[ 190 J 



CHAPTEE XXll— Continued. 



YANGTZE NOTES. 



THE CLEAR WATER RIVER. 



By Augustus H. White. 



DY this name this waterway is unknown to the local natives, official or otherwise. Its 

 equivalent in Chinese, {^ >^ M) Ching Sui Ho, is the name of a village 20 // from Wuhu 

 on the creek leading to Hwang Chi (^ fk) and foreigners have been content to allow the 

 village to stand Godfather to the river. To the natives of the districts it is known simply 

 as the Nei Ho (pj M) or inland creek. At Ching Sui Ho the creek branches off to the S.S.E. 

 passing first the town of Hwang Chi "The Yellow Pond " 40 It from Wuhu, and then Wan Chih 

 (® ?jt) "The Curving Eyot" 40 //" further on. Here it makes a further turn to the S. and 

 S.S.W. Last year, 1909, the water was unusually high in the month of January, and a large 

 houseboat was able to get within 2 // of Wan Chih about 78 // from Wuhu. A little later 

 in the year the water falls considerably, and so makes navigation impossible for any but 

 small, light draft native boats. 



At Wan Chih we hired native boats to which we transferred baggage and stores and 

 then proceeded south on our voyage of discovery, for this region is more or less a terra 

 incognita, while it seems unlikely that it will ever be very well known, for there never will 

 be many who will be found to undertake the journey, because of the discomfort inseparable 

 from a passage in a native boat, with its cramped accommodation and its want of light and 

 air. After clearing the town the stream opens out into a wide reach. On the East bank 

 looms up a range of small coverless rolling hills, while on the West is a long and deep 

 stretch of low marshy land. 55 H further up stream is a city called Hsi Ho (^ M) " West 

 River " where a couple of nasty rapids require skilful negociation. The land hence gradually 

 rises for some 25 //, terminating at the foot of a solitary hill just beyond which is a 

 waterway which the natives assert leads to the city of Ningkwofu. 



The hill is an excellent landmark and is crowned with the usual pagoda. Here 

 capital shooting was found, and the varied bag included pheasants, partridge, woodcock, 

 riverdeer, muntjac, duck, teal, snipe, quail and the large pigeon. Teal were particularly in 

 evidence, and were everywhere where water was. The cover consisted mostly of bamboo 

 copses, scrub, reedbeds and grass patches. Further up stream, is a small town Ching I Kiang 

 {^ 'X XL) 20 //, according to the postal map, from Hsi Ho in which immediate neighbourhood 



