Deforestation and Drought 117 



Day's run, no li. (twenty-seven miles); from Ichang, 

 303 miles. 



Monday, April 2nd. — Heavy rain at last, in the night; a 

 fine warm day, with light south-westerly breeze. We started 

 this morning against a freshet, which had come down in the 

 night, and raised the river some two feet, while the current 

 was increased to four or five knots. We passed the rapid, 

 dangerous in summer, of " T'ieh men ka'rh," or " Iron 

 Threshold." A few women, not professional or mutilated 

 beggars, had taken up their station on the ledge, along 

 which all upward junks pass tracking, and begged importu- 

 nately. Our messenger said it was owing to poverty caused 

 by the four years' drought. Is it possible that the deserts of 

 Central Asia, once the " manufactory of nations," after in- 

 vading Kan-su and Shan-si, the latter once the granary of 

 the empire, are stretching their octopus clutch towards this, 

 the fairest jewel in the Celestial crown ? Will the reckless- 

 ness of the people, and the carelessness of its governors, 

 allow the country to decay and become obliterated, like 

 Nineveh and Babylon and the once flourishing cities of 

 Asia Minor? Or will Western influence interfere, and by 

 force or persuasion turn this magnificent country and its 

 industrious inhabitants to some real account? The de- 

 forestation of the hills and mountains is so marked and 

 persistent that the demand for fuel and building alone will 

 hardly explain it. Pbre David believes it to be due to the 

 dread of wild beasts, and the consequent attempts to root 

 up and destroy their cover. 



Turning a bend and quitting this scene, we entered a fine 

 straight reach, about one mile wide, and ten long, running 

 nearly due north and south. Both banks are formed of 

 gentle hills of from four to five hundred feet high, with 

 higher ranges behind. The bed of the river was entirely 



