230 Through the Yang-tse Gorges 



in China. Chang-show hsien is said by the itinerary to be 

 thirty li from Shan pei t'o, a distance which occupies us 

 exactly an hour. But if I proceed to enumerate all the 

 rapids and rocks of the river, of which the " Gazetteer " 

 gives over a thousand between Chung-king and Ichang, I 

 shall never get to my journey's end. In fact, we hurried 

 past them at such a rate that it was quite impossible to keep 

 pace with the numerous places of interest on either bank. 

 Many spots that I had missed on the way up displayed 

 greater prominence on the downward voyage, and many a 

 picturesque scene, that had become indelibly impressed on 

 my memory in the tedious ascent, now escaped with a 

 passing glance. We no sooner arrived at a rapid than we 

 were shot past it, and had no time to realize the danger, 

 which, though apparently less than in the ascent, is in 

 reality far more serious. At the rapid of Wang-chia tan, 

 just above Chang-show, a big salt-junk, which had sailed 

 from Chung-king the morning previous to our own departure, 

 lay stranded on the boulders of a large cape of shingle, 

 which extends along the south bank, and so narrows the 

 channel as to form a small rapid ; others come to grief on 

 the rocks or in the whirlpools, and go down bodily. With 

 these lumbering craft a quick helm and perfect discipline 

 are necessary, and above all taking the right channel in 

 good time, so as to avoid the eddies, in which, if the junk 

 is once caught, she becomes unmanageable. There is no 

 anchoring anywhere, and no anchors are carried. As on 

 the upward voyage, so now, everything possible to excite 

 the crew was done; on approaching a rapid, four gims 

 were fired out of a curious four-barrelled piece, the tubes 

 strengthened by iron rings welded on, with a wooden handle 

 by which the cabin-boy, upon who,m devolved this duty, 

 held it on the bulwarks. The gang-master danced from 



