WATERFALLS 157 



most exciting day of all, the Me-tan and Lu-kan Gorges 

 were passed, and the Sin-tan and Ta-tung Eapids, the 

 boat being secured in a backwater about thirty li below 

 the latter. This was a difficult place to get into, for if 

 the boat was not huloed into it at exactly the right 

 moment she was liable to be swept past, and then it 

 could not be regained against the stream. All the way 

 down the boat appeared to be a mere toy in the stream. 

 The utmost skill is necessary just to keep the way on,, 

 so that she could be steered. Sometimes she was swept 

 into a whirlpool, and could not be got out for half an 

 hour or so, just being drifted round and round. In 

 the wider and shallower parts the shingle can be dis- 

 tinctly heard rolling along the river bed under the 

 boat. 



Many small waterfalls were seen during the last 

 part of the voyage down the river, some being of great 

 height and all very picturesque. They had been 

 caused by the exceptionally heavy rain of the last few 

 days flooding the watercourses. 



