240 Through the Yang-tse Gorges 



Between the cities of Fu-chow and F^ng-tu, a distance of 

 thirty-five miles, the itinerary gives a list of nine rapids and 

 five races (tsao), in addition to an enumeration of sixteen 

 rocks, to be carefully rounded in the ascent. In truth, there 

 is no tranquil water anywhere in the river from Ichang up- 

 wards ; it is one long, seething cauldron, which only accurate 

 local knowledge and constant practice enable the hardy 

 Szechuan boatmen to traverse in safety. The spot where we 

 now moored, with our head and stem attached to loose 

 boulders on the bank, was called the " Tsao men hsia," or 

 " Furnace Gate Gorge," the picturesque reach immediately 

 above F^ng-tu, as wild a spot as any on the river. The 

 cliffs on either bank rise almost vertically for six or seven 

 hundred feet, while behind rise conical peaks twice or three 

 times that height, their summits now hidden in the clouds. 

 On narrow ledges in the limestone rock, at spots one would 

 deem barely accessible to monkeys, minute patches of barley, 

 now being harvested, are visible ; here, too, as throughout 

 Szechuan, many of the crests are surmounted by stone battle- 

 ments, built as refuges from the many wandering hordes of 

 rebels and of unpaid troops by which this province, no less 

 than its neighbours, has been periodically devastated. It is 

 curious still to see painted up on the rocks here and there, in 

 big white letters, the words, " Ho tao pu chmg," i.e. " Water- 

 way not clear." This does not, as might be imagined, 

 allude to the numerous rocks, whose presence, indeed, is 

 almost self-evident without any such notice, but to the river- 

 pirates and petty water-thieves who still infest nearly all the 

 inland water-courses of China, notwithstanding the numerous 

 revenue and police cruisers constantly patrolling them. To 

 these four words are usually added four more characters, 

 meaning, "Small boats should anchor early." At eleven 

 o'clock the weather cleared, although a fresh up-river breeze 



