nn 



YANO-TSE-KUVO. 



YANQ-TSE-KIANG. 



1171 



kUoc U joined by MTtiml tribuUrie, among which the largest is the 

 Tlft nmg. which rice* in the Bayan Khara Mountains, south of 

 the SCHISM of the Hoang-bo, and rum parallel to the oourae of the 

 priaaipal river, prMtrring a distance of about 130 or 140 mile* from 

 1U bank*. The wane of this tributary of the Kin-cha-kiang exceeds 

 600 mils*, and the whole of it liee in a narrow longitudinal valley 

 between saow-coverod range*. Near 102* E. long, the Kin-cha-kUng 

 attaint it* moat southern point (26" N. 1st), and near 103" E. long, it 

 tume northward. In the vicinity of the town of Tung-thuan-foo 

 (2* W V. lat) it enter* a wider and more open valley, and here it 

 begins iU middle course. The upper coarse of the river is _about 

 180 miles long. It runs about 460 miles eastward as far u the 

 Murus-uMU, about the same distance southward u the Pho-laii-tshu, 

 and about 360 mile* eastward as the Kin-cha-kiang. It does not 

 appear that the river is navigated in any part of its upper course, 

 where in its passage through the mountains it forms many rapids and 

 falls. But great quantities of timber are floated down. The large 

 rafU of timber which are found in the middle parts of the course 

 floating down to the provinces near the Pacific prove that this supply 

 must be derived from a country covered with forests, and such a 

 country is only found on the upper part of its course. 



Middle Count. The middle course of the river lies through a hilly 

 country, and extends from Tung-tshuan-foo to King-tsheou-foo, at 

 which place it enters the great Chinese plain. From Tung-tshuan-foo 

 the Kin-cha-kiang flows northward about 180 miles, and then turns to 

 the east, in which direction it runs about 100 miles, when it is joined 

 from the north by the lliu-kiang or Ta-kiang, and from this place it 

 is called Kiang (the river), or Ta-kiang (the great river). The Kiang 

 runs in a north-eastern direction about 360 miles, when it passes north 

 of 81 N. lat., where its course is directed to the east by some offsets 

 of the Tapa-ling range, and, flowing in that direction, it reaches King- 

 tsheou-foo, after a course of about 240 miles. Thus the middle course 

 of the river amounts to 880 miles. Though the Kin-cha-kiang below 

 Tung-tshuan-foo runs in a wide valley, it is still within the mountain 

 region, and its course is interrupted by cataracts. It is ascended by 

 large barges to the mouth of the Van-ruin kiaug, or Ta-kiang. This 

 tributary rises in the mountains of Sifan, a branch of the Bayan 

 Khara range, and traverses in its southern course a rugged mountain 

 tract, until it enters the plain of Tching-too-foo (so named from the 

 capital of Te tchu-an), which is surrounded by high mountains, and 

 which the river waters and fertilises by dividing into a great number 

 of arms. These arms unite some distance south of the city, and flow 

 through a depression of the mountains to Kia-ting-foo, where the river 

 runs through a plain to its junction with the Kiaug near Siu-tsheu. 

