528 Through the Yang-tse Gorges 



packed as close as herrings, are quickly wrapped in slumber 

 — a few, perhaps one in ten, devoting an hour or more, 

 before turning in, to the fascinating drug. We meanwhile 

 are similarly occupied, the two cabins and helm-house aft, 

 in which also the weary pilot spreads his bed, being filled 

 with passengers. I now observe the wisdom of the rule 

 which forbids these large cargo-junks from taking passengers. 

 As we sat and talked and smoked, the high voice of the 

 skipper's wife resoundmg through all the din, I noticed the 

 unfortunate pilot turning over and over in his bed anxiously 

 trying to sleep. It was nearly eleven before our lights were 

 out, and then the tiny lamp of a couple of opium-smokers, 

 merchants bound to Hankow like ourselves, was still burning 

 on the bed facing my own. The pilot never leaves the helm 

 for a moment while the vessel is under way, except for his 

 meals, which, together with those of the men, are taken in 

 easy spots where the junk may be allowed to drift, on which 

 occasions the skipper temporarily takes his place. His pay 

 for the voyage to Shasze is twelve dollars. The skipper is 

 usually part owner, and his duties appear to consist mainly 

 in urging the crew to greater exertions in the dangerous 

 places. Although the crew had a head man specially for 

 this purpose, a true farceur who behaves like a maniac, yet 

 the skipper found it necessary to second him in his antics. 

 Our captain was a tallish, spare, active, erect man of about 

 five and fifty, with considerable ." side," as became the 

 captain of one of the largest class of vessels on these 

 dangerous waters, and who showed as much condescension 

 in pointing out, or rather in answering my questions about 

 the places of interest, as might the captain of a Cunarder. 

 I got to sleep at last, although with everything closed it was 

 uncomfortably warm, and when I awoke the next morning 

 we were already under way. 



