| Show the new now york event apost JP ost AN exploration IN naina ohina CHINA mr alexander williamson ane englishman ng lishman bas baa just made a journey aljourney from pekin to chefko byway by way vay of the grand canal and the yellow river through the heart of ancient china a 11 route rarely explored explore dby by europeans and pecullar peculiarity ily liy interesting on account account of the small degree of knowledge heretofore possessed in relation to the course of these great water roads 72 as the chinese call them the result of hia exploration appears aphea I 1 rs in a communication to the london times in which he be dwells ii the commercial advantages of the route router ho he followed mr williamson set out in in coni company with only two persone persons a china sc scholar rany gany olar and a native servi servant servient int the party followed the grand canil canzi at af the rate of thirty english milesa a tiny ilay and found it in excel lant re repair pairas as far aa as lin tsing chow with the exception of a place near pan nn tow where the water become S shallower and the banks out of order though it was still navigable its depth was wa generally from six to td eight feet and ten feet of water and its width was from eighty to ta one undred hundred i feet the chief cities on this part of the route are tsau chow tull tub chow and chhung la kia ir kow ow the tho hlo ble last named not laid down on the maps is is an important place having a igge trade in cotton wool cotton cloth felt and silks and it was inferred from the caravans of camels foundas found at the inns that it has an exten extensive sivo traffie traffic with the tho northwest mr nir williamson says bays 1 the town is not on the thee maps maes but bat is about one hundred and add fifty miles from tuh chow the people all along the banks appear much poorer and less leas refined than the yang xang tse klang kiang the country people had much more mord of the boorish clodhopper aspect than their southern bouthern bouth south ern era countrymen and the inhabitants of the towns partook of the thi c same appearance only that remove above their country cousins which their town life and business habits imparted the shops were perfectly uniform the same samo shape of colin colln same kind of furniture furni farni ture turc and the same thing sin stock and gild iet let rie sia nie add the same multitude of salesmen brother and cousins loitering behind tha tho counter with their hands in irl their thein sleeves or playing at mee dice but the sameness didiot did not end brid here the people everywhere every where had the same appearance and were at the tho game fame same bm employments ploy ments there was no diversity no tall chim chimneys beys ness to break the monotony no cotton mills no or bleach works nor even flour mills to interest the mind but painful uniformity there was only one source of amusement for us and that was rich enough we refer to the motley mobley molli group of beasts bound in the yoke together sometimes sometime we saw a horse donkey and cow in one plough and aud sometimes yet yett more ridiculous mixtures just as if the tho whole household man and beast even including dogs lad bad had turned out to drar drag the plough yoked joked in their largo large heavy eart carts S I 1 it i t Is quite dommon gommon common to see a poor bullock in the shafts and a herd of small donkeys with a cow or ali all an old worn out horse among them in ill front helping to drag the vehicle along the houses were all alike all built of brick chief chiefly lyof of mud brick 1 11 I 1 in this se sequestered uester festered ed plage place aiso also mr lir williamson lound found a corody colony of medals of whom he says they often salute us fram the banks bonka and often in the streets of tha cities with the dry cry 62 BI U s s ul marr J an and d cial clai claimed rn ed kindred with us called upon us and said sald that they thes believed belleve fl in the P same bame ma god landwere and were vere not like ilke those 8 stupid mid 1614 idolaters idol tors aters among whom they lived they appear much less bigoted than their brethren in india and on inquiry y we found that the they T had little or up connection now noly with the west li in former times pilgrims pilgrim 9 used to go a to Bl rebea mecca and in this way kee tb the tho e spark of intolerance but for many yeara years I 1 could hear of noona no ong one having undertaken 0 n the jp urney we found numerous I 1 I 1 mosques some sometimes times three and four in in one city at lern leri tsing taing the canal branches off in two directions one called the wei we ho proceeds to honan the other and formerly the V principal one proc proceeding beding south to and hang chow cef the tho famous locks commenced but they are now all to disorder and the cann cana canal canni lall au but dry great fields of cottonware cotton were growing in the neighbor neighborhood hood bood the yellow river Is thus described As I 1 crossed I 1 tried to estimate tle the th force of the current it is not nearly so great or so strong as the tide at shanghai A gig could scarcely pull against it and so I 1 suppose it may max be set down at mai mak about three knots yer per per hour our of course it varies in its rapidity and is slower in a level levei I 1 country but throughout its whole course it has the character of being a rapid river when crossing we had a good illustration of the manner in which this wilful river forces its way As it flowed against the banks it just ate them away and the mud fell into its devouring jaws just like some huge monster browsing grass and as the banks fell in in on one side they were raised on the other thus it literally ate its way and followed the bent ef of its own sweet will your readers ard are aware that it has repeatedly changed change d its course and it is ono one of the greatest t anxieties of the government to keep I 1 it t in a fixed channel looking at the river and walking up the banks we asked ourselves could a steamer stem that current and we made as many inquiries as we could relative to this from natives and found their reports favorable moreover thi this fact has been recently confirmed by actual investigation this river opens away far into the interior and toa to a part of china quite new to us and rich and populous we are afe somewhat dubious as 0 to o the truth of the statement that navigation I 1 is impossible beyond tal tai ming foo but kutsup supa pose it to be correct a glance at the them map will convince any one of the great importance of this river the city eity of tei tel nan nau foo is the espital capital of shantung shan tung while tong shang foo tsan chow foo and tai tat ming foo are little less important than the first in a commercial point of view 11 |
