MAP NO. I. MAP OP MAIN CANALS IN 718 SQUARK 



MILES OP CHPKIANG province: 



Each line represents a canal, but scarcely more than 

 one-third of those present are shown on the map 



for this region and that between Shang- 

 hai and Hangchau. 



The extent, nature, and purpose of 

 these vast systems of internal improve- 

 ment may be better realized through a 

 study of the next two sketch maps. The 

 first (map No. 2, page 933) represents 

 an area 175 by 160 miles, of which map 

 No. I is the portion inclosed in the small 



rectangle. On this area there are 

 shown 2,700 miles of main ca- 

 nals, but from our personal ob- 

 servations it is probable that 

 there exists today in the area not 

 less than 25,000 miles of canals. 



THE PAR-REACHING TIDES 



In the next illustration (map 

 No. 3, page 934) an area of 

 northeast China 600 by 725 miles 

 is represented. The unshaded 

 land area covers nearly 200,000 

 square miles of alluvial plain. 

 This plain is so level that at 

 Ichang, nearly 1,000 miles up the 

 Yangtse, the elevation is only 130 

 feet above the sea. The tide is 

 felt on the river to beyond Wuhu, 

 375 miles from the coast. Dur- 

 ing the summer the depth of 

 water in the Yangtse is sufficient 

 to permit ocean vessels drawing 

 25 feet of water to ascend 600 

 miles to Hankau, and for smaller 

 steamers to go on to Ichang, 400 

 miles further. 



The location in this vast low 

 delta and coastal plain of the sys- 

 tem of canals already described 

 is indicated by the two rectangles 

 in the southeast corner of the 

 sketch map 3, on page 934). The 

 heavy barred black line, extend- 

 ing from Hangchau in the south 

 to Tientsin in the north, repre- 

 sents the Grand Canal, which has 

 a length of more than 800 miles. 

 The plain east of this canal, as 

 far north as the mouth of the 

 Hwang-ho in 1852, is canalized 

 much as in the area shown in 

 map No. 2. So, too, is a large 

 area both sides of the present 

 mouth of the same river in Shan- 

 tung and Chi-li between the canal 

 and the coast. 



Westward, up the Yangtse 

 Valley, the provinces of Ngan-hwei. 

 Kiangsi, Hunan, and Hupeh have very 

 extensive canalized tracts, probably ex- 

 ceeding 28,000 square miles in area. 

 Still further west, in Szechuan province, 

 is the Chengtu plain, 30 by 70 miles, with 

 what has been called "the most remark- 

 able irrigation system in China." 



A conservative estimate would place 



932 



