Chap. XV. 



ITS EAGRE, OR BORE. 



317 



and other articles produced amongst these inland 

 provinces to Hang-chow, where they are trans- 

 ferred to boats of another class on the canals. 

 Owing to the numerous rocks, sandbanks, and 

 rapid tides eastward of the city, the lower part of 

 the river and head of the estuary is rarely trusted 

 by vessels of any class, large or small. Every- 

 thing is sent onward by the canals, which here 

 form a network all over the vast plain of the 

 Yang-tze-kiang. 



The Eagre, or as it is called in India, the 

 " Bore " of the Tsien-tang river is famous in 

 Chinese history. It is one of the three wonders of 

 the world, according to a Chinese proverb, the 

 other two being the demons at Tang-chau and the 

 thunder at Lung-chau. As in other countries, the 

 Eagre makes its appearance generally on the 

 second or third day after the full or change of 

 the moon, or at what are called " spring tides," 

 and particularly in spring and autumn, about the 

 time the sun is crossing the line. Should it so 

 happen that strong easterly gales blow at these 

 times the Eagre rolls along in all its grandeur, 

 and carries everything before it. Dr. Macgowan, 

 the well-known medical missionary at Ningpo, 

 gives the following graphic account of it which 

 he witnessed during a visit to Hang-chow-foo. 



" Between the river and the city walls, which 

 are a mile distant, dense suburbs extend for several 

 miles along the banks. As the hour of flood-tide 

 approached crowds gathered in the streets running 



