Chap. XV. SUPERSTITIONS OF THE NATIVES. 321 



exhibited periodically by the violence of the tidal 

 wave, which sweeps every thing before it on its 

 course, breaks down the river's banks, and floods 

 the adjoining lands. Monarchs of almost every 

 dynasty have honoured him with titles ; temples 

 have been erected to his memory ; and prayers 

 and sacrifices are periodically offered by the 

 people in order to appease his anger. 



At the entrance of the Bay of Hang-chow, or 

 Chapoo, as it is sometimes called, although there 

 is no Bore, the spring-tides are well known to 

 navigators as very rapid and dangerous. Sir E. 

 Collinson, when in the H. C. steamer " Phlege- 

 thon," trying to find a passage to Hang-chow-foo, 

 found he had a tide running " eleven and a half 

 knots when nineteen miles distant from the Cha- 

 poo hills and two from the shore. Traversing the 

 river, which at this point is about fifteen miles 

 wide, there was no continuous channel found, 

 although there were some deep spots. When the 

 ' Phlegethon ' was exposed to this tide she had 

 an anchor down with a whole cable (having pre- 

 viously lost an anchor and cable in endeavouring 

 to hug up), was under her full power of steam 

 with sails set, and was still driving." 



On the north side of the Bay of Hang-chow the 

 Yang-tze-kiang, one of the largest rivers in the 

 world, empties itself into the ocean. Year by 

 year it brings down large quantities of alluvial 

 matter and deposits it at its mouth. While this 

 annual deposit is in some places gradually and 



