Travels in China by Sir John Barrow (top e book reader .txt) 📕

meat-offering shalt thou season with salt: neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the Covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat-offering." As, however, the high priest and his friends were to feast on those parts of the meat-offering, which were considered as unworthy the acceptance of heaven, which parts, by the way, were always the best of the victim, one might, perhaps, assign a reason for the strong injunction of offering salt, this being a scarce article in many countries of the East and the best preservative of meat against putrefaction[55].

The cups, the slaughtered animal and several made-dishes remained on the forecastle, the Captain standing over them on one side and a man with a gong in his hand on the other. On approaching the rapid part of the stream, at the signal given by the gong, the Captain took up the cups one by one, in order that, like the Greeks of old, he might "perform the rites and pour the ruddy wine," which he did by throwing their contents over the bow of the vessel into the river. The libation performed, a quantity of crackers and squibs and gilt tin foil were burnt, with uplifted hands, whilst the deep-sounding gong was incessantly struck with increasing violence as the vessels were swept along with the current. The victim and the other dishes were then removed for the use of the Captain and crew, and the ceremony ended by three genuflexions and as many prostrations. The Emperor is never satisfied with less than nine.

Our fleet consisted of about thirty sail, and from each vessel there proceeded, on its launching into the stream, such a din of gongs and crackers and such volumes of smoke from the burnt offerings, that the deity of the river must have been in a very surly humour if he was not pleased with such a multitude of oblations. The safe arrival, on the opposite bank, of the whole squadron was a proof of his having accepted the homage, and accordingly he was again addressed in a volley of crackers as a token of thanks for his propitious and friendly aid.

The width of the river at this place was full three quarters of a mile; and the stream, where strongest, ran with the rapidity of seven or eight miles an hour; and the water was as thick and muddy as if the heaviest torrents of rain had just descended, whereas, in fact, there had not fallen a shower for many months.

The length of that part of the canal which lies between the Eu-ho and the Yellow River, and which we had now sailed over, is about two hundred English miles. The natural slope of the country being from North to South, the projectors of this work seem to have fixed upon the middle point, or nearly so, between these two rivers for the commencement of their operations: so that from this middle point to the northward, or rising part of the country, they have been under the necessity, in order to preserve their level, of cutting down to the depth of thirty, forty, and even to seventy feet, below the surface; whilst from the same point to the southward, or descending part of the country, they have been obliged to force up the water between immense banks of earth and stone, far above the level of the flat surface; consisting almost entirely of lakes, swamps, and morass. The quantity of human labour that must have been employed, in amassing together the different materials that compose this immense aqueduct, could not have been supplied, in any reasonable length of time, except in a country where millions could be set to work at the nod of a despot. The greatest works in China have always been, and still continue to be, performed by the accumulation of manual labour, without the assistance of machinery, except on very particular occasions, where some mechanical power may be absolutely necessary to be brought in aid of human strength. Thus, where canals are carried over surfaces that are too hilly and uneven to admit of one continued level, they descend from place to place, as it were by steps, at each of which is an inclined plane; the height from the upper canal to the lower being generally from six to ten feet; and the angle of the plane from forty-five to fifty degrees. All vessels navigating such canals must be hoisted up these planes by the assistance of upright capstans, without which it would scarcely be possible to get those of large demensions, together with their cargo, out of one canal into the other; and they are gently lowered in the same manner. This awkward contrivance may, perhaps, less imply the ignorance of locks or other methods practised elsewhere, than the unwillingness of the government to suffer any innovation that might be the means of depriving many thousands of obtaining that scanty subsistence, which they now derive from their attendance at these capstans. However slightly such a notion may be held in Europe, there can be no doubt that a general introduction of machinery into China, for the purpose of facilitating and expediting labour would, in the present state of the country, be attended with the most pernicious and distressing consequences; were it only for this simple reason that, despising, as they affect to do, all foreign commerce, the demand for the products of machinery, however much they might be reduced in price, would not be encreased, whilst that of manual labour would considerably be diminished.

