﻿213 



HOANG-HO. 



HOLBEACH. 



21 1 



volume of water, and this fact more than any other indicates the extra- 

 ordinary nature of the country which extends along this part of its 

 course. 



Where the Hoang-ho flows southward its course is very imperfectly 

 known, as it has been seen by the Jesuits only at a few places, where 

 they were obUged to pass it Below the mouth of the river Targhuen 

 (40' 30' N. lat.) its width amounts to about 800 feet, and farther 

 down, at Paote-tsheou, it is from 1200 to 1400 feet across, and so rapid 

 that the imperial court required three days to pass, though great 

 preparations had been previously made for that purpose. It is 

 observed that at this part the current can only be stemmed by vessels 

 when they have a strong wind in their favour, and that it cannot be 

 nsed as a regular means of water-communication. Farther down, at 

 Lung-men (Throat of Dragon), the bed of the river was originally 

 narrowed by projecting high rocks, and also at some other places ; 

 but the rocks have been removed by art, acd the bed of the river 

 widened. This proves that the lowest part of its middle course is 

 nsed as a navigable channel In these part.", but the place is not more 

 exactly indicated, are cataracts or rapids, which by the Jesuits are 

 compared to those of the Nile. On both sides of the river high ranges 

 lie in such a direction that they traverae the bed of the river obliquely. 

 The number of rivers which fall into the Hoang-ho in the middle part 

 of its course is very great, but most of them are of moderate size 

 except the Fen-ho which joins it below Lung-men, and the Lu-ho, 

 whose mouth is at no great distance above that of the Hoey-ho. 

 These two rivers run about 250 miles. The country on both sides of 

 the river is covered with a succession of mountain ranges and valleys. 

 The mountains rise to a great elevation, but not above the snow-line, 

 and contain many metallic ores and other minerals, among which coal 

 is named. The valleys are generally very wide and well cultivated, 

 producing every kind of grain which does not require a great degree 

 of heat, for this region experiences severe cold in winter. 



The lower course of the Hoang-ho begins at the sharp bend where 

 at the confluence of the Hoey-ho it turns suddenly eastward in the 

 direction of that river, and enters the great plain of Northern China. 

 The general course of the river is to the east up to its mouth, a 

 distance exceeding 050 miles. The Hoey-ho is the largest and moat 

 important of the atfluenta of the Hoang-ho. Its course probably does 

 not fall short of 400 miles. It rises in the extensive mountain masses 

 which lie between 34" and 86° N. lat., to the east of the first great 

 northerly bend of the Hoang-ho. For about one-half of its course the 

 Hoey-ho flows through a narrow valley between steep and high moun- 

 tains. At Pao-ki it enters a large viJley which widens considerably 

 in proceeding farther east, but at the place where it joins the Hoang-ho 

 it is shut in by two mountain ridges, forming the mountain pass of 

 Thnng-knan, famous in the history of China. The lower valley of the 

 Hoey-ho must be of great extent and of uncommon fertility, as the 

 lai^est of its towns, Si-ngan-foo, more than once has been the capital 

 of the empire ; and even many centuries after the court had left it 

 this place was compared by the Jesuits with Peking in size. From 

 this town downwards the river certainly is navigable, but we do not 

 know how far it in navigable above it. The great road leading from 

 Peking to the southern provinces, especially to Su-tchuen and Yun-nan, 

 lies through the lower part of the valley of the Hoey-ho. 



After the Hoong-ho has left the Pass of Thung-kuan it enters the 

 great plain of Northern China, but not immediately the low land, as 

 for more than 160 miles its course lies through a hilly country. 

 Along the river however is a low tract which grows wider in pro- 

 ceeding eastward ; and its soil, which is formed of alluvium, is very 

 fertile and well cultivated. The hills also have been subjected to 

 cultivation by means of terraces. At its entrance into the low country, 

 according to historical records, the Hoang-ho in former times divideil 

 into two branches, of which the northern ran to the north-east and 

 north, and fell into the Gulf of Potchili. This arm seems to have been 

 the principal branch, but at some later period it became unfit for 

 navigation. On the northern side of the river, in this part of its 

 course, morasses occur which are so extensive that they can only be 

 traversed in several days. In these swampy grounds originates a 

 river, called WeY-ho, which runs northward, and whose waters in the 

 lower part of its course are used to feed the great canal. It is very 

 probable that this Wei-ho (which is a feeder of the Pei-ho) runs in the 

 onciaqt channel of the northern branch of the Hoang-ho. 



At present the Hoang-ho runs in one channel eastward, and near 

 the town of Kai-fong-foo it borders on a very low and flat country, 

 exposed to occasional overflowings, which in China are more feared 

 than war, plague, and famine. As the adjacent coimtry is very 

 low, It was at an early period considered necessary to protect it 

 •ninat the inundations by dykes built of granite of great strength. 

 niese dykes extend many miles along the southern bank of the river. 

 This had the eSisot, which has also been experienced in the Po and 

 the Khine, of raising the bed of the river ; so that even when the river 

 is low it« surface is con-iderably alwve the adjacent plain. This plain, 

 ^hose soil is exclusively formed by alluvial detritus, is of extraordi- 

 nary fertility, and covi red with almost iunumerable villages and towns. 

 When therefore the river, being unusually i^woUen, breaks through 

 the dykes, the loss of life and property is immense ; and as the country 

 snbjeot to such innndatioDS, according to the opinion of Banow, is 

 equkl in area to the island of Great Britain, the truth of the assertion 



made by the emperor Khien-long to Lord Macartney that the Hoang-ho 

 gave him more trouble than all the other cares of government, may be 

 underatood in its full force. The towns in the province of Ho-nan, 

 within range of the devastations of the river, are surrounded at a 

 distance of about a quarter of a mile by strong ramparts of earth. 

