A Temporary Island 219 



especially the pilot, should be disturbed by them. Now, the 

 official inspectors were due with the junk's clearance, shortly 

 after daylight, and hence our skipper's anxiety to get rid of us. 

 This reef, which shuts off the still-water harbour of Lien-ue 

 tung from the roaring current, and the channel beyond, 

 in which is no anchorage, is known as the " Liang-toh ; " it 

 is about a third of a mile in extent, and varies in width 

 from twenty to a hundred yards. It evidently forms part of 

 a hard sandstone ledge, through which the river has cut and 

 is still cutting its way, the opposite (right) bank being lined 

 with a terrace of precisely similar formation which projects 

 horizontally from the low steep range, which here, as on 

 the right bank, forms the immediate shore of the river in 

 summer, when all these rocks are entirely out of sight. At 

 the present moment the reef was almost covered with a 

 long street of substantially built bamboo-frame and mat- 

 walled houses which had been gradually erected last winter, 

 as the falling stream successively exposed the needful 

 foundations, the highest of which were now not more than 

 fifteen feet above the present level. The water had already 

 covered the more low-lying portions, and owing to the 

 recent rise, several houses from which the contents were 

 now being hastily removed were standing in the water ; 

 of these the mat walls and bamboo frames were being 

 gradually removed and transported to the opposite shore. 

 No doubt during the winter a good trade is done here with 

 the large junk population, which justifies the unusually 

 spacious erections of this temporary town. We strolled on 

 into a roomy tea-shop, and, having bought a few "torillas" 

 from an itinerant pastry-cook, sat down to Chota hazari. 

 A porcelain cup, containing a few green tea-leaves, was 

 set before each of us, boiling water poured in, and the cover 

 put on as usual, and lastly a huge earthenware jug of hot 