Sensible as the Chinese seem to be of the advantages derived from an easy communication between the different parts of the empire, by means of canals, it is the more surprizing what the motives could have been that, till this moment, have restrained them from facilitating an intercourse by means of good roads, in such parts of the country as have no inland navigations. In this respect they fall short of most civilized nations. Except near the capital, and in some few places where the junction of the grand canal with navigable rivers is interrupted by mountainous ground, there is scarcely a road in the whole country that can be ranked beyond a foot-path. Hence it happens that in the northern provinces, during winter, it is impossible to travel with any degree of ease, convenience, or safety; all the canals to the northward of the Yellow River, which runs from 34° to 35° latitude being frozen up. It is equally surprizing that their ingenuity has not extended itself to the invention of sledges or some sort of carriages suitable for travelling on ice, which other nations have converted into the best of roads[56].

The continuation of the Grand Canal, from the Yellow River to the Yang-tse-kiang, was constructed upon the same principles as that part between the Yellow River and the Eu-ho. The country being level and abounding with lakes and marshy grounds, it was carried upon a mound of earth kept together by retaining walls of stone the whole distance, which is about ninety miles, being in parts not less than twenty feet above the general level of the country; and the sheet of water it contained was two hundred feet in width, running sometimes at the rate of three miles an hour. Canals of communication supplied it from the westward; and the superfluous water was let off upon the low marshes. The tops of the walls of Pao-yng-shien were just on a level with the surface of the water in the canal, so that if the bank opposite to it were to burst, the whole city must inevitably be inundated. Very little cultivation appeared in this low marshy country, but abundance of towns and villages, the inhabitants of which subsisted by fishing. A prodigious extent of low country on each side of the Yellow River, perhaps not much less than the surface of all England, is liable to inundations. The Chinese say, the overflowing of this river has been more fatal to the country than war, pestilence, or famine. The Emperor Kaung-shee, in order to distress a rebel in the province of Honan, ordered a bank to be broken down behind a city he had got possession of; but the inundation was so great, that not only the rebel forces were destroyed, but almost half a million of people were completely swept away; and among these were several European missionaries. Vast sums of money are expended in confining this river within its banks. The same Emperor in his last will declares, that the sums of money issued annually from the Imperial treasury for the embankments to prevent inundations, were never less, during his whole reign, than 3,000,000 ounces of silver, equivalent to one million sterling.

On approaching the Yang-tse-kiang the appearance of the country improved, just as it had done in the vicinity of the Yellow River. The town of Sau-poo, extending along the quay of the canal, consisted of houses that were generally two stories high, apparently well built, white-washed with lime and kept in neat and clean order. The inhabitants were also better cloathed than we had hitherto been accustomed to see them. The women were less shy in their advances; their complexions were much fairer and their features more soft and handsome than any we had yet observed in the northern provinces.

The walls and gates of Yang-tchoo-foo bore marks of great antiquity, being partly in ruins and almost entirely overgrown with moss and creeping plants. A thousand vessels, at least, of different descriptions were lying under its walls. Here we remained for the night; and the following morning, being the 5th of November, we launched into the grand and beautiful river called the Yang-tse-kiang, which at this place was about two miles in width; but the current was so gentle, that no oblation to the presiding deity was thought to be necessary. The numerous islands rising out of the river and covered with verdure, the multitude of ships of war, of burden and of pleasure, some gliding down the stream, others sailing against it; some moving by oars and others lying at anchor; the banks on either side covered with towns and houses, as far as the eye could reach, presented a prospect more varied and cheerful than any that had hitherto occurred. Nor was the canal, on the opposite side, less lively; for two whole days we were continually passing among fleets of vessels of different constructions and dimensions, those belonging to the revenue department being the largest, each capable of carrying, at least, two hundred tons. Cities, towns and villages were continued along the banks without intermission: and vast numbers of stone bridges were thrown across the canal, some having one, some two, and others three arches. The face of the country was beautifully diversified with hill and dale and every part of it in the highest state of cultivation. The chief produce was that particular species of cotton, of a yellowish tinge, known in Europe by the name of nankin.

The suburbs of Sou-tchoo-foo employed us full three hours in passing before we reached the walls of the city, where a multitude of vessels were lying at anchor. The numerous inhabitants that appeared upon and without the walls of this extensive city, were better dressed and seemed to be more contented and cheerful, than we had yet observed them in any other place. For the most part they were cloathed in silk. The ladies were here dressed in petticoats and not in trowsers, as they had hitherto appeared to the northward. The general fashion of the head-dress was a black satin cap with a triangular peak, the point descending to the root of the nose, in the middle of which, or about the centre of