 In the reign of Khien-long a large canal was made for the purpose of 

 preventing the too great accumulation of water in the Hoang-ho. 

 This new canal begins at Y-fong-hien, iu the province of Ho-nan, and 

 extends in a south-eastern direction to an arm of Lake Hung-taeu-hu. 

 It is nearly 100 miles long, and it is stated that it had the efiect of 

 lowering the general surface of the river by alxjut 70 feet. Large 

 tracts of land which formerly were always under water have been 

 laid dry and rendered fit for cultivation. 



About 70 miles above its mouth the Hoang-ho receives a great 

 supply of water by the outlet of Lake Huug-tseu-hu. This lake 

 receives not only the waters brought from the Hoang-ho by the New 

 Canal, but also those of the river Hoai-ho. The numerous rivers 

 which unite with the Hoai-ho drain the extensive country which 

 extends between the Hoang-ho and Yang-tse-kiang, and most of them 

 rise in the most eastern offset of the Pe-ling range, which is known 

 by the name of Mu-ling : the whole course of this river exceeds 

 400 miles. The country drained by it is flat, but appears to be less 

 fertile than other portions of the great plain. A short distance below 

 the place where the outfal of Lake Hung-tseu-hu unites with tho 

 Hoang-ho are the two entrances of the Great Canal, which are lined 

 with quays built of large square pieces of granite and marble, and 

 are nearly a milo wide. Iu the upper course of the Hoang-ho tho 

 stream is said to be clear ; but on its entrance into China proper its 

 bed is hollowed out by its impetuous cun-ent in a yellow clayey soil, 

 giving its waters a yellow tinge, which they retain till they have 

 entered the sea. About 40 miles N.E. from the point where it is 

 crossed by the Great Canal the Hoaug-ho enters the Hoang-hai, or 

 Yellow Sea, by a wide ajstuary. 



{Da Hsilde, Description de t' limpire (le la Ohine ; Staunton; Barrow; 

 Ellis; Abel; Klaproth; Ritter, JSrdkunde von Asien.) 



HOBAUT-TOWN. [VanDiemen's Land.] 



HOCHSTADT. [Blenheim.] 



HOCKLIFFE. [Bedfordshire.] 



HODDESDON. [Hertfordshire.] 



HOEVORDEN. [Duenthe.] 



HOGUE, LA. [Manche.] 



HOHENLOHE. [Jaxt.] 



HOHENZOLLERN, until 1850 a sovereign principality in Germany, 

 BO called from a very ancient family of the same name, whose original 

 seat was the ancient castle of ZoUem, or HohenzoUern, which stands 

 within two miles of Hechingen, on the road from Stuttgardt to SohafT- 

 hausen. The family, which takes its origin from Count Tbassilo, who 

 died in 800, was divided towards the close of the 16th century into 

 the two still existing branches of HoheuzoUem-Sigmaringen and Hohen- 

 zolIem-Hechingen. The territory is entirely inclosed between W'iir- 

 temberg and Baden ; its surface is mountainous, and the soil is in 

 general stony. Com more than enough for the consumption is raised; 

 flax is extensively cultivated ; homed cattle and sheep are numerous ; 

 and the forests abound with fine timber. There are iron-mines in the 

 northern part. The manufactures are unimportant. HohenzoUern- 

 Ihchingen (which takes its distinctive name from the chief to^vn 

 Hechingen, on the Starzel, a feeder of the Necker, population 3400) 

 occupies the more northern part, has an area of 116 square miles, and 

 in 1850 had 20,471 inhabitants. IfohenzoUa-n-Sigmaringen lies south 

 of the former, occupies a surface of 334 square miles, and had in 1850 

 a population of 41,141. It is drained by the Danube and some of its 

 small feeders. Sigmaringen, the chief town, is a small place on tho 

 Danube, with 1600 inhabitants. From the younger or Hechingen 

 branch the royal family of Prussia is descended. The inhabitants are 

 all Catholics. 



By a treaty dated December 7, 1849, the reigning princes of Hohen- 

 zollem-Hechingeu and Hohenzollem-Sigmaringen ceded all sovereign 

 rights over their respective principalities to the king of Prussia, who 

 pays to the prince of HohenzoUem-Hechingen an annual revenue of 

 lOJOOO thalers, and 5000 thalers a year to his legitimate heir, if any ; 

 and to the prince of Sigmaringen and his heirs 25,000 thalers a year. 

 The princes still ret-ain possession of all their estates; they have 

 merely parted with the sovereignty. By a decree of the king of 

 PinisBia the title of Highness (Hoheit) is conferred upon the heads of 

 the two families. By a family compact, dated February 3, 1850, and 

 executed May 10, 1850, the prince of HohenzoUern-Hechingen made 

 over all his hereditary possessions to Prince Antony of Hohenzollem- 

 Sigmaringen. 



The principalities were members of the Germanic Confederation, 

 and in conjunction with several other small German states had one 

 vote in the committee of the Federal Diet ; but in the full a.ssembly 

 each of them had a separate vote. The relations of the principalities 

 to the Confederation are now fulfilled by Prussia. 



HOLBEACH, Lincolnshire, a market-town and tho seat of a Poor- 

 Law Union, is situated in 52° 48' N. lat., 0° 1' E. long., 37 miles S.E. 

 by S. from Lincoln, and 105 miles N. from Loudon. Holbiach Poor- 

 Law Union contains 10 parishes, with an area of 76,782 acres, and a 

 population in 1851 of 19,120. Tho pariah is under the management 



