the point where a branch in olden days made its way southwards to the
Chien-tang Gulf, near Hang-Chau Fu. Its course is conjectured to have
been through a series of lagoons, known in ancient times as the five
lakes (the Chen-tse) and its delta is presumed not to have extended
further east than the Lang-shan Hills, but the whole subject has been
a fertile source of controversy. Another branch must have passed by
Sung-kiang Fu, and thence near to Shanghai. The south bank of the
present course of the river seems to give indications that its bed was
in former days on a higher level than now, but at the present day it is
only by embankments that the Yangtse Chiang is prevented from finding a
way for some of its surplus waters by the Tai Hu and Su-chau to the sea.
The area of the Tai-Hu and the other lakes in the southern delta of
the Yangtse Chiang has been estimated at 1,200 square miles (out of a
total area of 5,400 square miles), and the total length of the small
channels used for irrigation and navigation at 36,000 miles. But these
figures are based upon imperfect maps of the country, and therefore not
thoroughly trustworthy.
On the north bank of the river an even more marvellous system of
artificial waterworks exists. The Huai River, which, with its
seventy-two tributaries, is a most important commercial route to north
An Hui and Ho Nan, used to find a natural course to the sea to the
south of Shan Tung, but has been diverted by a double series of lakes
and innumerable canals, and has now no existence as a river east of
the Grand Canal. The enlargement of some lakes and the excavations of
others were carried out with a view to preventing too great a pressure
on any one point of the Grand Canal south of the old course of the
Yellow River. The greater part of the Huai now finds its way to the
Yangtse Chiang through different openings in a large canal, which runs
almost parallel with the river for a distance of 140 miles. North of
this canal lies an immense parallelogram, estimated by Père Gandar at
2,300,000 hectares (8,876 square miles) in extent, which is below the
water-level. This is intersected by a series of waterways kept under
the most careful control, and constitutes one of the most valuable
rice fields in the country. To protect it from inundations by the
sea, immense dykes and a large canal stretch north and south between
the Yangtse Chiang and the old course of the Yellow River. Through
these dykes are eighteen openings for canals to the sea, but the main
drainage is southwards to the Yangtse Chiang. Between the dykes and the
sea lie the flats which form the great salt-fields of Central China.
The Yangtse Chiang in its lower reaches is subject to great and rapid
changes, of which little trace is evident to the eye after the lapse
of a few years, though the depth of the river in many parts is 140
feet and more. One of the most notable instances is at Chin-Kiang.
The earliest European travellers to Peking by the Grand Canal speak
invariably of the city of Kua Chau, and only incidentally refer to the
passage of the Yangtse Chiang. At present the nearest entrances to the
northern and southern portions of the Grand Canal are miles apart;
the passage between them, along the waters of the Yangtse Chiang, is
often tedious and sometimes impracticable. But at the time the southern
entrance to the canal was by a canal which ran between Chin-Kiang and
the river, and debouched opposite Golden Island, which was within
hailing distance of Kua Chau.
When our fleet ascended the Yangtse Chiang in 1842, it was to the south
of this island that it passed. Now to the south of “the island” is
cultivated land, studded with trees and villages, and the only existing
canal south of Golden Island is so shallow as to be in winter not
navigable even to boats. On the north of the so-called island (Golden
Island) the city of Kua Chau has been completely engulfed, and even its
north wall has long since been lost to sight.
The changes which are taking place in the lower reaches of the river,
in the formation of islands and the alteration of channels, are on
an even larger scale. One of the best-known instances is the island
of Tsungming, near Shanghai, the population which rose from 12,700
families at the end of the Thirteenth Century to 89,000 at the
beginning of the Eighteenth, and is now estimated at 1,150,000 souls.
