MANCHURIA SOWERBY. 465 
Without any further untoward event, and, except for the shooting 
of a dangerous rapid called Shiaogno Ho, without excitement, the 
journey was accomplished in three clays. At Kirin I gave the boat to 
the old boatman, thereby earning his eternal gratitude, boarded a 
paddle-wheel steamer, and reaching the railway line between Harbin 
and Changchun at the point where it crosses the Sungari, caught the 
southbound train, and was back in Tientsin once more within 48 
hours. 
The journey up the Yalu River the following spring was one of 
intense interest. Moreover, it yielded very pleasing results in the 
way of collections of mammals, birds, fishes, reptiles, batrachians, 
and insects ; was, in fact, one of my most successful expeditions into 
these regions. Having taken steamer from Tientsin to Antung, via 
Port Arthur and Dalny (Dairen), I solved the problem of transport 
up the Yalu by engaging a roomj^ Chinese sampan, in which my 
always bulky baggage was comfortably stowed, allowing me room to 
sleep and live as well. It was a most delightful journey and, but for 
rapids, up which the sampan had to be pulled, was accomplished 
without any great labor. 
It was disappointing, however, that, owing to the low state of the 
water and the dangerous nature of the rapids, we could not ascend 
the river farther than the town of Waichakow, about a hundred miles 
from its mouth. This decided me to turn up a tributary named Hun 
Kiang, and ascending its course till w^e came to suitable collecting 
grounds, I pitched camp and explored the neighboring countr3^ The 
spot that I had chosen was simply alive with all kind of birds, rep- 
tiles, and insects, though, strangely enough, mammals were very 
scarce. 
Later, in descending the main river, I stopped twice en route and 
made good collections of such mammals as occurred in the country 
from both banks. I found the Korean bank more wooded than the 
Manchurian, which I put down to the influence of the Japanese, 
who look after the timber more than the Chinese, besides enforcing 
useful game law^s. Particular attention was paid to the fish of the 
Yalu, with the result that a good and typical collection was made. 
The Korean population, so different from the Chinese, formed a 
never-ending source of interest. Particularly did their river craft 
attract one's attention. Excellent watermen when it comes to the use 
of canoes and paddles, the Koreans can not approach the Chinese as 
sailors. Their primitive devices for catching the wind to assist the 
progress of their dugout canoes and boats were ludicrous when com- 
pared with the Avell-made, well-handled and expansive sails used by 
the Chinese. The strange thing is that, though living side by side with 
the Chinese, and with such splendid examples of river craft before 
