Picltiresqne Mountain Cities 233 



of the worst whirlpools in the liver is created. The rocks 

 and the extensive sandbank directly opposite the town, 

 upon which I noticed so many of the queer " twisted stern" 

 junks peculiar to this place hauled up for repair, and the 

 new ones being built, were now entirely submerged, with 

 nothing but the curls of the whirlpools to mark the dangerous 

 banks, which nearly extend to mid-stream. A curious 

 characteristic of the two main affluents (and the sole 

 navigable ones) of the Yang-tse between Chung-king and 

 Hankow— the stream that drains the Tung-ting Lake, and 

 this the Chung-tan ho — is that they flow in a line continuous 

 with the course of the river below them, and appear to the 

 ascending traveller to be the main stream itself, the river 

 proper turning aside at right angles to its branches. At 

 these points naturally a fierce " chow-chow " water exists, 

 and where, as opposite Fu-chow, the land is bold and steep- 

 . to, a frowning cliff forms the point, and entirely conceals 

 the channel, by which the traveller has to ascend, from view. 

 The city of Fu-chow is built in the angle of the two rivers, 

 and, rising from the water up to the steep slope of the 

 wooded hill at its back, looks down proudly on the long 

 ravine below, and forms a conspicuous object in the distance 

 for hours before it is reached in the toilsome ascent. Every 

 one of these mountain cities yields a striking and distinct 

 picture, once seen never to be forgotten, and they would 

 well repay the visit of an artist competent to portray them. 

 Some such are represented in Garnier's splendid work on 

 the exploration of the Mei-kong, and nowhere else that I 

 know of; the wild water in the foreground, and the weird 

 Chinese architecture, in such perfect harmony with the 

 general landscape, form an ensemble as unique as it is artistic. 

 The spot at which we were moored is known as the " Li 

 cheng yuen," or " Garden of undeflected gain." In mooring 



