Notes on the River Yang-tse-Kianrj . 
231 
1861.] 
line ; above Ichang the boats do not use the sculls in use lower down 
the river ; in their stead each boat has from 10 to 20 oars, and, to 
assist the helm, a long oar is worked over the bow by 5 or 6 men ; 
the swirls of the current would twist a boat’s head round in an 
instant if the men were, not ready with this oar to force it in the 
right direction ; the tracking ropes are made of plaited strips of 
bamboo, and are very light and strong ; the sails of the Houpeh 
boats are the same as those used lower down the river, but the boats 
have one mast only ; the West country boats have light square sails 
of cotton, with a yard and boom of bamboo, on which they roll up 
when not set ; they are not used on a wind and have not the cross 
bamboos usual with Chinese sails ; they are generally hoisted on 
shears. 
A very hard limestone is quarried in these gorges close to the water’s 
edge ; holes are cut in the stone and wedges of soft wood driven in, 
which, being wetted, swell and split the stone along the line in which 
they are placed. 
About 12 miles above Ichang at the village of Shantow-pien, the 
river begins to be obstructed by rapids, that of Tatung (sze) being 
the first met with ; when the river is low, many rocks are here above 
water ; in the strong part of the rapid, nearly 100 men on the 
line drew the boat up by inches ; accidents sometimes occur from 
the towing line parting ; the boats are fended off the rocks by a 
simple but effective plan ; a stout rope is made fast on each bow, 
and a spar laid along each gunwale ready for use, but on ordinary 
occasions the bamboos, used for poling in shallow water, are made 
use of ; when the boat nears a rock, the pole is projected to meet it, 
and, at the same time two or three turns of one of the ropes made 
fast to the bo.v are taken round it, when the pole strikes the rock, 
the strain is taken by the rope, which tightening gradually, protects 
the boat from any shock ; these spars can be projected from any part 
of the boat. 
In the gorges of “ Lu-kan” and “ Mi-tan” the cliffs on both 
sides, rise perpendicularly from the water’s edge to a height of nearly 
1,000 feet ; they appear to have been originally one hill, split in two 
by some convulsion of nature ; the same marks and strata can be seen 
on both sides of the river at similar heights ; in some places the 
hills are covered with brown scrub or grass, at a distance resembling 
