Cuar. XII.] OUR SCHOONER AGROUND. 231 
tse-kiang, it was quite a common occurrence for 
vessels to get aground at low water, but as the 
greater part of them were small opium clippers, 
commanded by men who knew the region well, 
they generally got easily off again when the tide 
flowed. One evening in April, we were sailing up 
this river with a fair light breeze, which was 
sending us on at the rate of six or seven miles 
an hour. The man at the lead was singing out 
his soundings; and as it was “and a half three,” 
and “by the mark three,” the captain concluded 
that we were in the right channel, and went below 
for a minute or two. The leadsman was still 
singing out three fathoms, when, all at once, we felt 
the bottom of the vessel touch the ground, and in 
two seconds she was hard and fast in the mud. 
The tide was ebbing rapidly at the time, and as 
one side of the schooner was in deeper water, we 
were obliged to get out all the spare planking we 
had to prop the vessel and prevent her from falling 
over. The next question was, how we were to get 
off when the tide rose. In the course of the after- 
noon, we had observed a number of junks astern of 
us, coming up the river and bound for Shanghae. 
Some of these were now within a quarter of a mile, 
and had dropt their anchors until the commence- 
ment of the flood tide. After some consultation, 
the captain came to the determination of boarding 
one of them, and getting the people to shift their 
anchoring ground and come @ little nearer the 
schooner, so that a rope might be passed from the 
Qq 4 