The great river known to Europeans throughout its whole length as the
Yangtse, or Yangtse Chiang, from the name which it bears on Chinese
maps in its tidal portion only, undergoes many a change of name. In its
higher waters in Tibet, the Murus, or Mur-usu, or Murui-osu (“Tortuous
River”) joins the Napchitai-ulan-muren and Tokton-ai-ulan-muren, and
below their confluence the river is known as the Dre-chu, or Di-chu,
variations of which have reached us through different travellers in
Bichu, Bicui, Brichu, and the Brius of Marco Polo. Its Tibetan name is
Link-arab, and the Chinese name Tung-tien-ho. Where the river forms the
boundary between Tibet and China, it is called by Chinese the Chin (or
Kin) Sha Chiang, and by the Tibetans the N’geh-chu; near the confluence
of the Yalung it is called the Pai-Shui-Chiang, or White Water River;
and as far as Sui Fu (or Sii-chu Fu) the Chin Ho. In the gorges of
Ichang it is the Ta-ch’a Ho (river of great débris). At Sha-shih it has
the name of Ching Chiang, from Ching, an ancient Division of China,
through which it passes. Below Hankau it is called the Chiang, Ch’ang
Chiang (Long River) Ta Chiang, or Ta-Kuan-Chiang (Great Official
River), and for the last two hundred miles of its course it appears
as the Yangtse Chiang, a name which it gains from Yang, another of
the ancient divisions of the empire, and which is still retained by
Yang-chau-Fu.
The fall of the river is very rapid. Mr. Rockhill assigns an altitude
of 13,000 feet to the place where he first crossed it, some distance
below the junction of the Mur-usu with the Napchitai and Toktonai
Rivers, and of 12,000 feet to the ferry where he recrossed it
eighty-four miles lower down. From Batang (8,540 feet) to Wa-Wu, in Sze
Chuen (1,900 feet), the fall was estimated by Mr. Baber at not less
than eight feet per mile; thence to Huang-kuo-shu (1,200 feet) at six
feet per mile; below this to Ping-shan (1,025 feet) about three feet;
and from Ping-shan to Chung-Ching (630 feet) approximately nineteen
inches, and in its lower course less than six inches. The fall between
Chung-Ching and Ichang (129 feet) is about thirteen and a half inches;
thence to Hankau (fifty-three feet) only two and a half inches, and
from Hankau to the sea little more than one inch per mile.
THE THAMES
CHARLES DICKENS, JR.
Although scarcely any of the scenery of the Thames above Oxford is
to be mentioned in the same breath with the beauties of Nuneham, of
Henley, of Marlow, or of Cliveden, there is still much to attract the
lover of nature who is content with quiet and pastoral landscapes
and to whom the peaceful solitude through which the greater part of
the journey lies, will have a peculiar charm. It is not advisable to
take boat at Cricklade. For some distance below this little Wiltshire
town the stream is narrow, and in dry seasons uncomfortably shallow.
Travellers, therefore, who come to Cricklade, with the intention of
seeing as much of the river as possible, may be recommended to take
the very pretty walk of about ten miles along the towing-path of the
Thames and Severn Canal to Lechlade. Here the river proper may be
said to begin. Half a mile after leaving Lechlade on the right is St.
John’s Lock with an average fall of three feet; and just below it is
the St. John’s Bridge, with the Trout Inn on the left bank. For some
distance below this stream is very narrow, and generally weedy; and,
after passing Buscot Church, a couple of sharp turns brings us on the
left to Buscot Lock. A couple of miles lower down is the little village
of Eaton Hastings; Faringdon Hill, with its large clump of Scotch firs
being a conspicuous object on the right bank and two miles further
again is Radcot Bridge, distant from Oxford twenty-six miles. The next
point is Old Man’s Bridge, twenty-five miles from Oxford, and after
about two miles of rather monotonous travelling, we come sharp on the
left to Rushy Lock and a mile further to Tadpole Bridge, twenty-two
miles from Oxford, with the Trout Inn, a convenient place for luncheon.
About a couple of miles from Tadpole is Ten Foot Bridge and a mile or
so lower down are the village and ferry of Duxford. A mile or so below
this there is considerable shoaling and half a mile further an island
with Poplars, where the Berks bank should be followed. After making two
or three bends, beyond this point, there is a prettily wooded bank on
the right, and a short mile of capital water for rowing brings us to
New Bridge from Oxford fifteen miles, which, notwithstanding its name,
is of great antiquity. Another mile brings us to the bridge where was
formerly Langley’s or Ridge’s Weir. About four and a half miles from
New Bridge is Bablock Hithe Ferry, ten and a half miles from Oxford,
below which there is a fine stream, the scenery becoming very good,
with fine bold hills and the Earl of Abingdon’s woods at Wytham. After
passing Skinner’s Weir, the river twists and turns about a good deal
until we reach Pinkhill Lock, eight and a half miles from Oxford, with
a fall of about three feet. Round a good many corners and rather more
than a mile off is Eynsham Bridge. Good reaches for about three miles
bring us to King’s Weir, sharp on the right, the stream to the left
going to the Duke’s Lock, the junction with the Oxford Canal. Passing
presently under Godstow Bridge, are seen the ruins of Godstow Nunnery
and Godstow Lock, three and a half miles from Oxford, on leaving which
a pretty view of the city is obtained. Three hundred yards further is
Osney Lock. A little further is Folly Bridge, Oxford.
