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Photogi-aph by C. D. Jameson 



one: oe the: locks op the: grand canal, near tsingkiangpu, in the; province; 



op kiangsu 



The fall from one side to the other is some live feet, and the boats are pulled up the rise 

 by many ropes carried by capstans on each bank. A house-boat is floating through the gates. 

 The central section of the Grand Canal, although it is now paralleled by the Tientsin-Pukow 

 Railway, which makes possible a thirty-seven hour service between Shanghai and Peking, is 

 largely used by the Chinese, who, through their peculiar skill as oarsmen, move heavy cargo- 

 boats with a minimum of effort. 



The Grand Canal, called in Chinese 

 Yu-ho (Imperial River), Yun-ho (Trans- 

 port River), or Yuliang-ho (Tribute- 

 bearing River), extends from Tientsin, 

 in Chihli, to Hangchow, in Chekiang, a 

 distance of about 1,000 miles. Accord- 

 ing to the best accounts, it was com- 

 menced in the sixth century B. C. and 

 finished only in A. D. 1283. 



The most ancient part is the central 

 section, between the Yangtze and the 

 Hwai rivers. The southern section, from 

 Hangchow to Chinkiang, on the Yangtze, 

 was constructed from A. D. 605 to 617. 

 The northern and most recent section, 

 extending from the old bed of the Yel- 

 low River to Tientsin, was completed by 

 the Emperor Shitsu in the three years 

 1280-1283 A. D. 



Our journey on the canal began in the 

 northern section, which is the most diffi- 

 cult to navigate ; traversed the central 

 part, where water is plentiful, and ended 

 in the southern section, where we were 

 again in rail connection with Shanghai, 



which had been our starting point two 

 months before. 



The chief features of interest were 

 two : the locks and their operation and 

 the variety of traffic and craft on this 

 ancient inland waterway, which, origi- 

 nally completed as an easy route for grain 

 transport to Peking, still plays an impor- 

 tant local role for a very thickly popu- 

 lated part of the country, though of late 

 years most of the supplies for Peking 

 have been forwarded by sea. 



how the pocks op the grand canal, 

 operate 



In the northern part, owing to searcity 

 of water, frequent locks or dams are nec- 

 essary and are passed with difficulty. The 

 ordinary canal lock consists of heavy 

 granite bastions, forming a gateway and 

 carrying on their opposing faces deep 

 grooves, in which are set heavy timbers 

 to form a dam. 



These timbers are raised by means of 

 heavy stone-set capstans. 



25 T 



