerly 

 crossed in summer by means of an extensive but very shaky pontoon, liable 

 to breakage in the rainy season by any more than usually heavy rush of water. 

 An iron bridge was in process of construction during our visit, and was 

 completed at the end of the same summer, so that the old boat-bridge is now 

 a thing of the past. Great anxiety was felt by Mr. Coltman, the engineer in 

 charge, as to how the bridge would stand the severe strain of the autumn 

 floods ; but though the rains, which commenced in July, were the heaviest 

 that had been experienced in the district for many years, and the river in 

 consequence rose far above the usual high-water-mark, the well-planned and 

 strongly-built structure stood the test, and remains a fine example of modern 

 engineering skill. 



We saw the first samples of woollen cloth produced in Lan-chou. More 

 than thirty years ago, Tso Ching-t'ang, an official of the city, had decided to 

 start an industry in the manufacture of woollen goods. All the machinery 

 necessary for a large factory was bought and transported overland from the 

 sea-coast at great cost, only to be dumped down and allowed to rust on 

 reaching its destination. Rockhill (author of " The Land of the Lamas ") 

 speaks of seeing the chimney of the wool-factory at Lan-chou, which was at 

 that time (1888) abandoned. It is only quite recently that an official, more 

 enterprising than his predecessors, has engaged European experts, and 

 completed the building of the factory and the installation of the machinery. 

 The Belgians employed in this have had their work cut out, but after untold 

 labour they have succeeded in getting everything into working order. The 



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