WATERFALLS 157 
most exciting day of all, the Me-tan and Lu-kan Gorges 
were passed, and the Sin-tan and Ta-tung Rapids, the 
boat being secured in a backwater about thirty li below 
the latter. This was a difficult place to get into, for if 
the boat was not huloed into it at exactly the right 
moment she was liable to be swept past, and then it 
could not be regained against the stream. All the way 
down the boat appeared to be a mere toy in the stream. 
The utmost skill is necessary just to keep the way on, 
so that she could be steered. Sometimes she was swept 
into a whirlpool, and could not be got out for half an 
hour or so, just being drifted round and round. In 
the wider and shallower parts the shingle can be dis- 
tinctly heard rolling along the river bed under the 
boat. 
Many small waterfalls were seen during the last 
part of the voyage down the river, some being of great 
height and all very picturesque. They had been 
caused by the exceptionally heavy rain of the last few 
days flooding the watercourses. 
