242 Through the Yang-tse Gorges 



CHAPTER XI. 



HANKOW. 



Reluin to Ichang— Hankow — Changes in the river — Lifeboats — 

 Accidents — The " awakening " of China — Pliny on the Chinese. 



The last day of our downward journey now lay before us. 

 The wild country of the " Yao-tsa Ho," and the long zigzag 

 reaches of the Ichang Gorge, alone lay between us and the 

 return to "Western civilization," as represented by the 

 advanced guard of foreigners residing in Ichang. As we 

 slid down rapid after rapid in the hourly increasing current, 

 it was difficult to realize the arduous struggle we had 

 sustained with each projecting rock in our toilsome ascent. 

 We moored for the last night at Hwang ling Miao, the point 

 in the upward journey that porphyry and granitic rocks are 

 first met with ; and going ashore for a stroll before sunset, 

 I had my last look at the wild valley, with its scattered piles 

 of huge rocks illuminated by the setting sun. This valley 

 forms an exception to the continuous ranges of calcareous 

 and sedimentary rocks through which the river cuts its way 

 in its course from Ping-shan, the highest navigable spot to 

 the plains of Hu-peh, a distance of 800 miles. The range 

 out of which this valley has been cut, and of which Hwang 