[Illustration: THE THAMES]
The towing-path after leaving Folly Bridge, Oxford, follows the right
bank. On the left are the boat-rafts and the barges of the various
colleges moored off Christ Church Meadows, where in the winter, after
a flood, there is sometimes capital skating. About three-quarters of
a mile from Folly Bridge are the long bridges across a backwater,
which reënters the Thames--in this part of its course sometimes called
the Isis--half a mile below Iffley. Half a mile below Iffley is the
iron bridge of the Great Western Railway, from beneath which is a
very pretty view of the spires of Oxford, particularly of the tower
of Magdalen College. Along the left bank for some distance is one of
those grand pieces of woodland scenery for which the Thames is so
renowned. The woods extend as far as the iron railway bridge, after
passing which the spire of Abingdon church appears above the trees to
the right. Rather more than a mile below the cottages at Nuneham is
the fall on the left where the old and present channels divide. Half a
mile further and sharp to the left is Abingdon Lock, average fall six
feet, from London 104½ miles, from Oxford seven and one-quarter miles.
The river here runs through flat meadows. The view of Abingdon, with
the spire of St. Helen’s, is very pretty. Culham Lock, a good stone
lock with an average fall of seven feet; Clifton Lock with an average
fall of three feet; and Days Lock with an average fall of four feet six
inches, are passed. A little over a mile on the left bank is Dorchester
with its famous abbey church. The footpath crosses the Roman remains
known as The Dyke Hills. On Sinodun Hill on the right is a fine Roman
camp. Below the ferry on the right is Bensington Lock, with an average
fall of six feet six inches. The country from here to Wallingford is
charmingly wooded.
Wallingford, from London ninety and three-quarter miles, from Oxford
twenty and three-quarter miles is a very convenient place to break the
journey, and the breakfasts and ale at the “Lamb” deserve particular
attention. From Cleeve Lock there is a lovely view of the hills and
woods above Streatley. Goring Lock is a favourite place for campers.
Further on to the right are Basildon church and village and further
still, opposite the beech woods and on the brow of the hill to the
right is Basildon Park. At this point a fine stretch of water runs
almost in a straight line for a considerable distance; the banks on
either side are well wooded, and the view up or down is one of the most
sylvan on the river. Just before making the bend before Pangbourne
Reach is Coombe Lodge with its beautiful park, and at the end of
the chalk ridge on the right is Pangbourne, from London eighty and
three-quarter miles, from Oxford thirty and three-quarter miles.
Below Whitchurch Lock a wooden bridge connects Whitchurch and
Pangbourne, and at its foot is the pretty house known as Thames Bank.
After leaving Mapledurham Lock on the right, there is a charming view.
Caversham Bridge, the nearest point for Reading, and Caversham Lock,
Sonning Lock and Sonning Shiplake Lock and Wargrave and Marsh Lock
bring us distant from London sixty-six miles.
A mile from Marsh Lock we come to Henley. A handsome bridge spans the
river here; the tow-path crosses to the right bank. A short half mile
below greenlands on the right is Hambleden Lock. At the next bend in
the river the red brick house on the right is Culham Court, and here
the view up the river to the poplars and wooded hills above Hambleden
is very charming. Passing Culham keep to the left bank, leaving the
island known as Magpie Island on the right. Half a mile farther, on
the top of the high wooded hill on the left, is a farmhouse on a site
where has been a farm since Domesday Book was compiled. Two miles from
the lock is Medmenham Abbey, with the Abbey Hotel, a well-known and
convenient place for water-parties.
On the right bank at Hurley Lock is the village of Hurley with Lady
Place, so well known in connection with Lord Lovelace in the revolution
of 1688. About half a mile further is Marlow, with its graceful
suspension bridge and ugly church. Three hundred yards below the bridge
is Marlow Lock. Another three-quarters of a mile brings us to Cookham.
Cookham Lock is the most beautifully situated on the river, just under
the woods of Hedsor and Cliveden. The scenery down the next reach and
past the islands is exceedingly beautiful and is generally considered
the finest on the river. Not quite two and a half miles from Cookham
Lock is Boulter’s Lock, from London fifty miles.
