April 26, 1858.] LOCKHART ON THE YANG-TSE-KIANG, &c. 
203 
treasury, and having been comparatively neglected since the out- 
break of the rebellion, a fearful disaster occurred two years ago. The 
river entirely broke loose from its previous bed, and after inundating 
a large part of the province of Shan-tung, its erratic waters have 
found a new exit to the ocean in the Gulf of Pecheli. 
Mr. Lockhart’s paper closes with an account of the rise and 
progress of the Chinese rebellion. It would appear fhat its force 
has become greatly expended, and its ultimate success very ques- 
tionable. 
The President called upon Captain Collinson and Captain Yansittart to 
state their opinions respecting the navigability of these rivers, particularly the 
Nankin River, which was navigated by British ships during the late war, and 
which a former President of the Geographical Society, Lord Colchester, ascended 
in boats to a distance, he believed, of 200 miles higher than any other officer. 
There were questions which as a geologist he should like to put to Mr. Lock- 
hart. Whence came the coal which was found piled up on the quays near 
Nankin, when our steamers ascended that river? Whence came the fossil 
shells which Mr. Lockhart had given him — shells which established a complete 
identity between the formations in the centre of China and those of Belgium, 
Germany, France, Russia, and our own islands ? 
Captain R. Collinson, r.n., f.r.g.s. — Nearly all I have to communicate 
has already appeared in the memoirs of this Society, published on my return 
in 1846, in conjunction with Lord Colchester. The knowledge we personally 
obtained bears out to the fullest extent the opinion of Mr. Lockhart, that we 
have in these rivers the means of penetrating into the interior of the country. 
There is nothing I conceive which can tend more to the establishment of peace 
and amity between that vast country and our own, than that we should exhibit 
our power by sending our steamers up into the interior by means of the Yang- 
tse-Kiang. That it is capable of navigation up to Nankin for line-of-battle 
ships has been proved beyond a doubt. Beyond that we do not know exactly 
what is the depth of the river ; but reasoning from analogy we can prognosticate 
that steamers will go more than 1400 miles above Nankin. With respect to 
coal, it is the fact that we found the coal ready piled for our use on the banks 
of the Yang-tse-Kiang at Ching-kan-fu and Nankin. The change of course in 
the Yellow River, mentioned by Mr. Lockhart, must be peculiarly interesting 
to geographers, showing how necessary it is, in dealing with the drainage of an 
extensive country like that, to give attention to its physical condition. It 
appears that the Chinese have gone on building up a course for that river 
until they have actually raised the river above the surrounding country. The 
consequence has been that it is a source of great disaster. In addition to the 
introduction of steamers into the interior, I believe one other great advantage 
which will result from the onslaught we are now making into China will be to 
show how they can get rid of their water better than they have been able to 
do hitherto. 
Captain E. W. Yansittart, r.n. — With respect to the trade of the Yang- 
tse-Kiang, I have had opportunities lately, that is in the year 1855, of seeing 
thousands of junks coming from the north and passing up that river. On one 
occasion in the gulf of Leotung, not far to the north of Pekin, we found more than 
700 junks deeply laden, of the value of from 1000 to 2000 dollars each, which 
were coming south. These vessels would return north again with British 
goods obtained from Shanghae. The importance of this trade has yet to be 
developed, and steam will be the means of doing it. With respect to the 
trade with the north, I think a light woollen cloth would answer much better 
