"There are only three wonders
of the world in China - The Demons at Tungchow, the Thunder at Lungchow,
and the Great Tide at Hangchow, the last, the greatest of all, and a
living wonder to this day of 'the open door,' while its rivals are lost in
myth and oblivion.... The Great Bore charges up the narrowing river at a
speed of ten and thirteen miles an hour, with a roar that can be heard for
an hour before it arrives." - H.C.]
NOTE 3. - For satisfactory elucidation as to what is or may have been
authentic in these statements, we shall have to wait for a correct survey
of Hang-chau and its neighbourhood. We have already seen strong reason to
suppose that miles have been substituted for li in the circuits
assigned both to the city and to the lake, and we are yet more strongly
impressed with the conviction that the same substitution has been made
here in regard to the canal on the east of the city, as well as the
streets and market-places spoken of in the next paragraph.
Chinese plans of Hang-chau do show a large canal encircling the city on
the east and north, i.e., on the sides away from the lake. In some of
them this is represented like a ditch to the rampart, but in others it is
more detached.