Below Maidenhead Bridge is the Great Western Railway bridge, supposed
to be the largest brick bridge in the world. A mile from Maidenhead
is the pleasant village of Bray. Rather more than a quarter of a mile
on the left is Bray Lock. Half a mile further is Monkey Island, and
here for a little distance there is a good stream. Two miles and a
half from Bray Lock, on the right bank, is Surly Hall, an inn well
known to Etonians. About another half mile brings us to Boveney Lock
on the left. On the right is Windsor racecourse, and three-quarters
of a mile down is Athens, the bathing-place of the senior Eton boys.
The Great Western Railway bridge and the Brocas clump on the left are
next passed, and we arrive at Windsor on the right bank and Eton on the
left. The river is here crossed by an iron and stone bridge of three
arches. After passing through Windsor bridge, the right bank on which
is the tow-path should be kept. The rapid and dangerous stream to the
left runs to the weir and the neighbourhood of the Cobbler, as the
long projection from the island is called, is undesirable when there
is much water in the river. Not half a mile below Windsor bridge is
Romney Lock. After passing through Romney Lock, beautiful views of Eton
College, the playing-fields and Poet’s walk are obtained on the left,
and on the right are Windsor Castle and the Home Park. Farther down is
the Victoria Bridge, one of two which cross the river at each extremity
of the park, and about a mile and a half from Romney Lock is Datchet
on the left bank. After the second of the royal bridges, the Albert,
is passed, the right bank must be kept, and a long narrow cut crossed
half way by a wooden bridge leads to Old Windsor Lock. Three-quarters
of a mile from the lock, in pretty scenery, is the well-known “Bells of
Ousely” tavern. Half a mile farther down Magna Charta Island, with its
cottage is on the left. Runnymead is on the right bank, which should be
followed to Bell Weir Lock.
The Colne enters the Thames on the left between Bell Weir Lock and
Staines. Two or three hundred yards farther are Staines Bridge and the
town of Staines. After Penton Hook Lock about one and three-quarter
miles from Staines is Laleham and the ferry. Still keeping to the left
bank, we next come to Chertsey Lock. Hence the river winds very much
between flat banks to Shepperton Lock on the left. Here the Wey enters
the Thames. Three-quarters of a mile below Halliford are Coway or
Causeway Stakes, and immediately afterwards comes Walton Bridge which
consists of four arches. On the right below is Mount Felix and the
village of Walton. Half a mile on the left is a tumbling bay, whose
neighbourhood will best be avoided, and half a mile below this on the
right, is the cut leading to Sunbury Lock. About one and a half miles
below the lock is an island, either side of which may be taken. On the
right are Molesey Hurst and racecourse and on the left, Hampton. Here
is a ferry, and on the left bank below the church Garrick’s Villa.
Below Molesey Lock is Hampton Court Bridge, an ugly iron erection,
Hampton Court being on the left and East Molesey, with the railway
station, on the right. Nearly a mile below the bridge, on the right,
is Thames Ditton. Passing Messenger’s Island we come to Surbiton,
and nearly a mile lower down to Kingston Bridge. The next point is
Teddington Lock. On the left Teddington and an almost uninterrupted
line of villas extends along the bank as far as Twickenham. There is
an iron foot bridge from Teddington to the lock. About a mile from the
lock is Eel Pie Island, opposite which are Petersham, and Ham House,
the seat of the Earl of Dysart, almost hidden among the trees. On the
left is Orleans House, and down the river rises Richmond Hill, crowned
with the famous “Star and Garter.” Making the bend just below the
next island is, on the right bank, the ivy-clad residence of the Duke
of Buccleuch. Not quite three miles from Teddington Lock is Richmond
Bridge. A short distance below the Bridge is Richmond Lock, ninety-six
and a half miles from Oxford and fifteen and a half miles from London.
The trip is generally concluded here, the banks of the river below this
point presenting little or nothing to attract the visitor.
Passing Isleworth, Sion House, the seat of the Duke of Northumberland,
Brentford, Kew with its Palace, Church and Observatory, the famous Kew
Gardens, Chiswick and Chiswick Eyot (famous for its swans), we arrive
at Hammersmith with its long bridge, opened in June, 1887, and are
practically in London. From here we note Fulham Episcopal Palace, the
summer home of the Bishops of London who have been lords of the manor
from an early date, Putney, Hurlingham House, Wandesworth, Battersea
Park, Chelsea and its iron bridge, Vauxhall, Lambeth Palace, the
London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Westminster Bridge,
the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, Charing Cross Railway
Bridge, the Victoria Embankment with Cleopatra’s Needle, Waterloo
Bridge, Somerset House, The Temple Gardens, Blackfriar’s Bridge, St.
