a loose tunic of scarlet, yellow, or other gaudy colour, on which his number and the name of the corps to which he belongs are marked on a white circular patch in front-possibly designed for the enemy to aim at-and again on his back, in the largest Chinese characters that can be inscribed on so small a soldier. His queue, which is interwoven with a great deal of false hair and black silk, is coiled about his head, and round it he has twisted a turban of large dimensions. The practice of wearing turbans seems to be confined to these fellows, although most of the people in the western country, especially the boatmen, wear a single piece of blue or white cotton tied round the head; but the head-piece of the brave is of "brobdingnagian" proportions. Occasionally you see one with a matchlock, but they are for the most part armed only with a short sword or knife worn in the girdle. These gentlemen of the profession of arms, or I had better perhaps say plunder-no offence to the heroes of Yuen-ming-yuen by the way-seemed inclined to be pretty familiar with us, and were in most cases not disrespectful; but still I have to record, even during the first few days of our acquaintance, an unpleasant occurrence with one of their cloth, who stood in the way of a member of our party while engaged in sketching an interesting scene on the river, and, in place of moving quietly away when asked in the most polite English to do so, clutched the handle of his large knife, for which piece of impertinence he was instantly knocked down, and no more was heard of the matter.

The junk in which we were now travelling, and which we had hired at I-chang to take us as far as Quai-chow for the matter of fifty-five thousand copper cash, was a Sz'chuan "travelling" or passenger junk. She was not nearly as commodious or convenient as our former craft, being wanting in the platform round the outside; besides, the roof of the housed portion was so taken up with coils of bamboo ropes

and lines, which were constantly being required for use, or being recoiled, that it was difficult to find a place anywhere outside of our cabin where you were not in somebody's way. We found it, therefore, rather an unpleasant change, particularly as the warm weather was now coming on; but it could not be helped, for it was the only kind of passenger-junk used on this part of the river. The forward half of the boat was uncovered, and the cook had his fire and copper in a hole in the middle. At night, or when we halted on account of the rain, a framework was quickly set up over this portion, and, being covered with waterproof mats, made a shelter under which the crew slept. The regular cargo-junks are much larger, some being above a hundred feet in length, with only a comparatively small portion housed over. All these Sz'chuan junks are of much the same form, with flat bottoms, square bows, and turned-up sterns, and are strongly put together to resist the knocking about which they get in the rapid and rocky portions of the river.

Soon after starting the next morning, the 6th of April, we experienced a heavy thunderstorm; the vivid flashes of lightning among the crags and peaks of the mountain-tops, and the continued reverberations of thunder,-echoing and reechoing from the nearer cliffs and slopes of their sides, and then taken up by the more distant heights on either side of the magnificent river, were extremely impressive. "There is but one God," they seemed to say, "and these are His works, and this His voice." Then after a deluge of rain, as the weather cleared up, and the mists slowly rolled up the valleys, and clouds yet hung over the mountain-tops, the little rills, now increased to impetuous torrents, came tumbling down the dark hill-sides, and leapt from high precipices, till they reached the turbid current below, which was rushing with irresistible force past the rocky impediments that here impeded its onward course. The scene was one that would

seldom be witnessed elsewhere. Foreign residents on the seaboard, desirous of a relief from the confinement of business, would do well to take a trip into the interior, and, without going beyond the limits of the province in which Hankow stands, they might see some of the finest river scenery in the world. This might be easily done by going overland from Hankow to I-chang, or, better still, a large party might take a steamer from Shanghai the whole way up; and then from I-chang, a couple of days by boat would take them beyond some of the finest rapids and into the midst of the gorges; a few hours' run down with the rapid current putting them again on board their own craft; after which I am sure they would admit that they had been well repaid for the little inconveniences incident to travelling under any circumstances.

The first rapid on the Yang-tsze occurs at a bend of the river shortly above the west end of "I-chang Gorge," at a distance of fifteen miles from I-chang, where some islands of rock stand out towards the middle of the stream, and large boulders of granite line the shores, indicating an uneven bed in the river. Here, although in April it could hardly be called a rapid, the rush of water in June was very strong, and immediately below were strong eddies and whirls. A small village stands on the right bank, just above this rapid; and less than a mile distant to the south, some high rugged peaks mark the end of a mountain-range of about two thousand feet in height, which runs thence in a south-westerly direction, nearly parallel with a short reach of the river, all along which lie heaps of granite boulders, forming small islands and promontories, causing the river to narrow in some places to 150 yards. Then we come to the village of Shantow-pien, where the river, pursuing a straight course southeast, is obstructed by a couple of dangerous rapids, and runs the whole way with a very strong current, while the shores