Show hwang ho called Ch A inas sorrow toi ten river has cost millions of lives and millions in wealth prepared by national geographic society a hington D B C serece japanese military W WHILE forces have advanced westward in dehol bringing the u upper hwang ho or yellow river of china closer to international complications life on the tortuous has gone on in ID its own inimitable way vay the iio ho Is one of the most extraordinary rivers of the world its disastrous flooding has cost the chinese millions of lives and millions in wealth through the destruction of 0 homes and farm 1 sods lands and because of this it has earned such titles as cainas chinas Ch inas sorrow the ungovernable and the scourge of the sons SODS of ilan iian at times it has changed its course over as much as 30 miles in a single flooding season today it empties in into the yellow sea north of the shantung peninsula but before 1852 it de botched its loess laden waters through a channel south of that peninsula it is the second largest rl river iver in iii china yet in all its course from its headwaters high up in the kanlun range in tibet all along its 2 2500 mile path to the sea it is not navigable for or steamships or other deep draft craft its course is alternately either too swift and broken by turbulent rapids or widens and becomes too shallow and filled with sand bars to allow the use of large boats but over some miles of its course as it winds through hansu province and along the edge of inner mongolia from to plies an interesting raft traffic that has been carried on tor for centuries chinese literature confirms the fact that here the earlier sons of ilan han 2000 years ago were using sheepskin and rafts identical with those which one finds in use today there are two types of rafts one using as buoys inflated sheepskins sheep skins and the other large which are stuffed with wool and then tied up to keep them watertight water tight the sheepskin rafts iary ary in size according to the use tor for which they are intended ranging from as few as 12 or 15 skins on the fhe small one man r rafts to as many as in the large freight rafts for the large rafts some hides are used before being used the raw arl are treated on the inside with salt and oil to preserve and waterproof them as well as keep them flexible i it s I 1 payi M 1 f J 4 0 air filled sheepskins Sheep skins keep this hwang ho raft afloat raw hides bides cost about 10 in the local currency gold and are considered about twice as valuable after they have been properly prepared consequently the large freight rafts are often valued at as much as GOO gold but the bides are useful as buoys for three years and are then sold in the market tor for shoe leather rafts easily made raft baft making Is a comparatively easy task to a simple framework of poles lashed securely together are fastened the hides or sheepskins sheep skins even the stuffing ot of the hides with tibetan wool Is a simple process but when it comes to inflating sheepskins sheep skins on one raft before a voyage that Is a job without doubt the industrious rafts men can make strong claim for the record in the windiest win diest of all ship launchings the navigation of the rafts in the down river trade Is entirely in the hands of the moslem chinese who form a considerable rable percentage of the population of the hansu district life is not easy on the rafts iab with all the contrasts of heat beat and cold and the strenuous labor involved in manipulating in the clumsy trang transports ports through the rapids or in freeing them the once they have stranded on a so sand mi d bar but these hardy craftsmen rafts men are a happy and friendly lot the great irregular S shaped portion of the course of the hwang ho through hansu and mongolia over which the rafts operate Is car carved ved tor for a large part of the way aay through the extensive loess plain region here and in the wel valley whose tributary waters are gathered unto the hwang ho about 40 miles west ot of hanchow Lan chow was the cradle of the chinese race but through the centuries great quantities of loess or sandy loam have been blown across these lands submerging numerous cities and making desert many wide areas which were once fertile farming districts this yellow loess carried in suspension in the water has given lite hie river and the yellow bellow sea their names today there are only a few fertile localities in the hwang ho valley such us its those around hanchow and Nin gila these are intensely cultivated oases that have been kept productive through irrigation and in their district raft vurry curry on lo 10 cal transport of vegetables dates wa ter melons and grain to the city markets the long distance freighting on OB the large rafts raft however Is largely devoted to transport of quan quantities titles of wool skins shins hides and other produce of the tibetan region down to the caravan center and railhead village of 0 whence these articles of commerce can be sent by rail to and ultimately find distribution to world markets the majority of the large cargo rafts start from some distance upstream on the ho a tributary of the hwang ilo iio but to these are also added other cargo which leaves from the important caravan center of 0 hanchow Lan chow that lies on the historic lii old silk road between china turkestan Turk estan and the file west hard work up stream the rafts can be managed with comparative para tive ease as they float downstream but their great resistance and their clumsiness make it practically impossible for them to be poled upstream even cen in quiet water they are taken apart at the end of the voyage and the skins alre are carried back oie norland to the place of departure in the springtime as soon as the ice has cleared from the river which Is frozen from the end of november to the beginning of march the rafts are assembled buoys stuffed with wool no doubt originated through the scheme 0 of r crafty craftsmen rafts men to bootleg wool past the customs officials and thereby escape d duty uty today although the a authorities thorit ties les know that it will be sold at the end of the trip the wool still rides on down to escaping all of the tolls and duties imposed on the other cargo cargoes loaded farewells sal said d the rafts push off on the first of the two journeys that are made each year they slip past water wheels that line the river banks which are raising water to the thirsty fields in the hanchow region then past the cites walls and under the only steel bridge that spans the river for many hundreds of miles 0 some fifteen miles below hanchow Lan chow where the village of Is if perched on a rocky cliff the current Is swift and all hands are called to man the large tillers as the raft head down through the granite gorge where the river makes an abrupt curve curva and then follows a northwesterly course all the way downstream to chung wel the craftsmen rafts men must navigate through rapid after rapid below Chung wel the course widens as it enters the and elc except ept for the passage through the fe fertile artile district around Ning sia becomes a monotonous passage through desolate yellow wastes all the way to grilling voyage the great loop around the ardol desert is a slow grilling voyage during the summer months when the tha sun throughout the day beats down relentlessly in a blinding glare on tha th water and on the shimmering sand band banks the craftsmen rafts men share the tasks of guiding the craft repairing punctured skins releasing the ungainly floate when stranded on sand bars and cooking their meager meals on deck after weeks on the way everyone Is glad when the rafts are brought safely to the journeys end the caravan town sprawls on a barren dun colored hillside of sand some little distance from the river low squat adobe and brick buildings line the narrow streets and winding alleys that find outlet through the guarded gateways of the rambling city walls caravansaries Caravan saries sarles and homes domes are concealed behind closed gateways and high earthen walls here in the bazaars and in the cases of itinerant venders benders ven ders the rafts men find many oddments of western produce for which they can bargain to take back to their families trains that come whistling out to this outpost bring many things from and neiping marts that are not readily available farther inland at last when all of the cargoes have been turned over to the wool and hide merchants the rafts are taken apart and the hides bides folded up and packed on donkeys or camels for the long journey home by caravan |