It is on the Kiang; it is at the extremity of the
Great Canal from Cambaluc; it is opposite the Golden Island and Chin-kiang
fu. Hence it is KWA-CHAU, as Murray pointed out. Marsden here
misunderstands his text, and puts the place on the south side of the
Kiang.
Here Van Braam notices that there passed in the course of the day more
than fifty great rice-boats, most of which could easily carry more than
300,000 lbs. of rice. And Mr. Alabaster, in 1868, speaks of the canal from
Yang-chau to Kwa-chau as "full of junks."
[Sir J.F. Davis writes (Sketches of China, II. p. 6): "Two ... days ...
were occupied in exploring the half-deserted town of Kwa-chow, whose name
signifies 'the island of gourds,' being completely insulated by the river
and canal. We took a long walk along the top of the walls, which were as
usual of great thickness, and afforded a broad level platform behind the
parapet: the parapet itself, about six feet high, did not in thickness
exceed the length of a brick and a half, and the embrasures were evidently
not constructed for cannon, being much too high. A very considerable
portion of the area within the walls consisted of burial-grounds planted
with cypress; and this alone was a sufficient proof of the decayed
condition of the place, as in modern or fully inhabited cities no person
can be buried within the walls.
