Statistics of the New Rapid 279 



accurate conception of the size of the river and the dimen- 

 sions of the new obstruction to its flow : — 



Volume of water passing the rapid in^ ^ ■ c ,. j 



V = "a "c 'tpiu "M 1 1 1,000 cubic feet per second. 



winter, at time of lowest water levelj 

 Volume in summer, estimated at 



Winter level section 



Summer level section 



Width at rapid ... 



Width at section 



Summer rise in water level (i897,'> 



often more) / 



Agricultural land displaced by landslide 

 Height of " foot-hill " displaced above) 



river / 



Mean velocity three feet below surface 

 Height of fall at head of rapid ... 



The work of cutting away the chfF ceased in April, leaving 

 two million cubic yards of rock and earth to be still removed, 

 before the rapid can be rendered positively safe for winter 

 traffic : so far (May, 1898) only 80,000 cubic yards have 

 been removed, so that the bulk of the work has still to be 

 done, and to do it will occupy the engineers further two or 

 three winters. As the rapid now is, so our friends told us, 

 scarcely a day passes that a junk is not swamped with loss 

 of life. Men falling into the water are sucked under instantly 

 — snapped up, the Chinese say, by the Dragon who formed 

 the rapid. The loss to trade may be estimated as a new 

 tax of five per cent, upon all cargoes imported into Szechuan, 

 half of this amount being loss in interest by the delay which 

 merchants have to suffer. Steam would make light of the 

 difficulties which so impede the junks in the high-water 

 season. Being tracked from the shore, they are unable 

 to keep clear of the rocks which infest the inshore channels. 

 A steamer would then keep clear of the shore and steam 