 The Ta-kiang is navigable to Tching-too-foo, to which place it was 

 ascended by the Portuguese missionary Magaillans, in the middle of 

 the 17th century. This author gives an account of the great number 

 and extent of the rafts of timber which he daily met with on the 

 Kiang. They were only 10 feet wide, and of different lengths, the 

 longest about a mile and a half in length : but their number was eo 

 great, that if all of them had been put together, they would have 

 covered a rpace of several days' journey. On the rafts were placed 

 other articles, drugs, parrots, monkeys, rhubarb, musk, and chowry- 

 tails. The hilly country, through which this part of the Great River 

 lies, improves lower down. The country near the mouth of the Ta- 

 kiang is mostly covered with high hills, which at some distance rise 

 into mountains, which are covered with extensive forests of pine, fir, 

 cedar, and juniper; a part is overgrown with bamboos. The remaiuder 

 is well cultivated, nnd the fields are interspersed with large planta- 

 tions of fruit-trees, among which orange, lemon, and citron are men- 

 tioned. The Kia-ling-kiang, which joiiis the river near the town of 

 Tung-king-foo, drains a rich agricultural valley and joins its principal 

 stream, near which the country yields rice, cotton, sugar, silk, and fruits 

 of every kind in abundance. Cultivation increases lower down the river 

 to the still more important town of Kuei-tsheou-foo, which stands on the 

 northern banks of the Ta-kiang, in one of the richest parts of China, 

 where hardly a spot is to be found which is not applied to some useful 

 purpose, with the exception of the crest of the Tapa-ling range, which 

 is about 35 or 40 miles distant from the town, and inhabited by some 

 mountaineers. But this range supplies great quantities of salt, which 

 is sent from Kuei-sh> ou-foo to the lower country. 



latter Courie. From King-tsheou-foo the river runs about 100 miles 

 south-east to the outlet of Lake Tung-ting, fjom that place north-east 

 to the mouth of the Han-kiang about 160 miles, then again south east 

 about the same distance to Kieu-kiang, which is on the channel that 

 Lake Poyaug with the Ta-kiang. At this place the name of 

 the Ta-kiaiig is changed into that of Yang-tte-ldang, which it preserves 

 to its embouchure. From Kieu-kiang the river runs north-east about 

 220 miles to Nan-king, the ancient capital of the empire. From Nan 

 king it flows mostly eastward, and after about 50 miles it reaches tht 

 Great Canal, and flowing about 130 miles more, it falls into the 

 Pacific. In all this extent the river does not offer any impediment to 

 navigation : its current is as geutle as the large volume of water 

 permits. The width varies from one to three miles. The number of 

 islands is small, and most of them are rocky. The tides are perceptible 

 u far as Kieu-kiaug, 400 miles from its mouth; and so lar upward 

 several kinds of sea-fish ascend it in great numbers, as sturgeons, 

 porpoises, dorades or gold-fish, Ac. ; and some, which seem peculiar 



to this river, as that called hongyu, or yellow fish. The river barges 

 used in this part of the river are as Urge as coasting-vessels; but the 

 river is navigated also by the largest junks, and the largest men-of-war 

 might ride in safety on its surface. 



Between King-tsheou-foo and Poyang Lake the Ta-kiang passes 

 through an extensive depression, which is filled with a deep alluvial 

 soil, and distinguished by a great number of lakes. This depression 

 ies nearly in the centre of China proper, and extends over tho greater 

 aart of the province of Hupe and the northern districts of Hoo-nan, 

 and U considered the most fertile portion of the whole empire. This 

 ;>lain may be about 200 miles every way, and is called Yumichiti. 

