- "The Assertion That There Is A Greater Amount Of Tonnage
Belonging To The Chinese Than To All Other Nations Combined, Does Not
Appear Overcharged To Those Who Have Seen The Swarms Of Boats On Their
Rivers, Though It Might Not Be Found Strictly True." (Mid.
Kingd.
II.
398.) Barrow's picture of the life, traffic, and population on the Kiang,
excepting as to specific numbers, quite bears out Marco's account. This
part of China suffered so long from the wars of the T'ai-P'ing rebellion
that to travellers it has presented thirty years ago an aspect sadly
belying its old fame. Such havoc is not readily repaired in a few years,
nor in a few centuries, but prosperity is reviving, and European
navigation is making an important figure on the Kiang.
[From the Returns of Trade for the Year 1900 of the Imperial Maritime
Customs of China, we take the following figures regarding the navigation
on the Kiang. Steamers entered inwards and cleared outwards, under General
Regulations at Chung-King: 1; 331 tons; sailing vessels, 2681; 84,862
tons, of which Chinese, 816; 27,684 tons. At Ichang: 314; 231,000 tons,
of which Chinese, 118; 66,944 tons; sailing vessels, all Chinese, 5139;
163,320 tons. At Shasi: 606; 453,818 tons, of which Chinese, 606;
453,818 tons; no sailing vessels. At Yochow: 650; 299,962 tons, of which
Chinese, 458; 148,112 tons; no sailing vessels; under Inland Steam
Navigation Rules, 280 Chinese vessels, 20,958 tons. At Hankow: under
General Regulation, Steamers, 2314; 2,101,555 tons, of which Chinese, 758;
462,424 tons; sailing vessels, 1137; 166,118 tons, of which Chinese, 1129;
163,724 tons; under Inland Steam Navigation Rules, 1682 Chinese vessels,
31,173 tons. At Kiu-Kiang: under General Regulation, Steamers, 2916;
3,393,514 tons, of which Chinese, 478; 697,468 tons; sailing vessels,
163; 29,996 tons, of which Chinese, 160; 27,797 tons; under Inland Steam
Navigation Rules, 798 Chinese vessels; 21,670 tons. At Wu-hu: under
General Regulation, Steamers, 3395; 3,713,172 tons, of which Chinese, 540;
678,362 tons; sailing vessels, 356; 48,299 tons, of which Chinese, 355;
47,848 tons; under Inland Steam Navigation Rules, 286 Chinese vessels;
4272 tons. At Nanking: under General Regulation, Steamers, 1672;
1,138,726 tons, of which Chinese, 970; 713,232 tons; sailing vessels, 290;
36,873 tons, of which Chinese, 281; 34,985 tons; under Inland Steam
Navigation Rules, 30 Chinese vessels; 810 tons. At Chinkiang: under
General Regulation, Steamers, 4710; 4,413,452 tons, of which Chinese, 924;
794,724 tons; sailing vessels, 1793; 294,664 tons, of which Chinese, 1771;
290,286 tons; under Inland Steam Navigation Rules, 2920; 39,346 tons, of
which Chinese, 1684; 22,776 tons. - H.C.]
NOTE 4. - +12,000 cantars would be more than 500 tons, and this is
justified by the burthen of Chinese vessels on the river; we see it is
more than doubled by that of some British or American steamers thereon. In
the passage referred to under Note 1, Admiral Collinson speaks of the
salt-junks at I-ching as "very remarkable, being built nearly in the form
of a crescent, the stern rising in some of them nearly 30 feet and the
prow 20, whilst the mast is 90 feet high." These dimensions imply large
capacity. Oliphant speaks of the old rice-junks for the canal traffic as
transporting 200 and 300 tons (I. 197).
NOTE 5. - The tow-line in river-boats is usually made (as here described)
of strips of bamboo twisted. Hawsers are also made of bamboo. Ramusio, in
this passage, says the boats are tracked by horses, ten or twelve to each
vessel. I do not find this mentioned anywhere else, nor has any traveller
in China that I have consulted heard of such a thing.
NOTE 6. - Such eminences as are here alluded to are the Little Orphan Rock,
Silver Island, and the Golden Island, which is mentioned in the following
chapter. We give on the preceding page illustrations of those three
picturesque islands; the Orphan Rock at the top, Golden Island in the
middle, Silver Island below.
[1] See Gaubil, p. 93, note 4; Biot, p. 275 [and Playfair's Dict.,
p. 393].
CHAPTER LXXII.
CONCERNING THE CITY OF CAIJU.
Caiju is a small city towards the south-east. The people are subject to
the Great Kaan and have paper-money. It stands upon the river before
mentioned.[NOTE 1] At this place are collected great quantities of corn
and rice to be transported to the great city of Cambaluc for the use of
the Kaan's Court; for the grain for the Court all comes from this part of
the country. You must understand that the Emperor hath caused a
water-communication to be made from this city to Cambaluc, in the shape of
a wide and deep channel dug between stream and stream, between lake and
lake, forming as it were a great river on which large vessels can ply. And
thus there is a communication all the way from this city of Caiju to
Cambaluc; so that great vessels with their loads can go the whole way. A
land road also exists, for the earth dug from those channels has been
thrown up so as to form an embanked road on either side.[NOTE 2]
Just opposite to the city of Caiju, in the middle of the River, there
stands a rocky island on which there is an idol-monastery containing some
200 idolatrous friars, and a vast number of idols. And this Abbey holds
supremacy over a number of other idol-monasteries, just like an
archbishop's see among Christians.[NOTE 3]
Now we will leave this and cross the river, and I will tell you of a city
called Chinghianfu.
NOTE 1. - No place in Polo's travels is better identified by his local
indications than this. 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.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 89 of 360
Words from 89962 to 90977
of 370046