Paul’s Cathedral, Southwark Bridge, St. Saviour’s and come to London
Bridge, opened by King William IV. and Queen Adelaide in 1831. Here
old London Bridge stood for more than six hundred years, a quaint
structure adorned “with sumptuous buildings and statelie and beautiful
houses on either syde”; and at the gatehouse of the bridge the heads
of traitors were exposed. On leaving London Bridge we enter the Pool,
which extends to Limehouse and is divided into the Upper and Lower Pool
by an imaginary line drawn across the Thames at Wapping. The Pool is
always crowded with steamers, sailing-vessels and barges. On the left
bank stands The Monument, commemorating the Great Fire of 1666, which
began in the house of the King’s baker in Pudding Lane. Not far from
it is Billingsgate Fish Market, then follows the Custom House and the
massive, solemn and impressive Tower. Tower Bridge, the foundation
stone for which was laid in 1886, is passed, below which begin the
great docks. Wapping Old Stairs, made classic by Dibdin’s song, and
Shadwell are passed before we leave the Pool and enter Limehouse Reach.
The Thames now bends to the south and we pass the great West India
docks, the wall of which includes an area of nearly three hundred
acres. We pass Greenwich, famous for its Hospital (the old Palace),
Observatory and Park, after which the river takes a northerly course.
Woolwich with its Arsenal and Barracks, Shooter’s Hill, from which a
fine view of London is obtained and now the river turns south, for the
Thames is a river of many windings. At length we reach Tilbury and its
Docks and Gravesend, and here we are at the mouth of the river. The
Midway enters the Thames between the Isle of Grain and the Isle of
Sheppey and is now a muddy river with nothing beautiful on either bank.
Half way across the estuary, and fifty miles from London Bridge, is the
Nore Lightship, established in 1730.
THE CONNECTICUT
TIMOTHY DWIGHT
Connecticut River rises in New Hampshire. Its fountains are between
44°, 50′ and 45° north latitude, and nearly in 71° west longitude from
London; about twenty-five miles eastward from its channel, where in
the same latitude it divides Stuart[1] and Colebrook from Canaan in
Vermont. These fountains, which are at the distance of two or three
miles from each other, flow in two small converging rivulets; one of
which empties its waters into a pond, covering about six acres, whence
it proceeds to a lake, which from its resemblance to the numerical
figure 8, I shall name Double Lake. The other rivulet, also, unites
with the same lake; which is two miles long and half a mile wide;
and covers between five and six hundred acres. Hence the waters flow
in a single channel, about seven miles, into another lake, which
from its figure I shall call Heart Lake;[2] about six miles long and
three broad, and covering between nine and ten thousand acres. From
Heart Lake with a material addition to its current, the river runs
north-westward for four miles and a half; and is a continual rapid
through the whole distance. In one part of this reach it descends
fifty feet in a course of three hundred. Below the rapid, it receives
from the northward a stream called Perry’s Brook; and a little further
down, another, called Cedar Brook. About two miles further on it
receives another from the south, called Dear Water Brook; and, about
a mile further, a fourth from the north called Back Brook, conveying
into it the waters of a small lake, called Back Lake. That portion
of the Connecticut, which is between Perry’s Brook and Back Brook,
four miles in length, is named the _Dead Water_: the ground on either
side being low and level; and the stream winding, sluggish and deep.
After receiving the waters of Back Brook, it runs for one mile over a
succession of rocks, termed the Great Falls; in one part of which it
descends, perpendicularly, over a ledge twelve feet.
[Footnote 1: Now Stewartstown.]
[Footnote 2: Now Connecticut Lake.]
Before its junction with Indian River, the Connecticut runs about the
same distance with that stream, and discharges more than twice its
quantity of water into the common channel. Hall’s River is sensibly
less than Indian River.
The course of the Connecticut to Perry’s brook, between twenty-five
and thirty miles is north-westward; thence to the forty-fifth degree
of north latitude west-south-west; thence to the city of Hartford
south-south-west, and thence to the Sound about south-east.