A CRUISE UP THE YANGSTZE IN 1858-59. 201 



have been seventy-eight feet water a proof that dan- 

 gers, over which the greater volume of the Yangstze 

 in the summer season would float ships, and which 

 the swiftness of the current at that season would pre- 

 vent the seaman's lead discovering, would infallibly 

 be discovered by a ship's bottom at a period of the 

 year when the water was lowest, and the stream less 

 rapid. This discovery strongly impressed upon us 

 the fact, that for such a river to be properly sur- 

 veyed, the work should be done in the winter-time, 

 and that it would need a series of subsequent observa- 

 tions upon the rise and fall of the river throughout 

 all the seasons of the year to fully assure the navi- 

 gator of the depth of water to be found over the 

 dangers at specific dates. "We will not bore the 

 general reader with technical details of how we laid 

 out anchors and got down top-weights ; how the gun- 

 boats came alongside, and how we worked all day 

 and all night, and emptied the Furious of every 

 movable weight down to her very kelson, except 

 the coals ; how we painted marks on the rocks, and 

 gave a gratuity to the bonzes in the Buddhist tem- 

 ple, and enlisted them in our service, because they 

 assured Mr Lay that they had a deity in keeping 

 whose especial mission it was to look after the inter- 

 ests of ships and sailors navigating this Scylla and 

 Chary bdis of the Yangstze we will not, we say, 

 dwell upon these proceedings, because, when all was 

 done, we still found our stout frigate perched on the 