 Nearly all the productions of China are here raised in the greatest 

 abundance ; no spot is uncultivated, towns and villages cover the 

 country on all aides, and several large towns are found on the banks 

 of the Ta-kiang. Besides several smaller rivers, the Kiang receives 

 from the south a great volume of water by the outlet of Lake Tung- 

 ting, which falls into it east of 130" E. long. This lake is more than 

 200 miles long, and surrounded by an extremely fertile country, which 

 even in the driest seasons yields abundant crops, the means of irriga- 

 tion derived from the lake never failing. Two large rivers, originating 

 on the northern declivity of the Nan-ling Mountains, and draining a 

 country as extensive as the island of Great Britain, fall into this lake, 

 the Thsing-shui-kiang and the Heng-hiang, each running more than 

 400 miles. The largest river which from the north joins the Ta-kiang 

 is the Jlan-kiany, which rises on the southern declivities of the Pe- 

 ling, drains the wide and fertile valley inclosed by the Pe-ling and 

 Tapa-ling ranges, runs nearly parallel with the Ta-kiaug, and falls into 

 it after a course of about 500 miles at the town of Han yang. There 

 are several large towns on its banks, and the river seems navigable 

 nearly to its source. By means of the easy water-communication 

 afforded by these rivers and several large lakes, the country contiguous 

 to the banks of this portion of the Ta-kiang has become the centre of 

 an immense traffic, and the towns built on them are very populous 

 and industrious. King-tsheou-foo, situated where the river enters the 

 plain of Yutnichiti, is large, rich, and well fortified. Where the Han- 

 kiang joins the Ta-kiang there are two large towns, Han-yang on the 

 northern, and Wan-tshang on the southern shores. Wan-tshang is 

 compared by the Jesuits to Paris in extent, and Han-yang to the 

 second town of France. The navigation in the neighbourhood of 

 these two places is so active, that from 8000 to 10,000 large river- 

 barges, equal in size to small coasting-vessels, may always be seen 

 either at anchor or plying between the two towns. About 30 miles 

 farther down is the large commercial town of Hoang-tsheou-foo, sur- 

 rounded by a beautiful and fertile country. 



The plain of Yumichiti is separated from Lake Poyang by a rocky 

 mountain tract called Li-shau. The lake extends nearly 90 miles from 

 north to south, with an average width of 20 miles. It contains many 

 islands, most of which are cultivated and populous. Both on the west 

 and east it is inclosed by high hills where it approaches the Yang-tse- 

 kiang, but a large low plain surrounds its southern shores, and this 

 plain is traversed by numerous arms of the river Kan-kiang, which is 

 the largest of the rivers that fall into the lake. This river and the 

 country surrounding it are crossed by the great road from Canton to 

 Peking. The course of the river is about 300 miles in a straight line, 

 but with its bends it probably exceeds 400 miles. It rises near the 

 Meiling Pass, through which the great road leads to Canton, and 

 becomes navigable at the foot of the pass, where the town of Nan-gan 

 is built, though at this place its width does not exceed 15 yards. 

 Small river-barges ply between this place and Kau-tshcou-foo, where 

 the river receives a largo supply of water by several tributaries which 

 join it near this place. Hence it has sufficient water for largo river- 

 boats, but about 10 miles below the List-mentioned place are the 

 Shepotan, or rocks with the 18 rapids, which however do not inter- 

 rupt the navigation. South of the rapids begins a wide, fertile, and 

 very populous valley, which extends to the town of Nan-shang-foo, the 

 capital of the province Kiaugsi, which is large, well-built, and contains 

 many edifices as large as palaces. Below this town the country extends 

 in a low and level plain, which is traversed by the different arms into 

 which the Kan-kiang branches out before it enters the lake. In the 

 hills contiguous to the low plain of Lake Toyaug, on the east, the best 

 porcelain clay is found, and the china-ware made in the vicinity of 

 lao-tsheou-foo is considered the best in the empire. There is the 

 village King-te-thing, which is said to have a million of inhabitants 

 and 500 large manufactories of china-ware. It is called shiug (village) 

 because it is not inclosed by walls. 



After uniting with the channel which issues from Lake Poyang, the 

 Yang-tse-kiang is always from 2 to 4 miles wide, and contains a great 

 number of islands, most of which are low and formed by alluvium , 

 but a few are rocky aud elevated. The country on both sides consists 

 of low hills, composed of sandstone or clay, which terminate on the 

 river in steep declivities. It is of indifferent fertility, but well culti- 

 vated. In a depression of this hilly country, forming a considerable 

 basin, is the town of Ngan-king-foo, or Gan-king-foo, a place of great 

 commerce aud manufacturing industry. The hilly country ceases 

 where the river Tshao-ho-kiaug falls into the Yang-tse-kiaug. This 

 river brings down the waters of the large lake Tahao-ho, and a little 

 lower down the Yaug-tse-kiung is joined, near the large town of Tai- 

 ping-foo, by several small rivers. These, as well as the Tshao-ho-kiang, 



