12 THIRTY THOUSAND MILES IN CHINA 



There are, as might be expected, five sorts of native 

 transport; some though few of them could be called trans- 

 ports of delight ! which I have used extensively, as follows : 



I. — Boats : junks, houseboats, triple-deck passage boats, 

 canoes, slipper boats, footpower boats (2 kinds : rotary and 

 direct), sampans, cargo boats and rafts, engine-driven, rowed, 

 towed, yulowed, sailed and poled. In many provinces. 



II. — Carts : closed and open, narrow (3 ft. 6 in.) and 

 wide (6 ft. 8 in.), drawn by one, two or three animals (not 

 •counting the driver !) and always springless. In North China 

 especially. 



III. — Wheelbarrows : single platform, double-sided, small 

 wheeled, large wheeled, pushed by man, pulled by man or 

 donkey or both, sometimes aided with a sail. In Central and 

 North China. Avoided by me as much as possible. 



IV. — Bipeds : men and women, with loads carried on the 

 iback, across the shoulder at the two ends of a balanced rod, 

 or between two carriers using one pole or two parallel poles. 

 Sedan chair, two, three or four bearers; mountain chair, two, 

 three or four. In every province. 



V. — Quadrupeds : Horses, mules, donkeys, oxen, cows, 

 camels and yak; with or without pack saddles, but for riding 

 purposes always with a foreign saddle. Used for riding, pack 

 or draft or for carrying a chair or litter slung between two 

 ^animals. In Northern and Western China. 



During the travel by cart, mulepack or carriers I have 

 for the most part gone myself on foot, partly from preference 

 .•and partly to insure a more gentle transport of the chrono- 

 meters in my belt or hand. 



One of the most remarkable developments in the way of 

 more rapid transportation in China has been the installation 

 of so-called "launch trains," especially in the middle and 

 lower sections of the Grand Canal and throughout the Canton 

 delta. For instance, in the custom house at Canton hundreds 

 of steam launches are registered as towing between it and 

 neighbouring cities and villages, and anywhere distant from 

 10 to 100 miles. These launch-towed are exceedingly well 

 patronized both for passengers and for freight. Launch 

 building ship -yards have been rapidly developed in Shanghai, 

 Canton and elsewhere. But, for the more rapid and ade- 

 quate development of that class of communication upon which 

 so much depends for the binding together of China, we must 

 look to the railways. 



