Travels in north and central China . rong swirling current was running—-the river narrowing here to a width of 240 yards,as ascertained by Grant and Matheson. Thetrackers in their thin cotton rags huddled togetherfor warmth behind the rock, and it was towardsmid-day before we could get on. We came out of the gorge just below the littletown of Nan-to, where we landed with the guns inthe hope of finding some pheasants, having heardthat they were numerous, but the hill slopes weremuch too steep to walk on comfortably. The birdswe were told, lie chiefly in a long coarse grass, whichat this season
Travels in north and central China . rong swirling current was running—-the river narrowing here to a width of 240 yards,as ascertained by Grant and Matheson. Thetrackers in their thin cotton rags huddled togetherfor warmth behind the rock, and it was towardsmid-day before we could get on. We came out of the gorge just below the littletown of Nan-to, where we landed with the guns inthe hope of finding some pheasants, having heardthat they were numerous, but the hill slopes weremuch too steep to walk on comfortably. The birdswe were told, lie chiefly in a long coarse grass, whichat this season is provided with sharp, pointed seedsf-inch long, with hooks at the end, which readily ICHANG TO THE WU-SHAN GORGE. io5 penetrate woollen clothes and scarify the skin. Wesaw no game, but magnificent scenery—a row ofgreat jagged mountain tops overlooking the gorge,and the still bigger ranges of the next gorge barringthe western skies. Below us the air resounded with the harsh chorusof the trackers on the upward-bound junks and of. WORKING THE SIDE YULOS OF LARGE JUNK. the oarsmen on those going down. Junks go downwith their masts un-stepped and with great numbersof trackers on board, working the long yulos orsculling sweeps, as well as the side oars, which aremere narrow pieces of wood worked on a crutch bymen standing and looking forward, a mere dip inthe water and out again. Besides the rudder thejunks have a long bow sweep, a small tree, laid inthe longitudinal axis of the boat, with which the io6 TRAVELS IN NORTH AND CENTRAL CHINA. bow can be swung right off. The hull of the boatis almost oblong, with a flat bottom and a slighttumble-home, so that these junks handle very ascending boat is weighted forward to make itless easy for the current to turn her, but if she doestake a sheer, then she is much less easily controlled. The valley gradually opened out, and the riverchannel became studded with rocks beside the widebed, now dry. Among the low foot-hills werepr
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectchinade, bookyear1902
