Among the jottings in Mr. Talmage's diary for 1847-1848 we find mention of
a tour to Chiang-chiu on September 23, 1847, in company with Messrs.
Pohlman, Doty and Lloyd.
Chiang-chiu is a large city of 200,000 inhabitants, situated on a wide
river, 30 miles west of Amoy. He writes: "Wherever we went we were
accompanied by an immense throng of people. The most of them I suppose had
never seen a white face. But few Europeans have visited the city. The
city has an extensive wall, wider and I think more cleanly streets, and is
larger than Amoy. In the rear of the city there are three watch towers.
They are situated on very elevated ground. From these we had a very
delightful view of the city and surrounding country. The scenery, it
seemed to me, was the most beautiful I had ever witnessed. Within the
circle of our vision lay that immense city with its extensive walls, its
temples and pagoda, its river, bridges and boats, its gardens, its trees
and shrubbery, and its densely crowded streets. Surrounding the city was
spread out an extensive valley of some ten or fifteen miles in width and
some twenty or twenty-five in length, covered with luxuriant vegetation.
Through the midst of the valley might be marked the meandering track of the
Chiang-chiu river, the whole region beautifully variegated with fruit
trees, shade trees, and villages. Still further on, in every direction,
our view was bounded by lofty hills whose cloud capped tops seemed as
pillars on which the heavens rested. Nature had done her best to make this
region a terrestrial paradise."
On a subsequent trip to Chiang-chiu, Mr. Talmage writes: "The valley of the
Chiang-chiu river is one of the most beautiful regions I ever saw. It is
densely populated. In every direction are villages, I might almost say
without number, rendered most beautiful by their plentiful supply of large
banyans and various other trees of luxuriant foliage. The intermediate
spaces between the villages are fields covered with vegetation most dense
and beautiful. Through the centre of this scene may be traced the course
of the river with its numberless canals, like the Nile of Egypt, giving
fertility wherever nature or the art of man conducts its waters."