. The awakening of China . this point, however, I must depend upon theexperience of others: the guide himself must seeka guide to conduct him through the remaining portionsof the empire. We enter the Upper Yang-tse by a long and tor-tuous passage through which the Great River rusheswith a force and a roar like the cataracts of the Rhine,only on a vastly greater scale. In some bygone agevolcanic forces tore asunder a mountain range, andthe waters of the great stream furrowed out a channel;but the obstructing rocks, so far from being wornaway, remain as permanent obstacles to steam naviga
. The awakening of China . this point, however, I must depend upon theexperience of others: the guide himself must seeka guide to conduct him through the remaining portionsof the empire. We enter the Upper Yang-tse by a long and tor-tuous passage through which the Great River rusheswith a force and a roar like the cataracts of the Rhine,only on a vastly greater scale. In some bygone agevolcanic forces tore asunder a mountain range, andthe waters of the great stream furrowed out a channel;but the obstructing rocks, so far from being wornaway, remain as permanent obstacles to steam naviga-tion and are a cause of frequent shipwrecks. Yet,undeterred by dangers that eclipse Scylla andCharybdis,the laborious Chinese have for centuries past carriedon an immense traffic throtigh this perilous making the ascent their junks are drawn againstthe current by teams of coolies, tens or hundreds ofthe latter being harnessed to the tow-lines of one boafrand driven like a bullock train in South Africa. Slow 5°. PROVINCES OF THE UPPER YANG-TSE 51 and difficult is the ascent, but swift and perilous thedownward passage. * No doubt engineering may succeed in removingsome of the obstacles and in minifying the dangersof this passage. Steam, too, may supply anothermode of traction to take the place of these teams ofmen. A still revolution is in prospect, namely a shipcanal or railway. The latter, perhaps, might be madeto lift the junks bodily out of the water and transportthem beyond the rapids. Two cities, however, wovddsuffer somewhat by this change in the mode of naviga-tion, namely, Ichang at the foot and Chungking at thehead of the rapids. The latter is the chief river portof Szechuen, a province having four times the averagearea. The great province of Szechuen, if it only had theadvantages of a seacoast, wovdd take the lead in im-portance. As it is, it is deemed sufficiently important,like Chihli, to have a viceroy of its own. The namesignifies the four rivers, and
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