Lying to the south of the river, is the province of Kiangsi, containing the Poyang Lake, next in size to the Tungting.  Above its entrance at Kiukiang rises a lone mountain which bears the name of Kuling.  Beautifully situated, and commanding a wide view of lake and river, its sides are dotted with pretty cottages, erected as summer resorts for people from all the inland ports.  Here may be seen the flags of many [Page 49] nations, and here the hard-worked missionary finds rest and recreation, without idleness; for he finds clubs for the discussion of politics and philosophy, and libraries which more than supply the absence of his own.  Just opposite the entrance to the lake stands the “Little Orphan,” a vine-clad rock 200 feet in height, with a small temple on the top.  It looks like a fragment torn from the mountain-side and planted in the bosom of the stream.  Fancy fails to picture the convulsion of which the “Little Orphan” is the monument.

Farther down is the province of Anhwei which takes its name from its chief two cities, Anking and Weichou.  In general resembling Kiangsi, it has two flourishing ports on the river, Anking, the capital, and Wuhu.  Of the people nothing noteworthy is to be observed, save that they are unusually turbulent, and their lawless spirit has not been curbed by any strong hand like that of the viceroy at Wuchang.[*] The province is distinguished for its production of great men, of whom Li Hung Chang was one.

[Footnote *:  This was written before the Nanchang riot of March, 1906.]

[Page 50] CHAPTER X

PROVINCES OF THE UPPER YANG-TSE

A Perilous Passage—­Szechuen—­Kweichau, the Poorest Province in China—­Yuennan—­Tribes of Aborigines

Thus far our voyage of exploration, like one of Cook’s tours, has been personally conducted.  From this point, however, I must depend upon the experience of others:  the guide himself must seek a guide to conduct him through the remaining portions of the empire.

We enter the Upper Yang-tse by a long and tortuous passage through which the “Great River” rushes with a force and a roar like the cataracts of the Rhine, only on a vastly greater scale.  In some bygone age volcanic forces tore asunder a mountain range, and the waters of the great stream furrowed out a channel; but the obstructing rocks, so far from being worn away, remain as permanent obstacles to steam navigation and are a cause of frequent shipwrecks.  Yet, undeterred by dangers that eclipse Scylla and Charybdis, the laborious Chinese have for centuries past carried on an immense traffic through this perilous passage.  In making the ascent their junks are drawn against the current by teams of coolies, tens or hundreds of the latter being harnessed to the tow-lines of one boat and driven like a bullock train in South Africa.  Slow [Page 51] and difficult is the ascent, but swift and perilous the downward passage.