190 TRAVEL, ADVENTUEE, AXD SPORT. 



sarily involve a less depth of water in the navigable 

 channels ; but our anxiety is far more directed to the 

 possibility of the rush of the stream impeding the pro- 

 gress of our ship, than the likelihood of not finding 

 sufficient water to float her over shoals or difficulties. 

 This anxiety is based upon the experience of a former 

 ascent of the stream as high as Nankin, when serving 

 in the fleet under Admiral Sir William Parker. It 

 was then the months of August and September ; no 

 heavy rains had fallen, no unusual inundations pre- 

 vailed, yet the strength of the current off Xankin was 

 such, in spite of a great depth of water, from 60 to 90 

 feet, that although, thanks to the skill of our officers 

 and men, no ships were lost, still accidents were fre- 

 quent, and the delay in ascending to that point very 

 considerable. 



But current or no current, we are now all agog to 

 be off and dive into the heart of this strange land ; 

 the feeling of curiosity is, if possible, more intense 

 than when we first started for Tientsin or Yedo, and 

 is by no means confined to ourself. How can it be 

 otherwise ? Here we are at the south-east corner, 

 right-hand lower corner, gentle reader, of Northern 

 China, bounded by Tartarian plains, the fastnesses of 

 Thibet, the Yellow Sea, and the proud Yangstze, 

 whose turbid stream flows within sight from our mast- 

 heads. So long as we have been in Shanghai, we 

 have listened and sought for information of the strange 

 country to the north of us ; every bale of silk, every 



