THE IRRIGA110N AGE. 387 



It may not be generally known that the Chinese were the discov- 

 erers of coal as a fuel. The Venetion traveler Marco Polo says, "It 

 is a fact that all over the country of Cathay (China) there is a kind of 

 black stone existing in the beds of the mountains which they dig out 

 and burn like firewood. This stone burns better and costs less." 



The rivers of China are her glory and there are few countries in 

 the world so well watered and none with such splendid natural water 

 transportation facilities. The three great rivers of the Empire are 

 the Yang-tse-Kiang (Child of the Ocean), the Hoang Ho (Yellow River) 

 and the Chu Kiang (Pearl River or Canton River). Of these the 

 Yang-tse-Kiang is much the largest, flowing through extensive and 

 fertile plains and finally emptying into the Eastern Sea, after travers- 

 ing a distance of over 2000 miles. "its discharge is estimated a"t one 

 million cubic feet per second. The banks of the Yang-tse are crowded 

 with towns and villages, the most famous of which are Xankin and the 

 new treaty port of Hankow. The Hoang Ho or Yellow River is noted 

 especially for its frequent and violent floods. Its current is very rap- 

 id and its course sinuous, nearly approaching in length the Yang-tse. 

 The Pearl or Canton River while not nearly so large as the others is a 

 stream of great importance and innumerable vessels trade upon its 

 waters. At some points it spreads into large lakes: in others it passes 

 between narrow gorges which if dammed would afford large storage 

 capacity for irrigation. The Chinese, however, have not practically 

 worked out irrigation in its different phases as completely as would be 

 expected of such an agricultural people. 



Irrigation, nevertheless, is practiced to a considerable extent 

 through the use of the waters of the Grand Canal and by wells. The 

 Grand or Imperial Canal is a work of great magnitude. It was con- 

 structed in the 7th century and enlarged in the 13th century. It 

 traverses the Great Plain and flows with but slight current for a dis- 

 tance of 700 miles. While builc for purposes of communication its 

 waters are used largely for irrigation and thousands of drains and 

 creeks have been made to connect with it along its route. 



The modes of irrigation are ancient and crude. One of the most 

 picturesque is by means of the water-wheel which is used where the 

 land to be watered is well above the channel of the river. The wheel 

 is turned by the force of the current and is perhaps thirty feet high. 

 Its buckets being sections of bamboo which as they are raised by the 

 stately motion of the wheel empty their contents into troughs or 

 ditches. Hollow bamboo pipes or tubes are sometimes used for dis- 

 tributing water over the fields. They rest upon wooden supports and 

 branch io every direction from the source of supply. The chain pump 

 is also a common means of lifting water, the chain running up from 

 the water on a slant and being provided with little buckets at inter- 

 vals, which as they reach the highest point and begin to descend, dis- 

 charge their contents. These machines are worked by buffaloes or 

 sometimes by human labor, a man working a crank with his feet some- 

 thing after the manner of riding a bicycle. The most primitive and 

 laborious method is the ancient well sweep, such as is seen today on 

 manv an old New England homestead. 



