244 Through the Yang-tse Gorges 



Hankow, at which my voyage terminated, is situated 600 

 nautical miles from the mouth, and the river here is nearly 

 a mile wide, the depth of water such that the largest ocean- 

 steamers come up every summer to load tea. This great 

 inland mart is built on a mud-flat situated at the point of 

 junction of the great Han river, which is navigable some 

 five hundred miles to the north-west, and the Yang-tse. 

 The name Hankow means "Han mouth." This spot is 

 the centre of a great plain of alluvium, interspersed with 

 steep, rocky, island-like hills, and from the summit of one 

 of these, which is situated in Han-yang — as the town on the 

 opposite side of the Han is called — a fine view is to be had 

 over the three united cities of Wuchang, Hanyang, and 

 Hankow. The celebrated Abbd Hue, who passed through 

 long before the country had been depopulated by the great 

 rebellion, credits the three towns together with a population 

 of 5,000,000. To-day possibly the whole may amount to 

 1,000,000 — certainly not more. The spot is said to owe 

 its prosperity to its curiously auspicious site. Here the 

 dragon, the snake, and the tortoise are all represented, and 

 join in perfect harmony to perfect the F8ng-shui. North of 

 the river, the steep hill of Hanyang forms the tortoise, a 

 projecting rock, which juts out into the river at its foot, 

 being the head. On the head of the tortoise is built a 

 handsome three-storied temple, which serves to fix the 

 tortoise to the spot, where his protruding nose arrests the 

 downward current, making a backwater below it, and thus 

 obviating the possibly too rapid removal of the wealth 

 brought down from above. On the opposite shore the 

 folds of a gigantic snake may be traced twisting in graceful 

 curves through the walled city of Wuchang ; his tail rests 

 on the level ground beyond the south wall, and is retained 

 there by a pagoda placed on its tip; his snout protrudes 



